Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[Strat]

Im fairly certain there is bongo work in of the girl so

[harmless]

I was shamefully looking for a leak, when I found this:

http://on.aol.com/video/exclusive--pear ... -517960169

Steve Gleason interviewing the whole band, not just Eddie.

Thanks, this was enjoyable too.

Ed likes his awkward sickness metaphors as well as his surfing ones.

And I giggled when Stone said "...five creative... SIX creative people" at the end. I'm hoping he meant Boom.

[Strat]

“Lightning Bolt” songs are intended to be played live and you can expect the set lists to be more experimental this tour.

[Evolution6579]

I was shamefully looking for a leak, when I found this:

http://on.aol.com/video/exclusive--pear ... -517960169

Steve Gleason interviewing the whole band, not just Eddie.

Thanks, this was enjoyable too.

Ed likes his awkward sickness metaphors as well as his surfing ones.

And I giggled when Stone said "...five creative... SIX creative people" at the end. I'm hoping he meant Boom.

What is it they say? "Shit in one hand and hope in the other..." He's talking about Brendan.

[harmless]

“Lightning Bolt” songs are intended to be played live and you can expect the set lists to be more experimental this tour.

Where was this from? Did I miss it?

[Evolution6579]

The Town Hall gathering.

[evenslow]

http://www.guerrillacandy.com/2013/10/0 ... ning-bolt/

Pearl Jam gave its 10th studio album “Lightning Bolt” its public debut Thursday night during a private listening party at Studio X. You can read all about the party and what the band had to say about the album over here.

“Lightning Bolt” will be released Oct. 15 but before I write a full review of the record I want to share my initial thoughts on the album as written in my notebook. This isn’t necessarily a track-by-track review (although it’s written that way in my notes) or a formal analysis of the record, rather it’s a slightly modified transcription of my immediate thoughts when I first heard the record. So what you see here is exactly what appears in my notebook.

“Getaway” is a great starting song. It follows the tradition of “Brain of J,” “Breakerfall” and other hard-hitting, uptempo album-opening tracks.
“My Father’s Son” has a sick bass line. Seriously nice, bouncy groove established by Jeff. Keeps the pace of the record well (“Mind Your Manners” was track 2). I’m not a fan of the abrupt ending. I wish it would’ve lasted another few minutes instead.
“Lightning Bolt” sounds so much better on record than it did when the band debuted it at Wrigley. I hope they iron out the kinks on this one live because when it opens up it really gets going and has lots of potential to become a fan favorite. It’s a good follow-up track for “Sirens” (which was track 4) that makes sure the band won’t lose listeners thinking this is a record full of ballads.
Is that a synthesizer on “Infallible?” This is definitely a different sound for the band. This might easily be the most diverse first half of an album that Pearl Jam has produced. Ed really opens up his voice on the chorus here. Lyric sample: “Anything is possible in the hearts and minds of men/Somehow it’s the biggest things that keep slipping right through our hands.” Another lyric could be about a change in direction for the band (I doubt it) “You’d think we’ve been here before. You’d be mistaken.” Eddie’s voice sounds pretty good on the album so far.
Things are a bit dark on “Pendulum.” Instrumentation: very slow drums, tambourine and sparse guitar. Sample lyrics: “We are here and we go/My shadow left me long ago.” “Easy come and easy go/Easy left me a long time ago.” Maybe dark isn’t the right word. Moody perhaps? Definitely not a happy song but I really like it.
As dark as “Pendulum” is, “Swallowed Whole” is a bit peppier. But it wouldn’t take much to be peppier than “Pendulum.” Also, as sparse as the guitars as in “Pendulum,” they’re very much present here.
Pearl Jam does the blues on “Let the Records Play.” Good groove here. I am betting it’s a Stone song.
Is this Pearl Jam’s jump the shark moment? Could be. Reworking of “Sleeping By Myself” off Ed’s ukulele record sounds good as a band number. But it has country feel. Maybe a bit of a reaction to trying to sound modern with neo folk being so popular? There’s a shuffling guitar and drum backbeat and what could be passed for a slide guitar. The song has gone from a gentle ballad to a more twanged-up alt-country sound. I’m sure fans will dig it, but it could also be a very polarizing song among hardcore fans.
Here comes another ballad with “Yellow Moon.” It’s not as captivating as “Sirens.” I’m not much of a fan of this. Maybe it will grow on me. Seems like there’s no need for it since “Sirens” is such a standout ballad.
Piano notes begin the ending of the record on “Future Days.” Another slower song. It’s very pretty. I don’t think I hear drums. Reminds me of how “Backspacer” ends with “The End.” Sample lyrics: “I believe, I believe because I can see our future days/Days of you and me”

I’ve been spending some time with an advance copy of the album the past few days and my thoughts on the record have changed quite a bit since hearing “Lightning Bolt” for the first time so look for a more thorough review of the album soon.

[Strat]

“Lightning Bolt” songs are intended to be played live and you can expect the set lists to be more experimental this tour.

Where was this from? Did I miss it?

http://www.guerrillacandy.com/2013/10/0 ... town-hall/

[wilkins]

“Lightning Bolt” songs are intended to be played live and you can expect the set lists to be more experimental this tour.

“We’re always trying to gauge how open people are to experimenting with us,” Vedder said. “I kind of through the ether feel like maybe it’s the time to do that (experiment) and I think it might be really interesting in that some interesting, really weird, cool shit might come from that. It’s better to try and fail than to not try at all.”

[EJ]

Link, please.

[stip]

this is a good answer

The inspiration for Pearl Jam’s more sentimental songs comes from a lot of different places.

Vedder was asked about the inspiration for “Just Breathe,” and while his response is specific to that song it gives a little insight into how he currently approaches writing the band’s ballads.

“It was a bunch of things … I know at the time I was thinking about my kids, sometimes I was thinking about my grandmother who wasn’t going to be around much longer at the time, and other times I was thinking about my most significant other. So really, I was trying to get it all down at once,” he said. “But you really don’t want to be writing sentimental songs every time. So once one starts going you have to be careful. You’ll kind of dedicate it to somebody and then on a phone call you’ll tell someone else that it’s for them and hope that they never meet. So you have to be careful about that. But the truth is you do try to pull everything into it.”

[harmless]

Looking forward to that second, more in-depth review.

[harmless]

SBM doesn't sound so bad, based on that new description. It's funny that the reviewer says it's a reaction to alt.country being popular at the moment. I think PJ have been doing alt. country in places for a long time. Maybe the reviewer just meant the production was that clean "neo-country" style.

[stip]

the steve gleason interviews are really good. he asks good questions. the surfer guy was good. Carrie's interview is definitely a step below those two.

[stupidmop]

“Lightning Bolt” songs are intended to be played live and you can expect the set lists to be more experimental this tour.

“We’re always trying to gauge how open people are to experimenting with us,” Vedder said. “I kind of through the ether feel like maybe it’s the time to do that (experiment) and I think it might be really interesting in that some interesting, really weird, cool shit might come from that. It’s better to try and fail than to not try at all.”

Aw yea

Brendan O’Brien is very much the unofficial seventh member of the band

Boo Hisss

Lol eddie calls 92 eddie a rabid horse in that gleason interview.

Bongos almost always mean good things.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

the steve gleason interviews are really good. he asks good questions. the surfer guy was good. Carrie's interview is definitely a step below those two.

did you put the link to gleason's whole interview in the review thread? im wanting to watch that tonight and hoping its easy to find

[stip]

it's in two parts. but they're both there.

[Buby]

I’ve been spending some time with an advance copy of the album the past few days and my thoughts on the record have changed quite a bit since hearing “Lightning Bolt” for the first time so look for a more thorough review of the album soon.

What the shit?

[ledvedderman]

I’ve been spending some time with an advance copy of the album the past few days and my thoughts on the record have changed quite a bit since hearing “Lightning Bolt” for the first time so look for a more thorough review of the album soon.

What the shit?

The question that needs to be asked of that guy is, "You got any gum? Hee hee!!"

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

it's in two parts. but they're both there.

awesome