Lightning Bolt: The Official Album Thread

[Jaeti]

"Shirley" / "surely" (MFS)

"records" / "red dress" (LTRP)

"hymn" / "him"? (MYM)

Do these all sound like deliberate differences between the songs and liner notes?

I haven't heard "red dress" myself, but now I'm going to go listen for it and try to believe that's what he's saying.

[harmless]

"Shirley" / "surely" (MFS)

"records" / "red dress" (LTRP)

"hymn" / "him"? (MYM)

Do these all sound like deliberate differences between the songs and liner notes?

I haven't heard "red dress" myself, but now I'm going to go listen for it and try to believe that's what he's saying.

I've heard it every time, never heard records.

[ABNorman]

Well, I'm pretty surprised by my first listen reaction:

Sirens
Getaway
Infallible
Lightning Bolt

Sleeping By Myself
Future Days
Mind Your Manners

Swallowed Whole
Pendulum
My Father's Son

Yellow Moon
Let the Records Play

The piano on Future Days is too much, but it connected immediately (I love the almost discordant atmospheric stuff behind "I believe").

The great thing is not only did I enjoy a bunch of songs straight off, but I also got the sense that I'd like to return to a few more. I feel like Pendulum will climb, whereas Swallowed Whole will drop. I don't really know where the hell MFS will end up, but I remember enjoying it's unique aggression.

Yellow Moon was perhaps my biggest disappointment. It has too many of the Binaural/Riot Act vocal melody touches that make me struggle with those albums. I think the "Where we stop, yeah no one knows" exemplifies this kind of unexpected-but-not-in-a-pleasant-way melody.

Let the Records Play is at the bottom because though I really like the swagger of the guitars, I wasn't so keen on the melodies (vocals are probably the most important part of any song for me, though they need a solid foundation, obviously).

But overall, I can feel instantly that this one has more to discover - that's not something I felt when listening to Backspacer. This will definitely be above Riot Act/Avocado/Backspacer, will probably challenge Binaural, and if further listens go well, could even nudge at Ten & Vs.

[harmless]

Gah, no. It's the first time I've really listened in FLAC.

It's "records". Poo.

[Jaeti]

Gah, no. It's the first time I've really listened in FLAC.

It's "records". Poo.

Yeah, I just listened, too. Sad.

[HardTI]

Well, I'm pretty surprised by my first listen reaction:

Sirens
Getaway
Infallible
Lightning Bolt

Sleeping By Myself
Future Days
Mind Your Manners

Swallowed Whole
Pendulum
My Father's Son

Yellow Moon
Let the Records Play

The piano on Future Days is too much, but it connected immediately (I love the almost discordant atmospheric stuff behind "I believe").

The great thing is not only did I enjoy a bunch of songs straight off, but I also got the sense that I'd like to return to a few more. I feel like Pendulum will climb, whereas Swallowed Whole will drop. I don't really know where the hell MFS will end up, but I remember enjoying it's unique aggression.

Yellow Moon was perhaps my biggest disappointment. It has too many of the Binaural/Riot Act vocal melody touches that make me struggle with those albums. I think the "Where we stop, yeah no one knows" exemplifies this kind of unexpected-but-not-in-a-pleasant-way melody.

Let the Records Play is at the bottom because though I really like the swagger of the guitars, I wasn't so keen on the melodies (vocals are probably the most important part of any song for me, though they need a solid foundation, obviously).

But overall, I can feel instantly that this one has more to discover - that's not something I felt when listening to Backspacer. This will definitely be above Riot Act/Avocado/Backspacer, will probably challenge Binaural, and if further listens go well, could even nudge at Ten & Vs.

I'm feeling this with ya. It's an excellent record.

Guys, I think I misheard most of the lyrics in Future Days, cause the official lyrics really are not bad at all. This actually helps the song.

[harmless]

Gah, no. It's the first time I've really listened in FLAC.

It's "records". Poo.

Yeah, I just listened, too. Sad.

I still hold to my T.Rex / glam theory though. Stone mentioned them in his interview.

[4/5]

Infallible and Pendulum are really, really good.

[Jaeti]

Guys, I think I misheard most of the lyrics in Future Days, cause the official lyrics really are not bad at all. This actually helps the song.

Yeah, they're not bad. I understand people being put off by the piano and feeling that cheeses up the song, but the lyrics aren't really a problem, as I'd expected them to be.

[harmless]

Guys, I think I misheard most of the lyrics in Future Days, cause the official lyrics really are not bad at all. This actually helps the song.

Yeah, they're not bad. I understand people being put off by the piano and feeling that cheeses up the song, but the lyrics aren't really a problem, as I'd expected them to be.

Regarding the cheesy production, I also think there's something darkly fun and ironic about the fact that it sounds like a cheesy Christian worship song, sonically, even though most of the album is an attack on fundamentalist religion. I enjoy that irony.

[Jaeti]

Guys, I think I misheard most of the lyrics in Future Days, cause the official lyrics really are not bad at all. This actually helps the song.

Yeah, they're not bad. I understand people being put off by the piano and feeling that cheeses up the song, but the lyrics aren't really a problem, as I'd expected them to be.

Regarding the cheesy production, I also think there's something darkly fun and ironic about the fact that it sounds like a cheesy Christian worship song, sonically, even though most of the album is an attack on fundamentalist religion. I enjoy that irony.

Ha, yeah, pretty true.

[darthvedder81]

Ah yeah. No, I don't hear it either.

Bass players?

It's hard to tell. The bass parts sound slightly distorted to me so if he's playing in a higher register (a six string bass has a high c and a low b) it would sound a lot like a normal distorted guitar.

*5 string basses make sense to me as it's nice to be able to hit that low D but six (or more) string basses I've never seen much of a point in.

[harmless]

Ah yeah. No, I don't hear it either.

Bass players?

It's hard to tell. The bass parts sound slightly distorted to me so if he's playing in a higher register (a six string bass has a high c and a low b) it would sound a lot like a normal distorted guitar.

*5 string basses make sense to me as it's nice to be able to hit that low D but six (or more) string basses I've never seen much of a point in.

[harmless]

By the way, I'm also still hearing "graves" on Sirens, not "grace" (at least once, not sure about twice). But again, the lyrics say "grace"...

[Thejambi]

By the way, I'm also still hearing "graves" on Sirens, not "grace" (at least once, not sure about twice). But again, the lyrics say "grace"...

Life is what you make it

[numbers]

I'm just really happy this album doesn't suck.

[EJ]

"Its not terrible."

[Oh, Jimmy]

Ah yeah. No, I don't hear it either.

Bass players?

It's hard to tell. The bass parts sound slightly distorted to me so if he's playing in a higher register (a six string bass has a high c and a low b) it would sound a lot like a normal distorted guitar.

*5 string basses make sense to me as it's nice to be able to hit that low D but six (or more) string basses I've never seen much of a point in.

I wonder if they might have tuned and played it like a normal guitar to beef some stuff up. I know Slash did that on the UYI albums.

[Thejambi]

Ah yeah. No, I don't hear it either.

Bass players?

It's hard to tell. The bass parts sound slightly distorted to me so if he's playing in a higher register (a six string bass has a high c and a low b) it would sound a lot like a normal distorted guitar.

*5 string basses make sense to me as it's nice to be able to hit that low D but six (or more) string basses I've never seen much of a point in.

I wonder if they might have tuned and played it like a normal guitar to beef some stuff up. I know Slash did that on the UYI albums.

I don t hear it in the verses but I think it is mirroring the guitar in the chorus. I'm on shotty speakers right now though.

[given2fly23]

God, is this the TV announcement?

Pearl Jam's epic, rain-delayed set at Chicago's Wrigley Field in July won't be the only time the band connects with baseball in 2013. A partnership with Fox Sports will include extensive use of 48 Pearl Jam songs across the promotional and music beds for this month's World Series coverage, set to air Oct. 23-31 on Fox, and feature the group's music throughout November as Artist of the Month across all Fox Sports properties.

Swing and a miss!