Dark Matter (song)

General Pearl Jam discussion.
Post Reply

Dark Matter Initial Reactions

5 Stars
33
17%
4 Stars
92
48%
3 Stars
56
29%
2 Stars
8
4%
1 Star
3
2%
 
Total votes: 192

User avatar
Bi_3
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 16452
Joined: Wed April 20, 2016 7:11 pm

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Bi_3 »

Gotta be honest, listening to the isolated vocal did some damage here
"The fatal flaw of all revolutionaries is that they know how to tear things down but don't have a f**king clue about how to build anything."
User avatar
oneway23
Future Drummer
Posts: 2158
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 4:57 am

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by oneway23 »

DDWJMUVW wrote:Gigaton was the perfect record for me during that time, especially considering what was going on globally. That said, many of the tracks didn’t age as well as I would have thought. DoTC, Wes, 7, and Retro have stood the test of time for me. QE grew on me. The rest just don’t get into my rotation much.


While DM isn’t perfect, to me it already belongs in the conversation of the aforementioned tracks. Maybe not equal to dance. But not too far below.
I'm usually pretty pedantic about full-album listens, but, Gigaton is a strange beast for me... If I strip out songs individually, they mostly all work, but, taking the album as a whole, I'd agree; it didn't quite age as well as I'd hoped when we were all reveling in the post-release glow. It was eerily prescient in the moment, however.

DotC is a stone-cold killer..DM is a good song, but, it doesn't reach those heights for me. Maybe hearing it in the context of the album will change things.
Last edited by oneway23 on Wed February 14, 2024 2:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
We still make records to be listened to — not that everyone will listen to a record track one to twelve in a row or side A or Side B — but we still make 'em in case somebody does want to listen to it like that, that's how we make em…
Yield Often
Yeah Yeah Yeah
Posts: 71
Joined: Thu March 19, 2020 8:04 pm

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Yield Often »

I’m in camp “love” for DM.

Even if you took out the fact that this is a band 34 years old… And these are 60-year-old men… I’d still say this song claps. Stands on its own.

Throw that back in… And that’s easily an added star to the rating.

While there are familiar, sounds in here… It’s also new territory for them. I have wanted something like this from them… They are clearly capable of augmenting their pallet and I think this absolutely proves that idea.

Very excited to hear it in the sequence of songs on the full album.
warehouse
Rank This Poster
Posts: 4993
Joined: Sat January 05, 2013 3:34 pm

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by warehouse »

a few thoughts:

i thought everyone knew who laura jane grace is.

i always thought gigaton was more comparable to no code, so if we get something comparable to yield this is going to be amazing. what was the first single off of yield? given to fly? i'm not going to compare Dark Matter to GTF, but Dark Matter is much more radio friendly than the lead single from the last album.

i woke up with the song in my head. loving it.
User avatar
spike
The Master
Posts: 35959
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 4:18 am

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by spike »

Strat wrote:Ed's vocals bring ir down a bit for me. It's a hell of an energetic performance but I can't help wonder how much more I'd love it, or how much more impactful it'd be if he still had some low end in his voice. More of a stand at the mic, stare aggressively into the ether, totallly
Anchored, with his baritone voice delivering the lines while the band blasts away behind him. With that, he could be up more in the mix.

Alas......
This is why Pearl Jam of the last two decades will never measure up to what came before. Plain and simple.
User avatar
ABNorman
The Beef
Posts: 4475
Joined: Thu January 03, 2013 10:16 pm

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by ABNorman »

This is really growing on me.
User avatar
oneway23
Future Drummer
Posts: 2158
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 4:57 am

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by oneway23 »

warehouse wrote:Dark Matter is much more radio friendly than the lead single from the last album.
Respect your take, but, unless I've misconstrued, I'd have to disagree here. Not much fanny shakin' to be derived from DM in comparison to Dance.
We still make records to be listened to — not that everyone will listen to a record track one to twelve in a row or side A or Side B — but we still make 'em in case somebody does want to listen to it like that, that's how we make em…
15showsandcounting
Broken Tamborine
Posts: 332
Joined: Mon February 11, 2013 6:09 pm

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by 15showsandcounting »

As for the DOTC talk. I thought DOTC sucked. Hard. This song is much, much better.

Different strokes...
tommy
Rank This Poster
Posts: 4456
Joined: Sat August 05, 2023 11:13 pm

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by tommy »

15showsandcounting wrote:As for the DOTC talk. I thought DOTC sucked. Hard. This song is much, much better.

Different strokes...
Leave this place and never return.
User avatar
Coach
Mind Your Tanners
Posts: 8333
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 12:20 am

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Coach »

First tell us about your weight loss and poop habits

Then leave
User avatar
Val
likes rhythmic things that butt up against each other
Posts: 923
Joined: Thu December 07, 2023 9:27 am

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Val »

tommy wrote:
15showsandcounting wrote:As for the DOTC talk. I thought DOTC sucked. Hard. This song is much, much better.

Different strokes...
Leave this place and never return.
tell him Tommy
User avatar
oneway23
Future Drummer
Posts: 2158
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 4:57 am

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by oneway23 »

tommy wrote:
15showsandcounting wrote:As for the DOTC talk. I thought DOTC sucked. Hard. This song is much, much better.

Different strokes...
Leave this place and never return.
I can't be mean enough to post a Gollum meme here, but, this 15shows is pushing me....hard
We still make records to be listened to — not that everyone will listen to a record track one to twelve in a row or side A or Side B — but we still make 'em in case somebody does want to listen to it like that, that's how we make em…
User avatar
DDWJMUVW
likes rhythmic things that butt up against each other
Posts: 703
Joined: Wed December 13, 2023 9:44 pm

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by DDWJMUVW »

Bi_3 wrote:Gotta be honest, listening to the isolated vocal did some damage here
Listen to any isolated vocal track and you’ll feel the same. I’ve done it for the songs on ten and while Ed’s voice is light years better than today, you can hear imperfections.

Now add 34 years and a pack of American spirits per day.
"For me, it's all about the time we're having just playing the songs. So if it's kind of a mindless good time, then....."
DeeDee
likes rhythmic things that butt up against each other
Posts: 520
Joined: Tue September 17, 2013 4:09 pm
Location: Spain

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by DeeDee »

The bridge is crap.
Ms Harmless
She / Her
Posts: 13642
Joined: Sun January 26, 2020 12:10 pm
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Location: Warwickshire, UK

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Ms Harmless »

it's one of my favourite parts
15showsandcounting
Broken Tamborine
Posts: 332
Joined: Mon February 11, 2013 6:09 pm

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by 15showsandcounting »

tommy wrote:
15showsandcounting wrote:As for the DOTC talk. I thought DOTC sucked. Hard. This song is much, much better.

Different strokes...
Leave this place and never return.
I reckon I been around longer than many of you. Recognize some old names. ;)
Last edited by 15showsandcounting on Wed February 14, 2024 3:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Coach
Mind Your Tanners
Posts: 8333
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 12:20 am

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Coach »

I love lamp
User avatar
Monkey_Driven
The Master
Posts: 28128
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 3:36 pm
Location: Mushroom Kingdom

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Monkey_Driven »

15showsandcounting wrote:As for the DOTC talk. I thought DOTC sucked. Hard. This song is much, much better.

Different strokes...
This is truly baffling
User avatar
dimejinky99
what on earth am I talking about
Posts: 39789
Joined: Wed January 02, 2013 12:35 am

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by dimejinky99 »

stip wrote:
EJ wrote:
Aunt_Claire_Foy wrote:
EJ wrote:trying to pick out what Stone's doing in this song. is he doing the You Are effects?
I assume that's him, he is handling the ring modulator/trem effects. In the chorus you can hear Mike do some blues flourishes on the last chord of each measure. But the main riff is straight doubled, so that could be just Stone and Mike doing a basic run through. Lots of dubbing happening on every guitar where the production deviates for some ear candy, especially the bass.

I can see Watt yelling "Do it again!" at the end of every take.
:thumbsup: nice take on that. I couldn't hear Stone doing much rhythm accents other than the You Are effects. But, doubling the riff makes sense.

Surprised that I read some people not hearing much bass come through. I thought Jeff sounds amazing on this track.
What I hear of Jeff sounds amazing. And I'm sure the bass is influencing how I hear the rest of the song. But the moments that come through when there are some lulls in the music or the volume softens is so good I want more of it.

This has definitely been a headphones song. Tiny flourishes and moments everywhere on what is otherwise a very straightforward package


Deffo this. Deffo a headphones song. I’ve listened to it mainly on headphones but tried it on my speakers and it gets totally flattened on the speakers and all that detail like Jeff’s part junpijbg out at 1:33 and Ed’s fading echo refrain is only audible on the headphones.

I wonder is it designed this way? On purpose?
Calibrate your enthusiasm
Ms Harmless
She / Her
Posts: 13642
Joined: Sun January 26, 2020 12:10 pm
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Location: Warwickshire, UK

Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Ms Harmless »

I like DOTC a lot but don't consider it the second coming like a lot of you here; it's not what I rush to Gigaton to hear
Post Reply