Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

[DDWJMUVW]

When I think of triumphant, feel-good chorus, Given To Fly comes to mind. I'm up for that.

Well that could be spot on as one of the London listening event attendees described GtG as sounding a bit like GtF.

[Strat]

Alive is also triumphant

[Farmer John]

I'm against choruses. So pedestrian. Everything should be the bridge.

[Vindicator]

When I think of triumphant, feel-good chorus, Given To Fly comes to mind. I'm up for that.

That's exactly what I think of, and the metal door of Got To Give reminds me of something from Yield

[Vindicator]

Got some small impressions from a user on reddit who attended the initial listening party. Figured I'd post since news has been slow

"I wrote down my initial scoring after I heard the album and some thoughts. I think it’s a good time to share since everyone has had a taste of the album. This is just off first listen. Ratings will obviously change (pretty sure they will go up tbh) But this is for anyone who is thirsty for the new album info. take it with a grain of salt. For entertainment purposes only

Scared of Fear **** (chorus is killer) React/Respond *** (didn’t hit the high of the first song. aggressive) Wreckage ** (was expecting a lot from this and was kinda disappointed. Not counting it out since it’s rumored as a single. Room to grow.) Dark Matter **1/2 (Didn’t quite connect on first listen but **** song now. Love it.) Won’t Tell N/A (zero memory of this one) Upper Hand ***1/2 (Binaural fans will freak out at the intro. NAIS-ish. Then turns into a mid tempo radio rocker.) Waiting for Stevie ***** (don’t want to hype this one up too much. But was my fav of the bunch. Haven’t had a high on first listen from a PJ song like this since Unthought Known. But I’m still not sure how it will land with everyone else. Maybe too poppy?) Running ***1/2 (Fun rocker. Punkiest song on the album? Ending is batshit.) Someone Special ** (not my vibe but will be a fav by some(one special) Got to Give *** (mid tempo radio friendly rocker. Think you’re true and Without You but done with the band) Setting Sun **** (Perfect closer. Felt like I was on a beach.)

Fans with a home stereo set up are gonna love it. Feels like an album that should surround you. And it is complete and cohesive."

Thanks for this. It's more than we got from the UK listening party. I'm just struggling to put the ratings in context because the guy gives Dark Matter 2.5 stars and Running 3.5 stars on first listen. Hard to decipher what that implies for the rest of the album tracks which he only got to listen to once.

I think it bodes well because he upped his score of Dark Matter to a 4 which is where I'd put it. I've also come to really enjoy Running even after shitting on it here the day it dropped. Probably coming off the high of Waiting for Stevie, the energetic Running was a hit with the crowd at the listening party. It's gonna be a fun one live.

[Jaeti]

This is going to be good.

[daft twat]

This is going to be good.

I don’t think it is. I don’t think it matters. I think Gigaton is their best work since Binaural, and the songs I was lucky enough to see live sounded great, but none of them evoked the feelings that Release to kick off the show at MSG, State and Breath in the St. Louis encore, or the back-to-back beauty of Black and Given to Fly in St. Paul did. I’m not paying thousands of dollars to go to Vancouver to see Running. I hope this album is fine. I hope I enjoy it for what it is, but I know by the time we’re in the heart of summer, I’ll be making playlists that don’t include any of it and still be looking for a ticket to the 2nd Wrigley show.

If I wrote reviews, I’d be really hoping it was a turd and I could title the review Fecal Matter.

[sweeper]

Outside of that, you're pretty pumped for the album though, right?

[Val]

I'm against choruses. So pedestrian. Everything should be the bridge.

Three or four different bridges.

[Val]

Waiting for Stevie ***** (don’t want to hype this one up too much. But was my fav of the bunch. Haven’t had a high on first listen from a PJ song like this since Unthought Known. But I’m still not sure how it will land with everyone else. Maybe too poppy?)"

I wanna say Ouch.

Unthought Known?

Too poppy?

Ouch. Ouch.

[chadisme417]

This is going to be good.

I don’t think it is. I don’t think it matters. I think Gigaton is their best work since Binaural, and the songs I was lucky enough to see live sounded great, but none of them evoked the feelings that Release to kick off the show at MSG, State and Breath in the St. Louis encore, or the back-to-back beauty of Black and Given to Fly in St. Paul did. I’m not paying thousands of dollars to go to Vancouver to see Running. I hope this album is fine. I hope I enjoy it for what it is, but I know by the time we’re in the heart of summer, I’ll be making playlists that don’t include any of it and still be looking for a ticket to the 2nd Wrigley show.

If I wrote reviews, I’d be really hoping it was a turd and I could title the review Fecal Matter.

This board is by far my favorite part of my Pearl Jam fandom. I love you people.

[chadisme417]

This is going to be good.

I don’t think it is. I don’t think it matters. I think Gigaton is their best work since Binaural, and the songs I was lucky enough to see live sounded great, but none of them evoked the feelings that Release to kick off the show at MSG, State and Breath in the St. Louis encore, or the back-to-back beauty of Black and Given to Fly in St. Paul did. I’m not paying thousands of dollars to go to Vancouver to see Running. I hope this album is fine. I hope I enjoy it for what it is, but I know by the time we’re in the heart of summer, I’ll be making playlists that don’t include any of it and still be looking for a ticket to the 2nd Wrigley show.

If I wrote reviews, I’d be really hoping it was a turd and I could title the review Fecal Matter.

This board is by far my favorite part of my Pearl Jam fandom. I love you people.

[stip]

Waiting for Stevie ***** (don’t want to hype this one up too much. But was my fav of the bunch. Haven’t had a high on first listen from a PJ song like this since Unthought Known. But I’m still not sure how it will land with everyone else. Maybe too poppy?)"

I wanna say Ouch.

Unthought Known?

Too poppy?

Ouch. Ouch.

Unthought Known was a super high first listen. it just doesnt have the layers of an all time classic

[Val]

Waiting for Stevie ***** (don’t want to hype this one up too much. But was my fav of the bunch. Haven’t had a high on first listen from a PJ song like this since Unthought Known. But I’m still not sure how it will land with everyone else. Maybe too poppy?)"

I wanna say Ouch.

Unthought Known?

Too poppy?

Ouch. Ouch.

Unthought Known was a super high first listen. it just doesnt have the layers of an all time classic

I listened to it just now.

Now my day is ruined.

[stip]

eddie sounds pretty great on UK. just suffers from underbaked music. its not a favorite but i understand why it would be

[Tj]

Like I've said many times it is one of my absolute favorite, but it didn't get proper attention. It was put together at 5 on Friday. Had it gotten proper treatment. Stone would have probably had one of his odd solo bits going into to epic Pearl Jam bridge and coming out of the bridge it would have built to a Retrograde type of outtro. I always feel it should have leaned into something like" we are gems and rhinestones " repeated over and over in a outro harmony not unlike the live harmony of Sirens it could have created a real moment live between the band and the fans

[Fattie_Vedder]

I’m really looking forward to Scared of Fear most based on previous descriptions. Stone riff… killer chorus… yes please.

[liebzz]

eddie sounds pretty great on UK. just suffers from underbaked music. its not a favorite but i understand why it would be

Much of that can be said for Backspacer…except for Speed of Sound which sounds great, and Amongst the Waves which is overbaked and could use a little less calculation. The rest of the album needed more time to flesh out.

[Ms Harmless]

I think this album will be just fine

I have no real issue with songs that are "poppy", my main issues are when Ed mistakes "poppy" for superficial and meaningless lyrically, so we get Supersonic, or when they copy and past a cloying "triumphant" chorus on heavy, brooding, ominous verses, so we get Infallible

this band have always had a copy-and-paste approach to music, parts unexpectedly attached to other parts, not quite on the same level as System of a Down but it's there; when this works, it serves to make the song more interesting and quirky, more than the sum of those parts, as a result (and I would argue that this is what's happening in "Running"; it is weird, it is messy, but in the good way); but when those parts don't go together and the transition is awkward, ouch (and admittedly, whether two parts "go together" is not a science, it's subjective and depends on the listener)

I just want some cohesive moods created on this album; if one of those is poppy, that's fine as long as it belongs, and as long as the album as a whole tells a story where the twists and turns make sense

[liebzz]

I think what is tough is you will get a cohesively dark mood filtered through Watt’s sheen instead of the way Josh Evans might have produced and mixed it? I think that’s also the worry that the sheen won’t match the band’s approach? Watt was excellent for Earthlings because it was a moment for Eddie to let his hair down and create some poppy music (The Dark is a five star example of this)…that it translates here is up for grabs.