Dark Matter (song)

[Strat]

That isolated vocal track is hard to listen to but also just sounds like a really shitty job of pulling and isolating just the vocal track.

[Val]

i don't understand why ed can't or doesn't care to enunciate any better than this

You sound like my dad circa 1993

Mind your manners!

[Homeboyd]

Not gonna lie, after Lightning Bolt I was pretty sure I didn’t need any more PJ albums. But Giga was a step in the right direction and this single gives some hope that the new album will continue that trend. I’m also older with kids now and have fully embraced the “happy they’re still around making music” phase. As long as that music is not named Can’t Deny Me lol, my appreciation has its limits…

[Vitalogist]

I’m really digging this, but I’m on board with the gripes about the vocals.

[tree_]

i don't understand why ed can't or doesn't care to enunciate any better than this

You sound like my dad circa 1993

Haha! my dad also criticized Ed quite a bit back then, but Ed had so many redeeming qualities that it didn't bother me.. also, I was 9.. It just seems like if you recorded this then played it back, you'd think "hmm yeah, maybe I should sing so that people can understand at least SOME of what I'm saying...".. it just baffles me

[Chris_H_2]

The song (by itself) is pretty decent. It's not great. And it's not terrible. I condition my opinion because I don't really like listening to singles in isolation outside of the context of the album.* But here we are. My bar for this is: if i didn't know it was pear jam, what would i think? and the answer to that is: it's fine. I don't want to be blinded by wanting it to sound great because of the artist that i'm really rallying behind.


The guitars and their effects are great. Given where we are with this band, it's as close to "pushing themselves" as we'll probably get. The drums, however, sound way too polished. and in fact, every pearl jam album since at least S/T has sounded like this to me -- artificial. It's like watching season 7 of the Simpsons and then watching a new episode. It's night and day.

cautiously optimistic for the album.

*Note: I really think Radiohead was onto something when they mentioned that they would stop releasing singles ahead of album releases because albums were intended to be listened to as a whole rather than through isolated listens to stand-alone songs.

[Clem Halibut]

It's so hard for me to to judge any new Pearl Jam song at first.
There's always so much to unpack before I can even begin to listen with a critical ear.

That being said...I had this on repeat driving to work & really enjoyed it
DM Sounds great cranked
The drumming is ace on this , it's got a few really great guitar riffs & the solo is fire
I can't wait to come home tonight and try to learn this on guitar.

I love what I can make of the lyrics so far & Ed sounds great on this
He's not upfront in the mix and he's not falling into some of the recent annoying vocal quirks he's fallen habit to on recent albums
I like how he sounds here
He sounds just right and love the little scream bit during the solo

We're so lucky to still have this band, and it blew my 46 year old mind last night that I was actually staying up till Midnight to hear a new Pearl Jam song
It's amazing how much this band still matters to me after all of these years

These guys are 60, or pushing 60, and they're rocking pretty hard here and playing the shit out of their instruments
One thing is for sure...they're not falling into any kind of formula or embarrassing themselves trying to rehash past success.
This song (Like DOTC) sounds unlike anything else in their catalog and that alone has me excited for what's next.

I give this one a solid 4
Look forward to hearing it live

[RAG319]

I'm open to all opinions and interpretations...I welcome it all.

That said, for those who aren't impressed...I'm not sure what anyone expects at this point.

A time machine?
A copy of my Maxell cassette of Atlanta '94 that I taped from my ghetto blaster?

Do we prefer they retire? Help me out here. I genuinely want to understand what you want to hear.

In this day and age, I'd trade heavy PJ for the maturity, urgency, and thoughtfulness of the Binaural-era. But that's just like my opinion, man.

[Strat]

Ament on the 12 string

[Ms Harmless]

I still need to hear it a second time, but my initial thoughts beyond it sounded cool was that the Rees a lot to like. The guitars have a great groove and the effect is one I like when they employ it (You Are is probably the most classic example of this and there are more I am sure, it if I am making that comparison it is a big compliment). The drums are fine but they do have the same sort of natural over a machine vibe that DotC had. Not a complaint if it’s an outlier on the album. It does also capture a bit of the Quick Escape aggression. All those things are the positives and even if I prefer those songs to this, if I am placing that comparison then that’s a good thing.

I did think that Ed was the weakest spot here, but he is not up front in the mix so any complaint is very minor. He sounds okay, but the power you typically find in his voice is muted and he doesn’t screech but I am not sure he gets where he needs to go comfortably and that is not an age comparison thing because he did do that on Gigaton.

This is a good start, but if my name was Andrew Watt I would have been looking to double the solo and finish the back end of the instrumental end. When the band is playing with these really cool dynamics, it’s just better to have them play it out than just have the thing end. For me, perhaps if I had the greatest bit of frustration with this band, it is that they almost don’t know how good they are anymore. Vitalogy and No Code were full of moments where the band gave itself space to play. Even the self-titled and Gigaton had moments where the band went on their own expedition without Ed and it was some of the best stuff on those albums. The band drives this thing. Ed’s a legendary singer, but they are good enough that he doesn’t have to carry the load. Let the band do it!

So I give it 4 stars. All the pieces are mostly working quite well on this, but one more minute with the band just hammering on this without vocals would have pushed this to a 5.

I don't think they ever did

[Strat]

Tidal keeps putting black hole sun after i play dark matter.

LOL. You can really hear what amazing production sounds like compared to this.

I actually dont mind the production here, or at least, it wasn't as bad as i thought it might be. Seems to be more instrument separation than Earthlings. But when played back to back with something like Black Hole Sun.....

Oof

[oneway23]

In this day and age, I'd trade heavy PJ for the maturity, urgency, and thoughtfulness of the Binaural-era. But that's just like my opinion, man.

That's fair. Thanks for the thoughtful response. Much more interesting to hear what people would actually want. Easy to say "this sucks", and that's fine, but, at least give some additional context, ya know?

[Ms Harmless]

I'm open to all opinions and interpretations...I welcome it all.

That said, for those who aren't impressed...I'm not sure what anyone expects at this point.

A time machine?
A copy of my Maxell cassette of Atlanta '94 that I taped from my ghetto blaster?

Do we prefer they retire? Help me out here. I genuinely want to understand what you want to hear.

In this day and age, I'd trade heavy PJ for the maturity, urgency, and thoughtfulness of the Binaural-era. But that's just like my opinion, man.

I guess there will be some of that on the album, based on the back door clips

[scrub12]

A new band photo so they can stop using the Gigaton one. Maybe.

[spike]

This is disturbing

Now I’m concerned Ed’s had a stroke.

[oneway23]

Tidal keeps putting black hole sun after i play dark matter.

LOL. You can really hear what amazing production sounds like compared to this.

I actually dont mind the production here, or at least, it wasn't as bad as i thought it might be. Seems to be more instrument separation than Earthlings. But when played back to back with something like Black Hole Sun.....

Oof

Depends which you listen to...The original Superunknown CD is a masterclass in production. The 20th anniversary re-release is unfortunately a cautionary tale of how not to undertake a re-mastering project.
It sounds much more like a modern recording.

[Ms Harmless]

Tidal keeps putting black hole sun after i play dark matter.

LOL. You can really hear what amazing production sounds like compared to this.

I actually dont mind the production here, or at least, it wasn't as bad as i thought it might be. Seems to be more instrument separation than Earthlings. But when played back to back with something like Black Hole Sun.....

Oof

I think that's a product / fault of the musical era we're in, more than of Watt's abilities; Watt clearly has stylistic choices some wouldn't like but it's not a case of Brendan O'Brien just for some reason having gone to complete shit

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[E.H. Ruddock]

Tidal keeps putting black hole sun after i play dark matter.

LOL. You can really hear what amazing production sounds like compared to this.

I actually dont mind the production here, or at least, it wasn't as bad as i thought it might be. Seems to be more instrument separation than Earthlings. But when played back to back with something like Black Hole Sun.....

Oof

Lol Tidal

[Strat]

Tidal keeps putting black hole sun after i play dark matter.

LOL. You can really hear what amazing production sounds like compared to this.

I actually dont mind the production here, or at least, it wasn't as bad as i thought it might be. Seems to be more instrument separation than Earthlings. But when played back to back with something like Black Hole Sun.....

Oof

Shellac fandom is right around the corner

I thought youd like that.