Song of the Moment: Swallowed Whole

General Pearl Jam discussion.
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Rate Swallowed Whole

5 Stars
29
19%
4 Stars
58
38%
3 Stars
43
28%
2 Stars
17
11%
1 Star
6
4%
 
Total votes: 153

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epilogue
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by epilogue »

Thejambi wrote:
durdencommatyler wrote:So far, this is the low point of the album for me. Not that it's a terrible song or anything, but it's so vanilla and obvious and been there, done that. Forgettable. I've listened to it twice in the last hour and I can't tell you anything about how it sounds. Just that it sounds like an old ITW song and there's a lot of lyrics about the Earth.
I love the song. It's top 5 on this album for me.
I have a little problem with what seems to be a main criticism that it sounds like ITW.
I does have that feel but it is really a fair crit considering that work isn't pearl jam?
I think the band takes it to a different level personally. Not arguing against you not liking it just curious. Personally I think it suffers most from its placement on te album. It is more of a rocker that seems inconsequential because of how potent the top 3 are.
It's not that I dislike ITW or anything or even that aesthetic. I know I'm one of the few around here but I adore Just Breathe. Just feels like old hat and a bit uninspired to me. But again, I've only listened twice. This is all new first impression type stuff. This thing may grow on me. I'm looking forward to finding out.

I'm nowhere near ready to call it a song I'd skip.
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Strat
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Strat »

I hated it at first.

I like it now. The band is really firing all over it starting about the 1:15 mark. Its not a song im going to get emotional about but its starting to become more enjoyable.
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Jorge
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Jorge »

This is my second-favorite song in the album, behind "My Father's Son".
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Thejambi »

theplatypus wrote:This is my second-favorite song in the album, behind "My Father's Son".
Mine are still shuffling but it's up there. I'm really fond of Yellow moon. MFS is tops .
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epilogue
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by epilogue »

My Father's Son is pretty fantastic.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Thejambi »

durdencommatyler wrote:My Father's Son is pretty fantastic.
Ear boner from the first note till the last. Every time.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by digster »

This song hasn't really held up for me. It just can't help sounding like a bunch of parts mish-mashed together. The progression on the bridge in particular takes me out of the song each time.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

durdencommatyler wrote:
Thejambi wrote:
durdencommatyler wrote:So far, this is the low point of the album for me. Not that it's a terrible song or anything, but it's so vanilla and obvious and been there, done that. Forgettable. I've listened to it twice in the last hour and I can't tell you anything about how it sounds. Just that it sounds like an old ITW song and there's a lot of lyrics about the Earth.
I love the song. It's top 5 on this album for me.
I have a little problem with what seems to be a main criticism that it sounds like ITW.
I does have that feel but it is really a fair crit considering that work isn't pearl jam?
I think the band takes it to a different level personally. Not arguing against you not liking it just curious. Personally I think it suffers most from its placement on te album. It is more of a rocker that seems inconsequential because of how potent the top 3 are.
It's not that I dislike ITW or anything or even that aesthetic. I know I'm one of the few around here but I adore Just Breathe. Just feels like old hat and a bit uninspired to me. But again, I've only listened twice. This is all new first impression type stuff. This thing may grow on me. I'm looking forward to finding out.

I'm nowhere near ready to call it a song I'd skip.
Durden, it's that rising bridge and the transition back into the solo that got me first time. The song pulled me in when I realised that that kind of climactic bridge hadn't been done by this band. Or rather, not for a long time. It's a totally different kind of song, but the goosebumps I got from that were very RVM-like.
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harmless
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

Other than that, does anyone else get a Vs. / Daughter feel from this, the way it builds from a nice little unassuming acoustic ditty to something bigger?
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by WaitingForBluey »

This song is going to kick ass live. Can't wait!
theplatypus wrote:A solo is when the guitar goes twiddly diddly
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by psychobain »

after Pendulum, sounds like a b-side
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by dimejinky99 »

I think this will be great live but its the one I'm struggling with most.

It's an important part of the whole story. Eds hippy almost pagan leanings vs the vitriol against organised religion on other tracks.

But musically it feels a little stale. Like an into the wild flashback.
Not in a good way. It's sort of misplaced for me.

Maybe it'll come on later. Right now it's very bottom of the pile.
Last edited by dimejinky99 on Mon October 14, 2013 9:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Hatfield
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Hatfield »

I guess I am in the hippy with pagan leanings category, but I listened this while running around Boulder this morning and I had a near religious experience. I hope everyone can put their leanings aside and be able to appreciate this one. The quality is there.

Me and the platypus rarely agree. Glad we do on this one and MFS :thumbsup:
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by ridleybradout »

theplatypus wrote:This is my second-favorite song in the album, behind "My Father's Son".
Me too my monotreme friend :thumbsup:
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by WaitingForBluey »

psychobain wrote:after Pendulum, sounds like a b-side
For me... the way that opening riff rolls right out from underneath Pendulum is probably part of the reason why I love this song so much. Pendulum works perfectly in connecting the first half of the album to the second half... and Infallible and Swallowed Whole are both better songs for it. :heartbeat:
theplatypus wrote:A solo is when the guitar goes twiddly diddly
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mray10
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by mray10 »

For me it's toward the bottom, but it's a nice song. Being at the bottom just speaks to how much I'm enjoying the album.
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Dr. Van Nostrand
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Dr. Van Nostrand »

As soon as i mentioned this morning that a few songs were jumping past this song in my rankings, i listened to it again tonight and just loved it again
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by harmless »

It's pretty great. It soars. I still love the way the bridge rises into that guitar solo. I also love the pseudo-hymnal lyrics of the bridge.
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by bada »

A lot of people who's opinions I normally agree with are having a hard time with this one and it really surprises me cause I loved it from the first listen. I think it's a great example of Eddie's ITW style really meshing well with the rest of the band. Much better than his slow jams which don't tend to work as well for me with the full band treatment. They don't tend to work for me in general. Stick with the up tempo songs Ed!
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Re: Swallowed Whole

Post by Dr. Van Nostrand »

bada wrote:A lot of people who's opinions I normally agree with are having a hard time with this one and it really surprises me cause I loved it from the first listen. I think it's a great example of Eddie's ITW style really meshing well with the rest of the band. Much better than his slow jams which don't tend to work as well for me with the full band treatment. They don't tend to work for me in general. Stick with the up tempo songs Ed!
I kinda wonder if he purposely wrote a song similar to the into the wild stuff because they started playing a full band version of setting forth, or if its something that they just came up with naturally. im loving it though, i think better then anything on into the wild
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