Lightning Bolt: The Official Album Thread

[solace]

iTunes stream + iTunes Match hybrid rip is now up on the gmail account

it's in 4 pieces

[tommymtcom]

I like this a lot more than the last two albums. I feel like this album would have been a much better follow up to RA than Avocado was.

Pendulum is fantastic. I really like My Father's Son as well.

I still think this is a notch or two below Vitalogy - RA level Pearl Jam, but I've accepted that those days are gone and am enjoying this album quite a lot.

[nyquillyn]

Let the Records Play is fucking terrible. How does something like this make an album?

[tommymtcom]

infalliable reminds me of rival, but put the two side by side and it illustrates how pearl jam's lost their fastball.

My thoughts exactly.

i will say, now that i'm halfway through, that you can tell the band spent a lot more time and energy on this record than they did the last one, so that's something. the compositions are more interesting.

Yeah, I really think that this album is going to make it a lot harder to listen to Backspacer. They are quite similar, but this one is just a lot better.

[Dugg]

infalliable reminds me of rival, but put the two side by side and it illustrates how pearl jam's lost their fastball.

My thoughts exactly.

I don't think it's that at all - Ed simply can't sing a song like Habit with his current vocal range. Ed has most definitely lost his fastball, but I feel like he has come to grips with that on this album.

[Tuolumne]

I gotta eat my words a little (just a little) and give the douche BoB some credit. His production flourishes really add some cool little nuances. I just listened on headphones and there's lots of neat things going on in the layers and background that will reveal themselves in later listens. I hate complimenting that douche, but there you go.

[Thejambi]

It was borderline based on the leak tracks but Pendulum, MFS, Yellow Moon easily places this above S/T, Backspacer and Riot Act thus far.

[verb_to_trust]

I'm very troubled by how much Stip likes Yellow Moon. Hopefully it is just an R.E.M. thing and not because it just sucks.

[wilkins]

Gmail currently on lockdown.

[tommymtcom]

I'm very troubled by how much Stip likes Yellow Moon. Hopefully it is just an R.E.M. thing and not because it just sucks.

It's a good song and it should have been the closer. Future Days is a real turd.

[stip]

it makes me want to run. i'm going to have that shit queued up for mile 23 of my next marathon.

I'm picking up more of a mobility scooter vibe, personally.

Off topic, but I went to Disney World in Orlando a few weeks ago and was stunned by the amount of morbidly obese people riding those.

Americans are fat. Dont be stunned.

not as fat as mexicans, though. We're number 2!

[hlniv]

iTunes stream + iTunes Match hybrid rip is now up on the gmail account

it's in 4 pieces

Anyone want to pass along said gmail info to this guy? Love a PM. Anyone? Bueller?

[liebzz]

This is going to take me a while to understand now that I mostly through - mostly because after Mind Your Manners, each tune is a massive left turn from the song before it. Once I am a little more settled in, I am going to love this aspect of the album. Each song makes you somehow pay attention to it due to that total shift.

[hailroad]

I have given this thing 3 good listens so far and here is where I stand (on a scale of 5):

Getaway-(4.5) Best song on the album. Just very good all around. Great vocals by Ed, good leads by Mike and Stone, Jeff, and Matt propel it to the finish. Most satisfying PJ song since Riot Act.

MYM-(4.0) Good first single and has some swagger to it.

My Fathers Son-(2.5) Just not feeling this yet. It needs some distorted guitar fills in there to add some menace to it.

Sirens-(3.0) Get rid of the 12 string and go full electric and give it more crunch. I think it being acoustic robbed it of the heft it needed to be really great. Great performance by Ed here.

Lightning Bolt-(3.5) A song that has some great parts, and some parts that are meh. Luckily, the great parts outweigh the meh parts. Great build up and solo by Mike finish it out nicely.

Infallible-(3.5) Pairing the album version with the soundcheck kinda saves this one for me. I think it will translate better live and be a monster of a song. More No Way than Tremor Christ.

Pendulum-(4.0) Very cool, atmospheric song with just the right amount of moodiness. Could be a future opener.

Swallowed Whole-(4.5) The only things that keep this song from going to a 5 for me is Ed's warble and the weak outro that lets the air out of the triumphant finish it builds up.

LTRP-(3.0) Sounds okay. Misses the crunch of 1/2 Full and just pure, blazing glory of Red Mosquito. Good solos by Mike.

SBM-(3.0) Not as bad as others made it out to be. Just fits better as a b-side or novelty song. Rather pointless on why it's here.

Yellow Moon-(4.5) Comes so close to beating Getaway. Great Ed performance, mood, and guitar work. IMO this will become a new opener. How could they even think of dropping this and including the dreck that is Future Days?

Future Days-(1.0) Sits next to Just Breathe and Gone as being just colossal TURDS of songs. The inclusion of this song makes me want to vomit. This and SBM are where O'Brien needs to get the shit kicked out of him. Seriously, I don't think there could be a worse Pearl Jam (excuse me, Ed solo) song. Did I mention this song is for shit?

Final Verdict: It's better than Backspacer and S/T in my opinion; however, it could have been much better with the inclusion of Let It Ride and/or Of the Earth. I am not a huge Of the Earth fan, but it's overall theme fits this album moreso than SBM or that piece of shit, Future Days. I hope the next album, which I think will be their last, should be produced by somebody like Daniel Lanois, or have Neil Young produce them. O'Brien needs to disappear and never be heard from again.

[hlniv]

I gotta eat my words a little (just a little) and give the douche BoB some credit. His production flourishes really add some cool little nuances. I just listened on headphones and there's lots of neat things going on in the layers and background that will reveal themselves in later listens. I hate complimenting that douche, but there you go.

Agreed. But, hard to forgive him for this tracking sequence, the FD piano (still lame here), and the inclusion of SBM (which ain't that bad, just way, way out of place...)

But other than that, some of this shit doesn't sound pretty damn interesting. So much more engaging than BS. And it just puts S/T to shame.

[IlluminEddie]

Future Days is a great tune.

[tommymtcom]

Future Days is a great tune.

Get out.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

Man, I must be way out of touch. I'm not hearing what you guys are hearing. I can't make excuses for any of these songs. They range from mediocre to horrible. Easily their worst album ever for me.

[liebzz]

Okay, done with the first listen...now comes the next 6 months where I practically listen to nothing else.

[Soma.]

infalliable reminds me of rival, but put the two side by side and it illustrates how pearl jam's lost their fastball.

My thoughts exactly.

Ed simply can't sing a song like Habit.

I was more referring to the arrangements anyway. I try to ignore Ed these days.