Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

General Pearl Jam discussion.

Rank Lightning Bolt

5 stars
1
1%
4 stars
4
5%
3 stars
29
37%
2 stars
30
38%
1 star
14
18%
 
Total votes: 78

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stip
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by stip »

Strat wrote:i actualyl think Sleeping By Myself is a top tier song for this album. Everything else is "been there, done that" and them doing SBM.....feels like a unique offering.

Yall can fuck off.
Lightning Bolt is Pearl Jam’s Collapse Into Now - a lot of variations on some te
mplated songs. but the songwriting is a little more inventive than its given credit for
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stip
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by stip »

Strat wrote:i actualyl think Sleeping By Myself is a top tier song for this album. Everything else is "been there, done that" and them doing SBM.....feels like a unique offering.

Yall can fuck off.
Lightning Bolt is Pearl Jam’s Collapse Into Now - a lot of variations on some te
mplated songs. but the songwriting is a little more inventive than its given credit for
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stip
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by stip »

besides the general production critique, my biggest issue w this record is that mike’s solos feel unemotional. there are a few exceptions (mym and lightning bolt)
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VinylGuy
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by VinylGuy »

yeah i agree with that. Its Mike´s worst album or his safest. The guitar tones are awful too.

Very glad that changed so much in Gigaton.
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Jaeti
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by Jaeti »

stip wrote:besides the general production critique, my biggest issue w this record is that mike’s solos feel unemotional. there are a few exceptions (mym and lightning bolt)
I think the Swallowed Whole solo might be the element of this album that has aged best for me. There's other stuff I like, but it's often the first little thing I think of when LB springs to mind.
Last edited by Jaeti on Mon October 09, 2023 3:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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stip
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by stip »

i forget how many solos mike has on the album. But swallowed whole, yellow moon, sleeping by myself, and sirens all have bright clean solos that feel like they are all going a bit for the vibe in wishlist or i am mine (or the force of nature outro) and cant quite get there
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Jaeti
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by Jaeti »

Quick LB takes, 10 years in:

Getaway – Hasn't aged well (though my heart wishes it had)
MYM – I like this gradually more over time
My Father's Son – Terrible verses and just feels "weird" these days, whatever I mean by that
Sirens – Still like this one, if a bit less than way back when
Lightning Bolt – Great song
Infallible – Still a big missed opportunity
Pendulum – Good, but generally feels out of place even being on the album
Swallowed Whole – Has really aged well
Let the Records Play – Nope
Sleeping By Myself – It's fine, and yet I never, ever think about it
Yellow Moon – Has held serve as a slightly above-average song
Future Days – Never hated this, still like it
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VinylGuy
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by VinylGuy »

alright lets do it

Getaway: aged horribly specially because of the production and lyrics. Very happy these guys rocked well in Gigaton.
MYM: best song of the album and the best sounding song too here.
MFS: Its good, but i dont need to listen to it.
Sirens: fuck, yeah...still a great one.
LB: ugh, always sucked hard and still does
Infallible: also sucks hard.
Pendulum: still a great song, great opener.
SW: Sucks.
LTRP: Sucks harder now
SBM: a great rendition.
YM: I still like it very much.
FD: violent puke
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

Sirens deserved a better album
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tragabigzanda
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Thu January 01, 2026 9:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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stip
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by stip »

I will go song by song tomorrow, but 7 Oclock is probably the song Infallible wants to be. I like Infallible, but more than any song on this record this has potential that the final composition never fully realizes. Trag nailed the issue - the chorus never really soars, and the verses aren't as ominious as they need to be. Eddie isn't signing in that register, and the music is going for odd and quirky more than menacing. Heavier, more distorted guitars could have gotten it there, maybe.

I really really like Infallible's lyrics, as well as its core sentiment.
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by Bammer »

I spun the first three tracks today
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Chris_H_2
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by Chris_H_2 »

according to the most-recent ten club email today, it's the 25th anniversary of this abortion of an album. time certainly does fly.
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by dad »

Chris_H_2 wrote:according to the most-recent ten club email today, it's the 25th anniversary of this abortion of an album. time certainly does fly.
it definitely feels like it's been that long since that turd of turds was dropped.
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now when i regular i can promote regularity
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stip
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by stip »

Speaking of this beautiful gift, I was on the State of Love and Trust podcast this week to talk about Lightning Bolt on its 10 year anniversary. Good time and (I think) a pretty good listen. It's a longer episode with a conversation about Candlebox and one of the hosts (jason) meeting Stone Gossard. The L-Bolt conversation starts maybe 30 minutes in.
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by tommy »

stip wrote:Speaking of this beautiful gift, I was on the State of Love and Trust podcast this week to talk about Lightning Bolt on its 10 year anniversary. Good time and (I think) a pretty good listen. It's a longer episode with a conversation about Candlebox and one of the hosts (jason) meeting Stone Gossard. The L-Bolt conversation starts maybe 30 minutes in.

Are the hosts also insane people who like this terrible album?
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dimejinky99
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by dimejinky99 »

Holy shit

Stip is back!!

Hey stip!
Calibrate your enthusiasm
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Kevin Davis
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by Kevin Davis »

stip wrote:Speaking of this beautiful gift, I was on the State of Love and Trust podcast this week to talk about Lightning Bolt on its 10 year anniversary. Good time and (I think) a pretty good listen. It's a longer episode with a conversation about Candlebox and one of the hosts (jason) meeting Stone Gossard. The L-Bolt conversation starts maybe 30 minutes in.
I'm enjoying listening to this, thanks for sharing.
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VinylGuy
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by VinylGuy »

Ill check it out Stip!
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Jaeti
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Re: Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

Post by Jaeti »

Candlebox :shock:
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