Song of the Moment: Let the Records Play

[evenslow]

i like every part of this song, and love no part of it

that's a good way of putting it actually.

[PHATJ]

i like every part of this song, and love no part of it

that's a good way of putting it actually.

[harmless]

I like the whole thing, in spite of its lack of originality. Same as stip, don't love it. But Matt and Mike jamming at the end... man, that's worth sitting through it for.

[Strat]

I like the whole thing, in spite of its lack of originality. Same as stip, don't love it. But Matt and Mike jamming at the end... man, that's worth sitting through it for.

Brendan o brien disagrees :/

[harmless]

I like the whole thing, in spite of its lack of originality. Same as stip, don't love it. But Matt and Mike jamming at the end... man, that's worth sitting through it for.

Brendan o brien disagrees :/

Listening to this album will be like making love to an outstandingly hot woman, even though you know Brendan O'Brien is hiding in the closet watching. You have to try and not care.

[stip]

I like the whole thing, in spite of its lack of originality. Same as stip, don't love it. But Matt and Mike jamming at the end... man, that's worth sitting through it for.

Brendan o brien disagrees :/

Listening to this album will be like making love to an outstandingly hot woman, even though you know Brendan O'Brien is hiding in the closet watching. You have to try and not care.

[piratebob]

yea i dunno how people dont like this song.

I dig this song. The choruses are admittedly a bit weak, but the verses and solos are fantastic. I like it.

I like this one! But I feel like as a whole, it is less than the sum of it's parts. I like the verses, I like the music. But for some reason, I don't like them as much put together.

[harmless]

Chorus has a bit of 'The Boys are Back in Town' about it.

[15showsandcounting]

It's like they were asked to write a song for the True Blood Soundtrack. Not a fan.

[liebzz]

After Backspacer felt so much like a by the numbers album, it's songs like this that will pull me in nonstop for months and maybe years. It might not be the deep dark Pearl Jam of yore, but it's got a great groove and to me is fascinating on many fronts. I certainly did not see this coming, and for that I am quite happy. I could have seen any of the other 3 tracks from this leak and Mind Your Manners coming in some way, shape, or form. I'm waiting until this afternoon to check out Sirens, which will be the second time I'll be completely taken aback and stunned by what I am hearing.

[jtr101]

yea i dunno how people dont like this song.

I dig this song. The choruses are admittedly a bit weak, but the verses and solos are fantastic. I like it.

I like this one! But I feel like as a whole, it is less than the sum of it's parts. I like the verses, I like the music. But for some reason, I don't like them as much put together.

This is exactly how i feel....

[daft twat]

this song reminds me of cover bands who sprinkle a few originals in their set. it's clearly derivative, but everyone's drinking, so no on really gives shit. middle aged folks are still clumsily dancing with their hands in each other's back pockets because the song has a nice groove and they were already out there for "hard to handle," so why the fuck not?

it's weird that it's pearl jam, but i like it a lot. i also like that on an album that thematically seems to be leaning toward questioning or outright disregarding organized religion, the whiskey drinking and record playing is painted as a ceremony and that there is "wisdom in his way." 4 stars.

[stip]

this song reminds me of cover bands who sprinkle a few originals in their set. it's clearly derivative, but everyone's drinking, so no on really gives shit. middle aged folks are still clumsily dancing with their hands in each other's back pockets because the song has a nice groove and they were already out there for "hard to handle," so why the fuck not?

it's weird that it's pearl jam, but i like it a lot. i also like that on an album that thematically seems to be leaning toward questioning or outright disregarding organized religion, the whiskey drinking and record playing is painted as a ceremony and that there is "wisdom in his way." 4 stars.

That ceremonial bit is a nice observation

[harmless]

this song reminds me of cover bands who sprinkle a few originals in their set. it's clearly derivative, but everyone's drinking, so no on really gives shit. middle aged folks are still clumsily dancing with their hands in each other's back pockets because the song has a nice groove and they were already out there for "hard to handle," so why the fuck not?

it's weird that it's pearl jam, but i like it a lot. i also like that on an album that thematically seems to be leaning toward questioning or outright disregarding organized religion, the whiskey drinking and record playing is painted as a ceremony and that there is "wisdom in his way." 4 stars.

That ceremonial bit is a nice observation

Yeah, I like that. The plot thickens.

[96583UP]

i have changed my vote from one star to five, partially as a result of the residual effect from the fantasticism of sirens, but partially because the haterade that poisoned by body the first time i heard this has subsided, a little, enough to truly realize this song is going to rock live.

gonna be some sick guitar solos...
the album is just scratching the surface...
gonna be some deep bass....
gonna be some muddy waters....
gonna be some muddy undies....
might even have some muddy harmonica....
gonna be muddy

[Release_Me]

The lyrics to this are bizarre. Ed actually paints a relatively evocative (and kind of dark) picture in the verses of the guy who may be avoiding the world with his whiskey bottle and turntable, but then turns around in the chorus and says, "hey, this guy's on the right track."

That's what I hear, 'just fuck it' maybe its a song about denial or maybe that how he really feels.

And swallowed whole is a dude putting off suicide another day cause the earth is coolz, what would have happened if the weather was shitty and a bird crapped on his head eh?

Eds happy lyrics almost always have something dark in them too, its a shame he keeps using vocal melodys that were shit out of the suns ass and landed directly on the set of bear in the big blue house.

To me, when it works, that contrast makes the songs more interesting.

I agree.

I also, after 20 years, just enjoy having pearl jam melodies it is fun to sing along to. It isn't all i want, but it is part of the story

I think the key of all this discussion is that is you want danceable or fun there's plenty of music out there that fits the bill, you can get any 90s eurodance compilation and that will do the trick. Maybe at some point some of us went to PJ because we found in this band something we couldn't find elsewhere, but if from now on it's just going to be Shania Twain or One Direction but with Ed singing there's no point.

Sure, and then you won't care anymore. But I like (so far) the way this is filtered through pearl jam, as per that punk discussion when mym was released (play's why not just listen to a punk band arguement)

Also, when did these songs now become boy band/euro dance tracks?

Exactly. These songs are danceable but they're not boy band or dance tracks when you see the lyrics. This contrast is exactly what makes Pearl Jam so great. Ed is from the Elvis Costello school of songwriting. There's always some darkness in the lyrics no matter how outwardly happy the song may seem. The catchy vocal melody combined with this darkness is what makes PJ so interesting. They've always made songs like this from the beginning. I mentioned this before; a lot of their early songs used the same method of songwriting. It's been their trademark from Evenflow, Alive, Daughter, Glorified G, Betterman, etc. No band does it better.

There are plenty of bands writing dark, depressing music which is just, well, dark and depressing. If that's the only thing that gets you off, then I don't get why you loved Pearl Jam so much in the first place. They've always been so much more than that.

[Heathen]

The lyrics to this are bizarre. Ed actually paints a relatively evocative (and kind of dark) picture in the verses of the guy who may be avoiding the world with his whiskey bottle and turntable, but then turns around in the chorus and says, "hey, this guy's on the right track."

That's what I hear, 'just fuck it' maybe its a song about denial or maybe that how he really feels.

And swallowed whole is a dude putting off suicide another day cause the earth is coolz, what would have happened if the weather was shitty and a bird crapped on his head eh?

Eds happy lyrics almost always have something dark in them too, its a shame he keeps using vocal melodys that were shit out of the suns ass and landed directly on the set of bear in the big blue house.

To me, when it works, that contrast makes the songs more interesting.

I agree.

I also, after 20 years, just enjoy having pearl jam melodies it is fun to sing along to. It isn't all i want, but it is part of the story

I think the key of all this discussion is that is you want danceable or fun there's plenty of music out there that fits the bill, you can get any 90s eurodance compilation and that will do the trick. Maybe at some point some of us went to PJ because we found in this band something we couldn't find elsewhere, but if from now on it's just going to be Shania Twain or One Direction but with Ed singing there's no point.

Sure, and then you won't care anymore. But I like (so far) the way this is filtered through pearl jam, as per that punk discussion when mym was released (play's why not just listen to a punk band arguement)

Also, when did these songs now become boy band/euro dance tracks?

Exactly. These songs are danceable but they're not boy band or dance tracks when you see the lyrics. This contrast is exactly what makes Pearl Jam so great. Ed is from the Elvis Costello school of songwriting. There's always some darkness in the lyrics no matter how outwardly happy the song may seem. The catchy vocal melody combined with this darkness is what makes PJ so interesting. They've always made songs like this from the beginning. I mentioned this before; a lot of their early songs used the same method of songwriting. It's been their trademark from Evenflow, Alive, Daughter, Glorified G, Betterman, etc. No band does it better.

There are plenty of bands writing dark, depressing music which is just, well, dark and depressing. If that's the only thing that gets you off, then I don't get why you loved Pearl Jam so much in the first place. They've always been so much more than that.

You described the early albums as having "happy, uplifting music" so I think at this point we're just not hearing the same thing. I think most of Pearl Jam's music was more on the dark side than on the bright side, and the happy, shiny tone of some of the stuff they release now sounds radically different than what drew me to this band to begin with. At the end of the day how a song sounds is more important to me than how the lyrics read, so if the song sounds like Obladi Oblada it doesn't matter much if Ed is singing about his kids dying of leukemia. Not that only dark stuff pleases me, but I prefer music that doesn't sound like mere entertainment.

[stupidmop]

I can see some of that music seeming 'happy' with different lyrics, like even flow and daughter maybe. But the difference for me is for both songs the music is also interesing without eds vocals. And I consider the lyrics and vocal melodies better than in this song. Plus I'm not entirely unconvinced I'm reading dark stuff in the lyrics when there probably isn't any.

[stip]

well yes, lets all take a deep breath and agree that LTRP is not better than even flow, alive, or daughter.

[stupidmop]

Sorry I wasn't trying to argue that, or thought that release_me was trying to say they weren't.

I just meant if they were going for juxtaposition between the lyrics, melodys and music in this song it isn't working for me, even if they have done it in the past.