Lightning Bolt: The Official Album Thread

[verb_to_trust]

Stone's 'main contribution' was LTRP? Sounds even sloppier and more derivative in that vignette. Four years and this is all Stone can manage? A song he wrote on the fly using another guys tuning?

I'm guessing he had better stuff that didn't 'fit' with the rest of the album.

Or, perhaps he didn't like the taste of shit, so he opted out of licking B'OB's asshole.

If that's true then the real question should be why do shitty songs seem to 'fit' on Pearl Jam records?

Cause they're *~:FUN:~*

I bet stone and matt sit in the corner bitching about Bo'B and ed likeing shitty music when they both know theirs is more interesting.

It certainly seems to me that Stone has "checked out" of Pearl Jam a long time ago. At least as a songwriter. The last good Stone song was what, All or None?

[digster]

Parachutes, or Infallible and Pendulum in terms of co-writing, at least going strictly by liner notes.

[numbers]

Yeah Stone is back with a vengeance on this album.

[harmless]

It just sounds like Stone didn't really write it; apparently he played the intro riff, and Brendan *loved* it. It was probably all Brendan from then on.

[Sgt. Crackpot]

Yeah Stone is back with a vengeance on this album.

[harmless]

AND HE MEANS BUSINESS-AS-USUAL

[mastaflatch]

[stip]

So this thing is pretty good no?

i have a lot of time to kill watching Sesame Street every day, so I decided to do 3 levels of rankings for Lightning Bolt. Where I'd put it now. Where I could imagine it be if in the case of every borderline song it broke positively, and where it would be if they all broke negatively.

So the non lbolt rankings

Vitalogy: 4.6
Ten: 4.27
Vs. 4.04
Backspacer: 3.87
Yield: 3.54
S/T: 3.42
No Code: 3.38
Riot Act: 3.3
Binaural 3.23

(this is based on the strength of the songs. if I factored in intangibles Vitalogy, Ten, and Vs get some extra boosts for what they meant to me, as would S/T for being the record (or half a record, if I'm honest) that got the fire roaring again.

So right now I'd give Lightning Bolt a 3.92, which means it is my 4th favorite record by the band.

If everything breaks positive (getaway, mym, infallible, pendulum, swallowed whole, sleeping by myself, yellow moon, and future days) and the borderline songs go up half a point this becomes a 4.25 and my third favorite album by quite a bit. If even half of these songs break in the direction of long term heavy play it could challenge Vs. which, more than any other PJ record, has had a bunch of songs decline in my estimation over the years.

On the other hand, if every song breaks negative and the album ages horribly it could drop as low as a 3.42, tied with S/T.

So best case scenario, this is my number 3 (plausible, but probably not) my 4th favorite (likely) or as far down as tied for 6/7 (almost certainly not).

So overall I'm a pretty happy man.

[stip]

Stone's 'main contribution' was LTRP? Sounds even sloppier and more derivative in that vignette. Four years and this is all Stone can manage? A song he wrote on the fly using another guys tuning?

I'm guessing he had better stuff that didn't 'fit' with the rest of the album.

Or, perhaps he didn't like the taste of shit, so he opted out of licking B'OB's asshole.

If that's true then the real question should be why do shitty songs seem to 'fit' on Pearl Jam records?

Cause they're *~:FUN:~*

I bet stone and matt sit in the corner bitching about Bo'B and ed likeing shitty music when they both know theirs is more interesting.

i think its cute that you guys at least partially believe this.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Betterman (live)

i forgot all about that

[verb_to_trust]

Stone's 'main contribution' was LTRP? Sounds even sloppier and more derivative in that vignette. Four years and this is all Stone can manage? A song he wrote on the fly using another guys tuning?

I'm guessing he had better stuff that didn't 'fit' with the rest of the album.

Or, perhaps he didn't like the taste of shit, so he opted out of licking B'OB's asshole.

If that's true then the real question should be why do shitty songs seem to 'fit' on Pearl Jam records?

Cause they're *~:FUN:~*

I bet stone and matt sit in the corner bitching about Bo'B and ed likeing shitty music when they both know theirs is more interesting.

i think its cute that you guys at least partially believe this.

you're right. This is probably a more accurate picture of PJ HQ

[Arrogant Blue]

After finally being able to listen to this thing properly, I still like it as a whole. I'm just not getting into My Fathers son... Kinda fits in with songs like green disease, god's dice, and maybe insignificance for me. I appreciate the effort and like to hear them live, but just not into them on the albums.

Swallowed Whole has become one of my favorite songs on the album, and I didnt think much of it at first.

After multiple listens to Infallible.... I still enjoy it, but I definitely see where people that don't like it are coming from about it. It could have been better by going in another direction with the vocals and the chorus.

I think Getaway and Yellow Moon are great songs.... and I still like Mind your Manners allot. SBM and Future Days would have made a great Fan Club single..... they're all right, but don't seam to flow with the rest of the album, thank god.

[dimejinky99]

I'm told the store bought version is the same as the 10c version except the 10c version unlocks a wonderland of bonus digital content.

[Sgt. Crackpot]

So overall I'm a pretty happy man.

Same here. Up until a couple of months ago, I was very cynical and wasn't expecting anything even moderately good. But, I rate this album as being much stronger and more enjoyable that the recent previous efforts, and in some ways it ranks closely to my favourites Yield, No Code and Riot Act (it's early days, but so far this is the feeling).

However most of all, if you eventually rank this album above Backspacer, I think that in itself speaks volumes.

[dimejinky99]

Worrying.

RM managed almost 200 pages every 4 days in the run up to this album.

Upon release it has slowed to a relative crawl.


Buck up y'all.

[Bammer]

I'm told the store bought version is the same as the 10c version except the 10c version unlocks a wonderland of bonus digital content.

That was my understanding as well. Thank you.

$5 extra for shipping. And it looks like the digital content you get is early access to the first 2 singles, plus the whole album on the release date.

I will just buy it at the store and rip it to iTunes thank you very much. The 10C digital content offers nothing extra unless I am totally missing something here.

[harmless]

The ejaculation happened, and now we bask in the glow (or have a cigarette on the balcony in the rain, ruing the whole experience).

[Lament]

Stone's 'main contribution' was LTRP? Sounds even sloppier and more derivative in that vignette. Four years and this is all Stone can manage? A song he wrote on the fly using another guys tuning?

I'm guessing he had better stuff that didn't 'fit' with the rest of the album.

Or, perhaps he didn't like the taste of shit, so he opted out of licking B'OB's asshole.

If that's true then the real question should be why do shitty songs seem to 'fit' on Pearl Jam records?

Cause they're *~:FUN:~*

I bet stone and matt sit in the corner bitching about Bo'B and ed likeing shitty music when they both know theirs is more interesting.

i think its cute that you guys at least partially believe this.

you're right. This is probably a more accurate picture of PJ HQ

I posted this picture I found on Mike's intragram a few months ago in the 2003 Japan Tour thread, but it seems relevant to this discussion...

[stupidmop]

Stone's 'main contribution' was LTRP? Sounds even sloppier and more derivative in that vignette. Four years and this is all Stone can manage? A song he wrote on the fly using another guys tuning?

I'm guessing he had better stuff that didn't 'fit' with the rest of the album.

Or, perhaps he didn't like the taste of shit, so he opted out of licking B'OB's asshole.

If that's true then the real question should be why do shitty songs seem to 'fit' on Pearl Jam records?

Cause they're *~:FUN:~*

I bet stone and matt sit in the corner bitching about Bo'B and ed likeing shitty music when they both know theirs is more interesting.

i think its cute that you guys at least partially believe this.

Life's more fun when everythings a conspiracy.

For instance, i think stones new stache goatee combo is an attempt to look like brenden. When he starts looking more like brenden and less like a muskateer, he will dye his hair blonde and the transformation will be complete. He will then absorb brenden via osmosis and become one with him .He will be able to thoroughly convince the rest of the band that he is infact brenden all the while producing the albums himself.

Now he won't ever be able to appear in the same room as 'brenden' but since ed doesn't give a shit whether he's in the room or not, it's only the other guys that are gonna be a problem. At which point stone will have to start the process again with ed in order to threaten the rest of the band with axes. Just you wait till stone starts walking around in batting helmets.

Eventually stone will be both the lead singer and producer for Pearl Jam, which is everything he ever wanted, and we will finally get our 'return to form' album. Or pearl jam goes funk, one of the two.

[Arrogant Blue]

Worrying.

RM managed almost 200 pages every 4 days in the run up to this album.

Upon release it has slowed to a relative crawl.


Buck up y'all.

Heh, I was thinking the same thing.... but allot of that was probably the anticipation of wanting to know when to look for a leak, maybe.