Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

[RockPusher]

It's okay that you are not bothered by the production and it's okay that I am. But I will shut up now as it always comes to exactly what is happening right now

Hey, I don't want to be the kind of opinion-stomper I've been lambasting. Sorry about that.

[E.H. Ruddock]

The level of audiophile snobbery is getting out of control. It's a fucking Twitter clip full of artifacts. It's not album level sound. THERE IS NO FLAC.

I don’t think it’s snobbery. It’s comparing the clip to what we already know with DM and certain aspects sounding similar

[E.H. Ruddock]

It's okay that you are not bothered by the production and it's okay that I am. But I will shut up now as it always comes to exactly what is happening right now

Please don’t feel like you need to shut up. There are just as many people talking about how much they love it (maybe more). We’re all just sharing opinions

[Mike]

*-

It's okay that you are not bothered by the production and it's okay that I am. But I will shut up now as it always comes to exactly what is happening right now

Hey, I don't want to be the kind of opinion-stomper I've been lambasting. Sorry about that.

All good. I can also see that it can be annoying when the production is the main complaint again and again of some posters (me)

[Mike]

I actually like how Eddie sounds in this clip. As in Dark Matter I feel like it's a weird (not bad) mix between Binaural era Eddie and modern day Eddie. Especially the part where he sings... "a date with the gallows"? It has a very straight, atmospheric and non warbly delivery.

[Ms Harmless]

the thing I really dislike is the assumption that if production is not a dealbreaker for us, it must be because our hearing is defective and our intelligence is impaired; as long as you're not doing that, no problem, and if you are, it's not your opinion that I have a problem with

my brain and my ears can accommodate and enjoy all styles of production; I like all kinds of bands and artists, old and new; yes, I hoped Gigaton Josh would stay in the picture because every puzzle piece was fitting for me when I listened to Gigaton, but I moved on; I just want Pearl Jam to write songs that I like, even if Ed's Swifty daughters are choosing the producers

[Mike]

the thing I really dislike is the assumption that if production is not a dealbreaker for us, it must be because our hearing is defective and our intelligence is impaired; as long as you're not doing that, no problem, and if you are, it's not your opinion that I have a problem with

my brain and my ears can accommodate and enjoy all styles of production; I like all kinds of bands and artists, old and new; yes, I hoped Gigaton Josh would stay in the picture because every puzzle piece was fitting for me when I listened to Gigaton, but I moved on; I just want Pearl Jam to write songs that I like, even if Ed's Swifty daughters are choosing the producers

No, I actually wish I could also enjoy it more lol I'm just very frustrated about that aspect

[Ms Harmless]

I actually like how Eddie sounds in this clip. As in Dark Matter I feel like it's a weird (not bad) mix between Binaural era Eddie and modern day Eddie. Especially the part where he sings... "a date with the gallows"?

me too, I think he sounds great, and as a non-guitarist I like what I hear there as well

the rhythm section is not ideal to my ears, but it hasn't been for decades, even on the more "organic" sounding records

[Ms Harmless]

the thing I really dislike is the assumption that if production is not a dealbreaker for us, it must be because our hearing is defective and our intelligence is impaired; as long as you're not doing that, no problem, and if you are, it's not your opinion that I have a problem with

my brain and my ears can accommodate and enjoy all styles of production; I like all kinds of bands and artists, old and new; yes, I hoped Gigaton Josh would stay in the picture because every puzzle piece was fitting for me when I listened to Gigaton, but I moved on; I just want Pearl Jam to write songs that I like, even if Ed's Swifty daughters are choosing the producers

No, I actually wish I could also enjoy it more lol I'm just very frustrated about that aspect

yeah I hear that from you; the attitude came from (some of) Trag's posts

[spike]

That Stone interview was great, it's always enjoyable to hear him talk about the band and their musical process.

I also found this funny:

We’ve been so fortunate that our fans have been so open to our whims and experimentations, even if sometimes they wish we’d play ‘Jeremy’ and instead we play a B-side not very well (laughs).

That said, it did nothing to heighten my low expectations of the album. Sonic issues aside, I'm really not encouraged by Josh K writing a tune, nor Watt jamming along on guitar while the band are writing, or encouraging a bunch of 60-or-pushing-it guys to be 'aggressive' and harken back to what they did 30+ years prior.

The co-writing stuff grates as I think one of the only consistently enjoyable elements of the latter day Pearl Jam records is being able to still identify the idiosyncrasies of each member's writing style, even where I don't like the end result very much. I'm not really interested in hearing a Pearl Jam song where Josh or Watt wrote the chords or riff and the other guys added bits and pieces later on.

Waiting For Stevie is probably Watt ripping off Pearl Jan chords that Eddie ripped off from The Who, who ripped them off from someone else.

[Mike]

I just want to love new Pearl Jam

Spoiler: show

But Only Love Can Break Your Heart

[guitar_davey]

Wow, I've been traveling but a lot seems to have happened in the last 24 hours...

[Mike]

Wow, I've been traveling but a lot seems to have happened in the last 24 hours...

We have a Stone Gossard interview and a 30 seconds Running clip

[oneway23]

The level of audiophile snobbery is getting out of control. It's a fucking Twitter clip full of artifacts. It's not album level sound. THERE IS NO FLAC.

Did not want to come across as an audiophile snob. I'm really far from one. I couldn't tell the difference between 320 mp3s and a flac.

In your defense, Mike (not that you should feel as though you need it), caring about and being cognizant of audio production and identifying oneself as an "audiophile" (however you wanna define that, if at all) can absolutely be mutually exclusive.

My wife couldn't care any less about the cost of her equipment, and she sure as shit isn't listening to music just to hear her audio gear, but, she's got great ears and good instincts, and will totally call BS if she thinks a record sounds like trash. Everyone zeroes in on different elements when listening to a piece of music.

We talk about what we're listening to pretty often in those terms around here.

[Ms Harmless]

maybe I'm wrong but I have a sneaky suspicion this one sounds a little better, does it depend on the uploader's phone?

[Aunt_Claire_Foy]

maybe I'm wrong but I have a sneaky suspicion this one sounds a little better, does it depend on the uploader's phone?

No, still a ton of artifacts and wishy washy bits. Listen to the hi hat in particular.

<cough>

Look. No one here would be bitching about the sound if they didn't know the producer's name and recording resume. Or certainly, if they were bitching about it, it would only be to service ego over some special knowledge of recording or understanding of audio fidelity.

We should probably judge the production of the record in hand when it is, in fact, in hand. A 30 second clip we get from pointing our dumb phones for some AR experience is not going to sum up the record's overall quality.

[Ms Harmless]

maybe I'm wrong but I have a sneaky suspicion this one sounds a little better, does it depend on the uploader's phone?

No, still a ton of artifacts and wishy washy bits. Listen to the hi hat in particular.

where did I say it sounded perfect? lol

[oneway23]

Look. No one here would be bitching about the sound if they didn't know the producer's name and recording resume. Or certainly, if they were bitching about it, it would only be to service ego over some special knowledge of recording or understanding of audio fidelity.

My wife has no idea who produced this, no special knowledge, gets no ego boost or check signed for her opinion, has never recorded a band, nor has ever even been in a recording studio, and she thinks DM is the worst PJ has sounded on record since Avocado.

All that said, she digs the song. Please folks, stop thinking a complaint is somehow equivalent to an indictment of the material itself. It's a discussion. We're....discussing

[Mike]

The level of audiophile snobbery is getting out of control. It's a fucking Twitter clip full of artifacts. It's not album level sound. THERE IS NO FLAC.

Did not want to come across as an audiophile snob. I'm really far from one. I couldn't tell the difference between 320 mp3s and a flac.

In your defense, Mike (not that you should feel as though you need it), caring about and being cognizant of audio production and identifying oneself as an "audiophile" (however you wanna define that, if at all) can absolutely be mutually exclusive.

My wife couldn't care any less about the cost of her equipment, and she sure as shit isn't listening to music just to hear her audio gear, but, she's got great ears and good instincts, and will totally call BS if she thinks a record sounds like trash. Everyone zeroes in on different elements when listening to a piece of music.

We talk about what we're listening to pretty often in those terms around here.

Thanks!
Makes sense as most of the time I am not talking about audio quality but production/mixing choices. I can hear those in a YouTube Video as well as on a Flac file.

[spike]

Look. No one here would be bitching about the sound if they didn't know the producer's name and recording resume. Or certainly, if they were bitching about it, it would only be to service ego over some special knowledge of recording or understanding of audio fidelity.

My wife has no idea who produced this, no special knowledge, gets no ego boost or check signed for her opinion, has never recorded a band, nor has ever even been in a recording studio, and she thinks DM is the worst PJ has sounded on record since Avocado.

All that said, she digs the song. Please folks, stop thinking a complaint is somehow equivalent to an indictment of the material itself. It's a discussion. We're....discussing

Why are you yelling?