Dark Matter (song)

General Pearl Jam discussion.
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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

guitar_davey
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by guitar_davey »

Val wrote:
oneway23 wrote:
stip wrote:
Val wrote:
stip wrote:Who remembers how much people hated riot act?
I remember a lot of people loving it
I mean, compared to Lightning Bolt, sure. But there was a large and unhappy group of RMers not pleased with it. Some (many?) came around
RA is probably a highlight in their catalog, production wise. Think it was more the "Ed sounding like he was watching his dog get run over time & time again" energy in the vocals, and his seeming inability to open his mouth more than 20% of the way.
That little yelp during I Am Mine was the most excitement he’d allow himself on the whole album.

Weren’t they still in mourning over Roskilde?

“Lost nine friends we’ll never know…”
We've got 99 pages but Dark Matter ain't barely 1
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scrub12
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by scrub12 »

Man this thread has been unreadable for about 30 pages now. Concerned for what the album thread will be.
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RockPusher
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by RockPusher »

scrub12 wrote:Man this thread has been unreadable for about 30 pages now. Concerned for what the album thread will be.
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Ms Harmless
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Ms Harmless »

my only criteria for good PJ drum sounds now is "can I hear it all?", including ghost notes and hats

it's a low bar but you'd be surprised how often they've failed to clear it post-Riot Act
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Jorge
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Jorge »

stip wrote:
Jorge wrote:I asked my friend Cass who is a multiple Grammy Award winning producer what he thought of the drum sound debacle. Specifically I asked if he thinks the drums are real. If you're interested in what a stranger to Pearl Jam who is very studio-knowledgeable has to say, this was his take:
Spoiler: show
ok having a listen

oh god that is a horribleeeee drum sound isn't it

first impressions are that that's the real snare, because it's so honky and ringy - if they were gonna fully replace they'd choose a way better one

One thing about rock drums is that they are like, inSANELY edited, quantized, moved around, crossfaded, leveled, copied around usually. Like I've never seen more editing than on rock/metal sessions... ever

sounds like the fill in the intro snare is copied over or some weird edit is happening there at least

i don't really know pearl jams' normal drum sound but this is very weird

it's like they've tried to go in between garagy noisy grunge and then modern punchy bring me the horizon stuff

and landed in shit territory

I'd blame the mixer more, first haha

so there's an interesting thing nowadays - in order to get that super punchy post paramore like extreme compression kinda radio metal sound, you can't really record cymbals and hats at the same time

cos then you can't compress the snare and toms and room as much as you need, or it's just nuclear

so often for these records they have to separately track hats and cymbals

but that squeezes the life out of a proper like chad smith kinda performance

but yeah, travis barker has popularized this very triggered, super tight, ultra compressed drum sound that sounds fat as hell, and rock and pop

and it makes old rock musicians feel weedy in comparison to the current landscape, so mixers do weird shit like this

tryna get eddie to sound like olivia rodrigo
how many grammy’s? because I wont click on a spoiler for any less than 3
One regular Grammy and one Latin Grammy :(
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Ello Sailor
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Ello Sailor »

That was a great read. Cass should post here.
LoathedVermin72 wrote:soulseek 4 lyfe
Tj
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Tj »

I like the drums . So I like shit drum sounds I guess so that's fine.
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Farmer John
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Farmer John »

I like how Matt is playing them.
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Jorge
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Jorge »

Me too
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Tj »

BTW can some one post example of great modern drum sounds in the context of a rock band. My favorite all time is Micks on Rumors. Topper Headons on London Calling. Matt's on Ultra Mega Ok. Also as of late I've liked Zac Ferro on this is why.
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stip
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by stip »

Jorge wrote:
stip wrote:
Jorge wrote:I asked my friend Cass who is a multiple Grammy Award winning producer what he thought of the drum sound debacle. Specifically I asked if he thinks the drums are real. If you're interested in what a stranger to Pearl Jam who is very studio-knowledgeable has to say, this was his take:
Spoiler: show
ok having a listen

oh god that is a horribleeeee drum sound isn't it

first impressions are that that's the real snare, because it's so honky and ringy - if they were gonna fully replace they'd choose a way better one

One thing about rock drums is that they are like, inSANELY edited, quantized, moved around, crossfaded, leveled, copied around usually. Like I've never seen more editing than on rock/metal sessions... ever

sounds like the fill in the intro snare is copied over or some weird edit is happening there at least

i don't really know pearl jams' normal drum sound but this is very weird

it's like they've tried to go in between garagy noisy grunge and then modern punchy bring me the horizon stuff

and landed in shit territory

I'd blame the mixer more, first haha

so there's an interesting thing nowadays - in order to get that super punchy post paramore like extreme compression kinda radio metal sound, you can't really record cymbals and hats at the same time

cos then you can't compress the snare and toms and room as much as you need, or it's just nuclear

so often for these records they have to separately track hats and cymbals

but that squeezes the life out of a proper like chad smith kinda performance

but yeah, travis barker has popularized this very triggered, super tight, ultra compressed drum sound that sounds fat as hell, and rock and pop

and it makes old rock musicians feel weedy in comparison to the current landscape, so mixers do weird shit like this

tryna get eddie to sound like olivia rodrigo
how many grammy’s? because I wont click on a spoiler for any less than 3
One regular Grammy and one Latin Grammy :(
better just summarize it for me then
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stip
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by stip »

though that is at least two more grammy’s than I have
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Chris_H_2
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Chris_H_2 »

I love Bryan Devendorf so much
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Chris_H_2
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Chris_H_2 »

suck it soma
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tragabigzanda
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Thu January 01, 2026 7:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Jorge
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Jorge »

stip wrote: better just summarize it for me then
He thinks the drums sound bad but are probably real
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wease
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by wease »

tragabigzanda wrote:
Ello Sailor wrote:That was a great read. Cass should post here.
Oh wtf man
I figured you would agree with every word Cass said.
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sweeper
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by sweeper »

This song is off to a good start at radio. It's not there now but it's going to hit #1 on the rock charts at the current pace.
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stip
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by stip »

Jorge wrote:
stip wrote: better just summarize it for me then
He thinks the drums sound bad but are probably real
everyone loses with that take!
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Farmer John
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Re: Dark Matter (song)

Post by Farmer John »

wease wrote:
tragabigzanda wrote:
Ello Sailor wrote:That was a great read. Cass should post here.
Oh wtf man
I figured you would agree with every word Cass said.
But when Cass says it, we all like it.

Hail, Cass!
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