Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[harmless]

I'm listening to Bonnie Prince Billy right now and now I want SBM to sound like this.

I wish it sounded like this! BPB rules Does he have a producer?

groetjes,
Mirella

You heard it and it doesn't sound like this, right? ;_; Mark Nevers produced that album.

No, I wish. This would be just right. And thanks.

groetjes,
Mirella

I'm pretty worried about this one. Didn't BoB say that they struggled to make this one sound less commercial? Because I can imagine that would in fact be quite easy. I'm sure that's just what BoB told them: "Ugh, guys, I'm really struggling to make this one sound less commercial. We might just have to go with one of these."

[Norah]

[lecherouslittlestump]

I'm feeling dangerously optimistic about this album. Somebody lower my expectations quickly.

Okay.

We're in the pre-album hype phase. It happened with Avocado. It happened with Backspacer ("their best since Yield"). Lightning Bolt will be a typical mid-career album from a mid-career classic rock band who's members are approaching/in their fifties. It'll contain some solid rockers and some solid ballads. It'll debut at number 1 on the charts in its first week but sink like a stone afterwards. It'll get the usual 4/5, 7/10, 6.5 reviews from magazines who will claim the grunge "survivors" are "still going strong." There will be subsequent singles released from the album, but they won't make a dent in the charts or public consciousness, because anybody who was interested bought the album in its first week. The songs will be played fast and sloppy live, and the crowd will be kind of into it but not really.

Pearl Jam will continue to make these safe, solid, decent albums - just like Avocado and Backspacer - for the next decade or too until they split up. There will be a commemorative greatest hits, which will be frontloaded with their songs from the 90s, and only a smattering of stuff from Binaural onwards.

[Mirella]

I don't really get the hate for Sirens from the PJ hipsters. Is it really that much different in tone/style than, say, Wishlist, Light Years, or Parachutes?

Aren't hipsters those people who have opinions about everything without even knowing what it is about? I mean, hating music without listening first and stuff. All very shallow .

groetjes,
Mirella

[Mirella]

I'm feeling dangerously optimistic about this album. Somebody lower my expectations quickly.

Okay.

We're in the pre-album hype phase. It happened with Avocado. It happened with Backspacer ("their best since Yield"). Lightning Bolt will be a typical mid-career album from a mid-career classic rock band who's members are approaching/in their fifties. It'll contain some solid rockers and some solid ballads. It'll debut at number 1 on the charts in its first week but sink like a stone afterwards. It'll get the usual 4/5, 7/10, 6.5 reviews from magazines who will claim the grunge "survivors" are "still going strong." There will be subsequent singles released from the album, but they won't make a dent in the charts or public consciousness, because anybody who was interested bought the album in its first week. The songs will be played fast and sloppy live, and the crowd will be kind of into it but not really.

Pearl Jam will continue to make these safe, solid, decent albums - just like Avocado and Backspacer - for the next decade or too until they split up. There will be a commemorative greatest hits, which will be frontloaded with their songs from the 90s, and only a smattering of stuff from Binaural onwards.

No, this one is different. And stop the 'in their fifties' crap .

groetjes,
Mirella

[thelurkertoo]

[Iowaska_Experience]

I don't really get the hate for Sirens from the PJ hipsters. Is it really that much different in tone/style than, say, Wishlist, Light Years, or Parachutes?

I get your love for it. But yes I think it's pretty different. And we need to stop using the word "hipsters", it doesn't help our case!

I don't claim to love it. I just don't get the ones that find it offensive to their fandom in some way. And I'm using "hipster" here interchangeably with contrarian (or more precisely, contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian).

[harmless]

I'm feeling dangerously optimistic about this album. Somebody lower my expectations quickly.

Okay.

We're in the pre-album hype phase. It happened with Avocado. It happened with Backspacer ("their best since Yield"). Lightning Bolt will be a typical mid-career album from a mid-career classic rock band who's members are approaching/in their fifties. It'll contain some solid rockers and some solid ballads. It'll debut at number 1 on the charts in its first week but sink like a stone afterwards. It'll get the usual 4/5, 7/10, 6.5 reviews from magazines who will claim the grunge "survivors" are "still going strong." There will be subsequent singles released from the album, but they won't make a dent in the charts or public consciousness, because anybody who was interested bought the album in its first week. The songs will be played fast and sloppy live, and the crowd will be kind of into it but not really.

Pearl Jam will continue to make these safe, solid, decent albums - just like Avocado and Backspacer - for the next decade or too until they split up. There will be a commemorative greatest hits, which will be frontloaded with their songs from the 90s, and only a smattering of stuff from Binaural onwards.

I have to hand it to you, this is completely correct.

[harmless]

I don't really get the hate for Sirens from the PJ hipsters. Is it really that much different in tone/style than, say, Wishlist, Light Years, or Parachutes?

I get your love for it. But yes I think it's pretty different. And we need to stop using the word "hipsters", it doesn't help our case!

I don't claim to love it. I just don't get the ones that find it offensive to their fandom in some way. And I'm using "hipster" here interchangeably with contrarian (or more precisely, contrarian for the sake of being a contrarian).

I agree with you. It's pretty inoffensive at worst. There's one section that bothers me because it reminds me of Robbie Williams, but other than that I'm perfectly fine with it. Some bits are great enough to make it one I won't skip.

[Lament]

I don't really get the hate for Sirens from the PJ hipsters. Is it really that much different in tone/style than, say, Wishlist, Light Years, or Parachutes?

Some people just don't think it's very good.

And can we please get a moratorium on calling people "hipsters"? It's like the world's catch all accusation to throw towards anyone whose tastes a person wants to belittle for being different from theirs (I'm not singling you out, Iowaska, it gets tossed around here by a lot of different people).

Anyways, I happen to be in the "I don't like Sirens crowd." I don't like the music. I'm not sure what everyone thinks is so great about Ed's vocal take on it; It sounds strained and almost unpleasant to me. The sentiment/message is something I can't relate to at all, and it doesn't do a good job of making me want to feel any empathy for the protagonist in the song. Wishlist is pretty mundane, but I can relate to the simple longing of it, and the sweetness and simplicity of the track make it work for me when I'm in the right mood. The pain and confusion of the protagonist in Light Years pulls me in by my heartstrings and sucks me into his plight. Parachutes has what amounts to some interesting/unique melodic/vocal approaches (by Pearl Jam standards) that transcend my lack of any connection to what the narrator is singing about. Sirens doesn't have a single one of those things for me. Maybe someday I'll feel differently about the sentiment because either a. I'll be able to relate to it or b. Someone will frame it in a way that allows me to at least empathize with it, but short of one of those two things, I don't see myself ever liking this song.

[harmless]

I'm feeling dangerously optimistic about this album. Somebody lower my expectations quickly.

Okay.

We're in the pre-album hype phase. It happened with Avocado. It happened with Backspacer ("their best since Yield"). Lightning Bolt will be a typical mid-career album from a mid-career classic rock band who's members are approaching/in their fifties. It'll contain some solid rockers and some solid ballads. It'll debut at number 1 on the charts in its first week but sink like a stone afterwards. It'll get the usual 4/5, 7/10, 6.5 reviews from magazines who will claim the grunge "survivors" are "still going strong." There will be subsequent singles released from the album, but they won't make a dent in the charts or public consciousness, because anybody who was interested bought the album in its first week. The songs will be played fast and sloppy live, and the crowd will be kind of into it but not really.

Pearl Jam will continue to make these safe, solid, decent albums - just like Avocado and Backspacer - for the next decade or too until they split up. There will be a commemorative greatest hits, which will be frontloaded with their songs from the 90s, and only a smattering of stuff from Binaural onwards.

No, this one is different. And stop the 'in their fifties' crap .

groetjes,
Mirella

Haha!

[E.H. Ruddock]

Haha everything

[Norah]

I don't really get the hate for Sirens from the PJ hipsters. Is it really that much different in tone/style than, say, Wishlist, Light Years, or Parachutes?

Some people just don't think it's very good.

And can we please get a moratorium on calling people "hipsters"? It's like the world's catch all accusation to throw towards anyone whose tastes a person wants to belittle for being different from theirs (I'm not singling you out, Iowaska, it gets tossed around here by a lot of different people).

Anyways, I happen to be in the "I don't like Sirens crowd." I don't like the music. I'm not sure what everyone thinks is so great about Ed's vocal take on it; It sounds strained and almost unpleasant to me. The sentiment/message is something I can't relate to at all, and it doesn't do a good job of making me want to feel any empathy for the protagonist in the song. Wishlist is pretty mundane, but I can relate to the simple longing of it, and the sweetness and simplicity of the track make it work for me when I'm in the right mood. The pain and confusion of the protagonist in Light Years pulls me in by my heartstrings and sucks me into his plight. Parachutes has what amounts to some interesting/unique melodic/vocal approaches (by Pearl Jam standards) that transcend my lack of any connection to what the narrator is singing about. Sirens doesn't have a single one of those things for me. Maybe someday I'll feel differently about the sentiment because either a. I'll be able to relate to it or b. Someone will frame it in a way that allows me to at least empathize with it, but short of one of those two things, I don't see myself ever liking this song.

Team Lament.

[harmless]

b. Someone will frame it in a way that allows me to at least empathize with it

I might try and do this at some point.

[LetMeSleep]

b. Someone will frame it in a way that allows me to at least empathize with it

I might try and do this at some point.

Good luck with that awful 2nd pre-chorus.

[harmless]

b. Someone will frame it in a way that allows me to at least empathize with it

I might try and do this at some point.

Good luck with that awful 2nd pre-chorus.

Haha, that's the bit I dislike. Sometimes, not always. On a good day it's unremarkable.

[harmless]

Na, the best I can do I think is write about how I personally identify with it, to the extent that its obvious flaws don't matter.

[LetMeSleep]

Harmless bingo time.

I've got nearly 300 posts in this thread out of 26300. My guess is Harmless has 4379 in this thread alone.

[CupidStunt]

I'm feeling dangerously optimistic about this album. Somebody lower my expectations quickly.

Okay.

We're in the pre-album hype phase. It happened with Avocado. It happened with Backspacer ("their best since Yield"). Lightning Bolt will be a typical mid-career album from a mid-career classic rock band who's members are approaching/in their fifties. It'll contain some solid rockers and some solid ballads. It'll debut at number 1 on the charts in its first week but sink like a stone afterwards. It'll get the usual 4/5, 7/10, 6.5 reviews from magazines who will claim the grunge "survivors" are "still going strong." There will be subsequent singles released from the album, but they won't make a dent in the charts or public consciousness, because anybody who was interested bought the album in its first week. The songs will be played fast and sloppy live, and the crowd will be kind of into it but not really.

Pearl Jam will continue to make these safe, solid, decent albums - just like Avocado and Backspacer - for the next decade or too until they split up. There will be a commemorative greatest hits, which will be frontloaded with their songs from the 90s, and only a smattering of stuff from Binaural onwards.

I have to hand it to you, this is completely correct.

Absolutely. Bang on.

[Habitman]

I'm feeling dangerously optimistic about this album. Somebody lower my expectations quickly.

Okay.

We're in the pre-album hype phase. It happened with Avocado. It happened with Backspacer ("their best since Yield"). Lightning Bolt will be a typical mid-career album from a mid-career classic rock band who's members are approaching/in their fifties. It'll contain some solid rockers and some solid ballads. It'll debut at number 1 on the charts in its first week but sink like a stone afterwards. It'll get the usual 4/5, 7/10, 6.5 reviews from magazines who will claim the grunge "survivors" are "still going strong." There will be subsequent singles released from the album, but they won't make a dent in the charts or public consciousness, because anybody who was interested bought the album in its first week. The songs will be played fast and sloppy live, and the crowd will be kind of into it but not really.

Pearl Jam will continue to make these safe, solid, decent albums - just like Avocado and Backspacer - for the next decade or too until they split up. There will be a commemorative greatest hits, which will be frontloaded with their songs from the 90s, and only a smattering of stuff from Binaural onwards.

Could very well be how it plays out but in any art/sport there is a time where history forces us to predict the future. In many cases, the past is the future. But in some cases a great athlete beats "father time" and doesn't succumb to the typical mid-30s age curve of deteriorating performance. And sometimes the great film director makes a great film late in a career that features the "legendary work" that occurred early in the career

Pearl jam may be like most bands and artists and follow the path outlined above Or they may be one of the exceptions. Either way - I believe this band to be unique and possibly one of the few to break the trend.