Lightning Bolt: The Official Album Thread

[gems and rhinestones]

I quite like how SBM turned out and it flows well with the songs that surround it. I don't think it is one of the stronger tracks on the record, but that has a lot more to do with the strength of the record than SBM.


The only song I really don't care for is future days.

I'm hoping over time it will feel like it belongs. For me it just feels forced onto the record but maybe it's because I know the story of how it got on here.

[McParadigm]

I quite like how SBM turned out and it flows well with the songs that surround it. I don't think it is one of the stronger tracks on the record, but that has a lot more to do with the strength of the record than SBM.


The only song I really don't care for is future days.

Future Days ended up fine, stip.

[harmless]

Great
Pendulum

Good
Sleeping By Myself
My Fathers Son
Getaway

Ok
Mind your manners

eeeehhhhh
Yellow moon
Swallowed Whole

Nope
Lightning Bolt

Fuck you Pearl Jam
Future days
Infallible
let the records play
Sirens

Only really listening to the top 4.

As an album? Nope.

Do I think pearl jam are ever gonna make that one awesome album I thought they had left in them? Nope.

Does BoB need to GTFO? Yes.

Does Ed needs to stop with those kiddy pop choruses/bridges? Yes.

Should they veto the songs mike and BoB like the most automatically? Probably

Yellow Moon?

[nomorecrackpipes]

This is after one listen, bound to change:

They only songs that stand up to the rest of the PJ catalog, to me, are Getaway, Sirens, and Pendulum. My Fathers Son is too different for me to make a judgment on one listen, and Yellow Moon, while good, sounds waaaay too much like Low Light.

I'm saddened by Infallible, but the whole version sounds like PJ trying to do PJ of old and not coming close; the hype was out of bounds. I have the same crestfallen feel I had after I listened to Amongst the Waves.

Can't wait for the record to show up and give a proper listen with my two year old son.

[Release_Me]

Not much time to post a proper review. Overall, this album exceeded all my expectations. The only song I don't really care for is Future Days and even that I don't dislike. Everything else ranges from good to great. There are more great moments on this record for me than anything since Vitalogy.

Infallible, Pendulum, Yellow Moon, Getaway and My Father's Son are all potential 5 star songs for me.

Lightning Bolt, Sirens, Mind Your Manners, Swallowed Whole are all 4.5 star songs at this point.

LTRP and SBM are 3.5 - 4 star songs.

FD is 3 stars.

Extremely happy with Ed rediscovering his knack for excellent vocal melodies. Everything about this album that seems to be turning off the RM fans who liked the middle period (No Code-Riot Act) is giving me a boner. The bridges and choruses are extremely melodic and sung brilliantly. Even the darker songs have Eddie delivering excellent melodies while adding to the songs. The chorus to Infallible, especially Ed's singing post 2:48 is killer. Those high sung lines are some of the most impressive and difficult singing I've heard Ed do. Ever. To sound that clean in upper fourth octave for him is not easy. Props. And his lower end is excellent on Pendulum. It adds to what is musically an excellent piece already. That ah-ah part is also fantastic. One time when I am all for studio magic. Jeff does a great job as others have said, but Ed is the hero of the album for me. Without these vocal melodies and his delivery, these songs would have been a notch below what they are.

I'm placing this above Backspacer as my no.4 for the moment. I honestly feel it has a shot at no.3. Vs currently occupies that spot but it does have more songs I just don't care for. For nostalgia's sake, I am still keeping it at 3. A few months later, if I still feel the same way about LB, I could switch it with Vs. Now that's something I never thought I would say. The top 3 was always set in stone for me. That's how much LB has succeeded.

[Simple Torture]

After just one listen, I think there are probably only 2-3 stinkers on this album...which is good news! I don't think I'll give it another full listen until the LP arrived next week.

[stip]

I quite like how SBM turned out and it flows well with the songs that surround it. I don't think it is one of the stronger tracks on the record, but that has a lot more to do with the strength of the record than SBM.


The only song I really don't care for is future days.

Future Days ended up fine, stip.

I said this in my review, but I think everything in future days deserved a better song than future days

[stip]

Not much time to post a proper review. Overall, this album exceeded all my expectations. The only song I don't really care for is Future Days and even that I don't dislike. Everything else ranges from good to great. There are more great moments on this record for me than anything since Vitalogy.

Infallible, Pendulum, Yellow Moon, Getaway and My Father's Son are all potential 5 star songs for me.

Lightning Bolt, Sirens, Mind Your Manners, Swallowed Whole are all 4.5 star songs at this point.

LTRP and SBM are 3.5 - 4 star songs.

FD is 3 stars.

Extremely happy with Ed rediscovering his knack for excellent vocal melodies. Everything about this album that seems to be turning off the RM fans who liked the middle period (No Code-Riot Act) is giving me a boner. The bridges and choruses are extremely melodic and sung brilliantly. Even the darker songs have Eddie delivering excellent melodies while adding to the songs. The chorus to Infallible, especially Ed's singing post 2:48 is killer. Those high sung lines are some of the most impressive and difficult singing I've heard Ed do. Ever. To sound that clean in upper fourth octave for him is not easy. Props. And his lower end is excellent on Pendulum. It adds to what is musically an excellent piece already. That ah-ah part is also fantastic. One time when I am all for studio magic. Jeff does a great job as others have said, but Ed is the hero of the album for me. Without these vocal melodies and his delivery, these songs would have been a notch below what they are.

I'm placing this above Backspacer as my no.4 for the moment. I honestly feel it has a shot at no.3. Vs currently occupies that spot but it does have more songs I just don't care for. For nostalgia's sake, I am still keeping it at 3. A few months later, if I still feel the same way about LB, I could switch it with Vs. Now that's something I never thought I would say. The top 3 was always set in stone for me. That's how much LB has succeeded.

I don't know yet if this will knock out backspacer for my 4 spot. It could. I love the album too, though. A largely unqualified success.

[McParadigm]

I quite like how SBM turned out and it flows well with the songs that surround it. I don't think it is one of the stronger tracks on the record, but that has a lot more to do with the strength of the record than SBM.


The only song I really don't care for is future days.

Future Days ended up fine, stip.

I said this in my review, but I think everything in future days deserved a better song than future days

I can understand that sentiment, I guess. I disagree....Future Days is exactly the kind of sparse and motionless song that both wears atmospherics abnormally well and badly needs them to survive...but I can see what you mean.

[B]

My thoughts after being a couple of listens in (and not having read stip's review):

- For writing MYM and Sirens and fighting for Yellow Moon ... Mike is making the best decisions on this album.
- For Sleeping By Myself and the piano fade out at the end ... BOB is making the worst (and I don't even hate fadeouts in general).
- I like everything I hadn't heard before with the exception of My Father's Son, which I still don't like, but I'm trying.
- I like Sleeping By Myself, but I think its inclusion in this album dilutes their cred as a "rock band." I think it should have been a B-side or a fan club single. It's just to silly and chipper for the tone of this album.

[stip]

are you proud of me for posting it by myself?

Spoiler: show

chud helped

[McParadigm]

apparently not

[B]

are you proud of me for posting it by myself?

Spoiler: show

chud helped

Quite impressed.

[hlniv]

I quite like how SBM turned out and it flows well with the songs that surround it. I don't think it is one of the stronger tracks on the record, but that has a lot more to do with the strength of the record than SBM.


The only song I really don't care for is future days.

First off - bang up job on the write up. That's some excellent stuff there. I only disagree in slight spots, but the way you've dissected and re-connected is gold. Kudos. That's very impressive. It opened my eyes a little to the theme of the album, which certainly exists, and in many ways has a beginning and an end that takes you somewhere.

That said, I think SBM fits horribly with the tunes around it. It's a xmas single and has no place here. It's very well done, however. So, I'm conflicted. I think the album is better off without it, but we as fans, are better off with it. Could have been a b-side to the next single, which is sure to be Lightning Bolt.

I put together a Future Days edit last night cutting the piano off the ends. I can't stand it as it exists, but it's a great song without that distraction. I spend the first half of the track wiping away the gooey crap that those keys spew, and then just when I think I might like it, they kick in again at the end. I very much like how it settles once the cause of the problem is removed. Quick into it and quick out of it, and it is lovely, and I think a great way to close the album.

[bada]

Why do the first two lines in MFS not rhyme but everything else does? Am I missing something?

[McParadigm]

Why do the first two lines in MFS not rhyme but everything else does? Am I missing something?

It's a pretty bad way to start a song, but rhyming doesn't exactly save the later lines from being suckball, either.

[B]

Why do the first two lines in MFS not rhyme but everything else does? Am I missing something?

I noticed that on first listen, and I've hated the song ever since. It's so awkward that I can't recover until after the first chorus, and by then I'm too pissed off to enjoy the song.

[harmless]

Why do the first two lines in MFS not rhyme but everything else does? Am I missing something?

It's a pretty bad way to start a song, but rhyming doesn't exactly save the later lines from being suckball, either.

I'm gonna listen for that now. Rhyming or not rhyming are both fine, but the inconsistency might hurt it...

[dimejinky99]

Gets better and better! My local station Phantom are running a competition to see Pj in Seattle in December!! I'm a finalist!! Woohoo!!

[bada]

Why do the first two lines in MFS not rhyme but everything else does? Am I missing something?

It's a pretty bad way to start a song, but rhyming doesn't exactly save the later lines from being suckball, either.

I'm gonna listen for that now. Rhyming or not rhyming are both fine, but the inconsistency might hurt it...

yeah it's the inconsistency that really throws me....one way or the other would be fine....