Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[harmless]

So, there's been a lot of discussion about choruses lately, and how PJ's are often fairly weak. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing in general or about one in particular, but I'm curious:

What Pearl Jam choruses do people think are good?

It's not the best song ever, but from a melodic standpoint, I always thought the 'Dissident' chorus was a good melody to sing and had more than the standard one two or three-word chorus. Other songs do have those minimal choruses and they either really work because they "sum up" the themes of the verses successfully, or they fall flat because they don't live up to the verses' depth.

[stip]

So, there's been a lot of discussion about choruses lately, and how PJ's are often fairly weak. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing in general or about one in particular, but I'm curious:

What Pearl Jam choruses do people think are good?

I think most pj choruses are good. Often underwritten, but passionately performed

[Lament]

It was nice to see them using a disabled person in the video. Rock music doesn't usually portray us very well.

Ok, now you've brought out the amateur sociologist in me and I actually want to hear you expand upon this topic.

I'm trying to think of moments where disabilities are even acknowledged in rock, but I can't come up with many. There are probably more that I just don't realize.

Morrissey wearing a hearing aid on Top of the Pops. Kurt in a wheelchair at Reading. That's all I got, actually...

[Norah]

I'm not even judging LB's chorus based on the lyrics (which are weak) but the music itself. It goes from fairly interesting to incredibly generic and it sucks.

[harmless]

But a lot of PJ choruses work entirely because of Ed's passionate delivery, not because of the words on paper. So you can't really give loads of examples on a message board.

[harmless]

I'm not even judging LB's chorus based on the lyrics (which are weak) but the music itself. It goes from fairly interesting to incredibly generic and it sucks.

It does sound a bit Beverly Hills 90210, or Baywatch. I always imagine the Hoff running across the beach to it. But that's kind of the point; it's a lighter part in a slightly heavier, deeper song. If you're not into that, at least it's short and most of the song is made up of the rest of the stuff. Were you one of the RMers who hated Evacuation for a long time? I think those people had the same reaction to that as we've had here. Lightning Bolt would've had more obscure stuff added if it had been written for Yield.

[Thejambi]

I'm not even judging LB's chorus based on the lyrics (which are weak) but the music itself. It goes from fairly interesting to incredibly generic and it sucks.

I like the guitar work under the Lightning bowllllt.
Haven't been able to keep up but whoever mentioned the lyrics in connection to the creative process just bumped this song up a couple notches for me.

[stupidmop]

Good choruses Jeremy, Even flow, tremor Christ, I got shit, sleight of fucking hand, insignificance, red mosquito, I quite like mfc and whipping but I can see people finding them annoying. There's probably a lot more.

[harmless]

It was nice to see them using a disabled person in the video. Rock music doesn't usually portray us very well.

Ok, now you've brought out the amateur sociologist in me and I actually want to hear you expand upon this topic.

I'm trying to think of moments where disabilities are even acknowledged in rock, but I can't come up with many. There are probably more that I just don't realize.

Morrissey wearing a hearing aid on Top of the Pops. Kurt in a wheelchair at Reading. That's all I got, actually...

Yeah, it wasn't a thought-through comment really because I can't think of any examples where disabled people are used as interviewers. But I can think of lyrical tropes, and they very often focus on disabled people as a brave, heroic or a tragic figure, rarely just as a person. This EPK featured a disabled guy just because of what he did and people recognised him for that, which was refreshing. There wasn't even any patronising treatment from the band, and I was fully expecting it. But hey, have you heard of this? I read about it the other day. Fucking terrible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_K.A.O.S.

[Norah]

Habit has a great chorus. Those guitars just crash the fuck down on you.

[harmless]

I think the songs which express *rage* are the best ones for short / one-line chorus: "IT'S MY BLOOD!" is fucking ferocious, and the one line is enough. "Lightning Bolt" just doesn't feel earned in the same way. But I think the verses are obscure and Ed was probably just trying to find a hooky way of summing them up. I do think Stone's second guitar part saves it.

[Lament]

But hey, have you heard of this? I read about it the other day. Fucking terrible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_K.A.O.S.

Wow. That seems pretentious even for a dude who was in Pink Floyd.

[Hypnos]

RANK THE CHORUSES!

[harmless]

But hey, have you heard of this? I read about it the other day. Fucking terrible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_K.A.O.S.

Wow. That seems pretentious even for a dude who was in Pink Floyd.

But based on age-old stereotypes which he probably thought were at worst perfectly fine, and at best respectful towards disabled people. This idea that if we just tapped into our potential, we could do *mighty things*. The problem with that is that these *mighty things* are defined by able-bodied people and their standards, and disabled people are expected to "measure up" in these tropes. Or not just measure up, but be better. Disabled people are just normal people and the pressure to be an awesome, brave guy is just too much sometimes; we can be dicks just like everyone.

[SomethingCreative]

It was nice to see them using a disabled person in the video. Rock music doesn't usually portray us very well.

Ok, now you've brought out the amateur sociologist in me and I actually want to hear you expand upon this topic.

I'm trying to think of moments where disabilities are even acknowledged in rock, but I can't come up with many. There are probably more that I just don't realize.

Morrissey wearing a hearing aid on Top of the Pops. Kurt in a wheelchair at Reading. That's all I got, actually...

The Bridge School benefit comes to mind... Not sure if that's the type of thing you meant

[Norah]

Harmless, you're getting worked up. Go take a walk or something to cool down.

[Farmer John]

Go listen to Pinball Wizard.

[Lament]

It was nice to see them using a disabled person in the video. Rock music doesn't usually portray us very well.

Ok, now you've brought out the amateur sociologist in me and I actually want to hear you expand upon this topic.

I'm trying to think of moments where disabilities are even acknowledged in rock, but I can't come up with many. There are probably more that I just don't realize.

Morrissey wearing a hearing aid on Top of the Pops. Kurt in a wheelchair at Reading. That's all I got, actually...

The Bridge School benefit comes to mind... Not sure if that's the type of thing you meant

Now that you say that, wasn't the album Trans was inspired by Neil's songs disability?

[Lament]

Go listen to Pinball Wizard.

Fuck. I missed the most obvious one.

[Farmer John]

It was nice to see them using a disabled person in the video. Rock music doesn't usually portray us very well.

Ok, now you've brought out the amateur sociologist in me and I actually want to hear you expand upon this topic.

I'm trying to think of moments where disabilities are even acknowledged in rock, but I can't come up with many. There are probably more that I just don't realize.

Morrissey wearing a hearing aid on Top of the Pops. Kurt in a wheelchair at Reading. That's all I got, actually...

The Bridge School benefit comes to mind... Not sure if that's the type of thing you meant

Now that you say that, wasn't the album Trans was inspired by Neil's songs disability?

Just because he only uses 2 or 3 chords doesn't mean his songs are disabled!