Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

General Pearl Jam discussion.
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Rank Dark Matter

5 Stars
119
56%
4 Stars
65
31%
3 Stars
19
9%
2 Stars
2
1%
2 Star
1
0%
%#*! Andrew Watt
5
2%
 
Total votes: 211

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oasisfan35
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by oasisfan35 »

Clem Halibut wrote:All time top 5

The Who
Pearl Jam
Neil Young
QOTSA

Current favs

Dr. Dog
Bug Club
Yard Act
War on Drugs
La Luz
I'm not one for ranking, etc. but that top five looks a little shy.
absinthe makes the heart grow fonder...
liebzz
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by liebzz »

That was really a great post, KD.

My top 5 non-PJ, really all time:

Rolling Stones
Grateful Dead
My Morning Jacket
Bruce Springsteen
Tom Petty

But there’s a long list of honorable mentions from the Beatles, Dylan, Neil Young, and the Who to Phish, Goose, the Allman Brothers Band, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and a ton of others. I am sure the list changes by month.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Fattie_Vedder »

RockPusher wrote:
Fattie_Vedder wrote:Rank your top 5 none PJ artists.

But really, ranking nonsense aside, I am genuinely curious what non PJ folks here are into. And also curious to see if there are overlapping tastes. Then see if there’s a correlation between musical preferences and personality traits based on posting history.
1. Radiohead/The Smile
2. Pink Floyd
3. Built to Spill
4. Vetiver
5. Great Lake Swimmers

I like a lot of other bands like Pinback, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, PJ Harvey, Ween, NIN, Beastie Boys, Elliott Smith, Jason Molina (and his various projects), The Notwist, Fever Ray and The Knife, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Cure, The Who, Slothrust, John Vanderslice, Klangstof, Woods, Midlake, Rare Monk, Phosphorescent, Explosions in the Sky, Dope Lemon
Nice! You’ve given me lots of new music to explore! I don’t recognize Vetiver
and Great Lake Swimmers from your list.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Fattie_Vedder »

liebzz wrote:That was really a great post, KD.

My top 5 non-PJ, really all time:

Rolling Stones
Grateful Dead
My Morning Jacket
Bruce Springsteen
Tom Petty

But there’s a long list of honorable mentions from the Beatles, Dylan, Neil Young, and the Who to Phish, Goose, the Allman Brothers Band, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and a ton of others. I am sure the list changes by month.
Nice! I’ve been getting into My Morning Jacket lately, especially Waterfall II.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Tj »

Not including PJ
Fleetwood Mac
RHCP
Elton John
The Clash
Cream
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Fattie_Vedder »

Mike wrote:All time top five no order:
Pearl Jam
Tom Waits
REM
Wilco
Radiohead

Current top five excluding these:
Perfume Genius
Big Thief/Adrianne Lenker
Elliott Smith
Sufjan Stevens
Alvvays or Fleet Foxes


The National is in There somewhere as well
It seems we have similar tastes. I love Big Thief, Sufjan, Fleet Foxes, Radiohead and Wilco. I’ve enjoyed a bit of perfume genius too
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Fattie_Vedder »

Some current non-PJ favorites:

Andrew Bird
Sufjan Stevens
Radiohead
Big Thief
Anderson Paak

… Flyte, Basia Bulat, Iron and Wine, Kendrick Lamar, De La Soul, Fleet Foxes, Waxahatchee, Beyonce, A Tribe Called Quest, Tori Amos…
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by RockPusher »

Fattie_Vedder wrote:
RockPusher wrote:
Fattie_Vedder wrote:Rank your top 5 none PJ artists.

But really, ranking nonsense aside, I am genuinely curious what non PJ folks here are into. And also curious to see if there are overlapping tastes. Then see if there’s a correlation between musical preferences and personality traits based on posting history.
1. Radiohead/The Smile
2. Pink Floyd
3. Built to Spill
4. Vetiver
5. Great Lake Swimmers

I like a lot of other bands like Pinback, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, PJ Harvey, Ween, NIN, Beastie Boys, Elliott Smith, Jason Molina (and his various projects), The Notwist, Fever Ray and The Knife, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Cure, The Who, Slothrust, John Vanderslice, Klangstof, Woods, Midlake, Rare Monk, Phosphorescent, Explosions in the Sky, Dope Lemon
Nice! You’ve given me lots of new music to explore! I don’t recognize Vetiver
and Great Lake Swimmers from your list.
They are very similar folk songsmiths that venture occasionally into some form of rock. Vetiver is local to the SF Bay Area so I see them a lot and Great Lake Swimmers are Canadian.
Be mighty...Be humble...Be mighty humble...
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by stip »

Ms Harmless wrote:is there not something to be said for taking the rough with the smooth in life, love, and music? for situations, for people and for bands? is this not what love is?

I'm not an unintelligent person, and I am able to recognise that PJ 2024 is not the same as PJ in 1993; and I have often fallen into the trap of surviving via "cope" (making excuses for things that really were upsetting me about Pearl Jam); but I've unpacked layers of that, been through a lot of grieving and growing up since S/T... and what I'm left with is that I'm a completist as a fan, I like the practise of following Pearl Jam everywhere even if I hate their current thing; ultimately it's because I sold my soul when I was 9 years old, a lot has happened in my life to sever my connection to that inner child, but I still have Pearl Jam; the good in it might be more scattered than it used to be, but it's still very easy to find, there's no "searching" to do, not after 33 years of knowing them this intimately
also nicely said. there are a few artists (of which pearl jam is primary in my life) where a deep ongoing engagement is not only rewarding in itself (for reasons KD laid out so well) but just because Ive hard coded them into my identity. not necessarily (hopefully) in a mindless way, but in a way that connects the different eras of the life they’ve been soundtracking. it gives their successes and failures greater resonance, infuses minor moments with major significance, and explains why the ‘would you like this if it wasnt pearl jam?’ is not answerable
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

stip wrote:
Ms Harmless wrote:is there not something to be said for taking the rough with the smooth in life, love, and music? for situations, for people and for bands? is this not what love is?

I'm not an unintelligent person, and I am able to recognise that PJ 2024 is not the same as PJ in 1993; and I have often fallen into the trap of surviving via "cope" (making excuses for things that really were upsetting me about Pearl Jam); but I've unpacked layers of that, been through a lot of grieving and growing up since S/T... and what I'm left with is that I'm a completist as a fan, I like the practise of following Pearl Jam everywhere even if I hate their current thing; ultimately it's because I sold my soul when I was 9 years old, a lot has happened in my life to sever my connection to that inner child, but I still have Pearl Jam; the good in it might be more scattered than it used to be, but it's still very easy to find, there's no "searching" to do, not after 33 years of knowing them this intimately
also nicely said. there are a few artists (of which pearl jam is primary in my life) where a deep ongoing engagement is not only rewarding in itself (for reasons KD laid out so well) but just because Ive hard coded them into my identity. not necessarily (hopefully) in a mindless way, but in a way that connects the different eras of the life they’ve been soundtracking. it gives their successes and failures greater resonance, infuses minor moments with major significance, and explains why the ‘would you like this if it wasnt pearl jam?’ is not answerable
absolutely
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Birds in Hell »

stip wrote:
Mike wrote:
stip wrote:Happy to! how do you feel about Mark Lanegan?
I Never listened to him. Where should I start?
he has like 30 albums. a few places to start ...

Bubblegum - his best solo album (if you like this blues funeral is almost as good).
Given where we are, worth noting that Jack Irons plays drums on Blues Funeral.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

I'm a drummer (no longer a kit drummer but that's by the by, I simply have no space to keep a kit) which means nearly all the music listening I do is filtered through the lens of sitting at the kit; everything else is secondary

yes, I can hear that the drums on Dark Matter won't be tuned, recorded, mixed, and mastered the way I'd usually like, but I've had a variation of those criticisms -- give or take one or two -- ever since Dave A. left; Pearl Jam simply haven't had my "ideal" type of drummer for that damn long, so I've been finding the good where I can for a long ass time

now, full in the knowledge that I don't have my "ideal" drumming style in my Pearl Jam anymore, I look for other things; where drumming is concerned, I loved wonderfully prepped and produced acoustic, roomy drum sounds; but failing that, I just want the drummer we have (Jack or Matt, or whoever) to be playing like their life depended on it, and displaying why they are so respected as a musician in their own right, *even* if their performance sounds like it's fighting its way out of the shiny wrapping paper the Producer Du Jour has confined it in; Matt is doing that here, and no, it isn't everything, but it is my hook, it does have me sitting my ass down and saying "OK, I'm signing onto your newsletter, let's see what else you've got"

if there's another Supersonic (and Running isn't) on this record, I'll go slightly apeshit; but if there isn't, we're smiling enough
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Thu January 01, 2026 5:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by stip »

Birds in Hell wrote:
stip wrote:
Mike wrote:
stip wrote:Happy to! how do you feel about Mark Lanegan?
I Never listened to him. Where should I start?
he has like 30 albums. a few places to start ...

Bubblegum - his best solo album (if you like this blues funeral is almost as good).
Given where we are, worth noting that Jack Irons plays drums on Blues Funeral.
really? i did not know that
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Clem Halibut »

Every band goes through the less interesting phase
Last edited by Clem Halibut on Fri April 05, 2024 10:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Clem Halibut »

oasisfan35 wrote:
Clem Halibut wrote:All time top 5

The Who
Pearl Jam
Neil Young
QOTSA

Current favs

Dr. Dog
Bug Club
Yard Act
War on Drugs
La Luz
I'm not one for ranking, etc. but that top five looks a little shy.
There. Put a little fíxin on it
Edited to add The Stones
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”
― Charles Bukowski
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by oneway23 »

Nothing pithy or witty to add, just showing appreciation for KD & Harmless. :heartbeat:
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…
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by guitar_davey »

stip wrote:
Ms Harmless wrote:is there not something to be said for taking the rough with the smooth in life, love, and music? for situations, for people and for bands? is this not what love is?

I'm not an unintelligent person, and I am able to recognise that PJ 2024 is not the same as PJ in 1993; and I have often fallen into the trap of surviving via "cope" (making excuses for things that really were upsetting me about Pearl Jam); but I've unpacked layers of that, been through a lot of grieving and growing up since S/T... and what I'm left with is that I'm a completist as a fan, I like the practise of following Pearl Jam everywhere even if I hate their current thing; ultimately it's because I sold my soul when I was 9 years old, a lot has happened in my life to sever my connection to that inner child, but I still have Pearl Jam; the good in it might be more scattered than it used to be, but it's still very easy to find, there's no "searching" to do, not after 33 years of knowing them this intimately
also nicely said. there are a few artists (of which pearl jam is primary in my life) where a deep ongoing engagement is not only rewarding in itself (for reasons KD laid out so well) but just because Ive hard coded them into my identity. not necessarily (hopefully) in a mindless way, but in a way that connects the different eras of the life they’ve been soundtracking. it gives their successes and failures greater resonance, infuses minor moments with major significance, and explains why the ‘would you like this if it wasnt pearl jam?’ is not answerable
Couple of beautiful posts here that sum it all up perfectly for me.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Tj »

5 wasn't really enough, but the interesting thing was especially when removing PJ and Fleetwood Mac from the equation there is about 15 that are very close. Pearl Jam to some extent covers the bases of what I like most about those bands. It is probably because to some extent have evolved from the list.
The Band
Cream
Frumpy
Zep
The Clash
Zevon
Talk Talk
Gang of 4
U2
Gnr
Van Halen
Soundgarden
Gordon Lightfoot
The Supremes
Cash
Tool
Social D
The Last 7 years of Paramore
The Talking Heads
The Who
Beattles
Mudhoney
liebzz
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by liebzz »

Fattie_Vedder wrote:
liebzz wrote:That was really a great post, KD.

My top 5 non-PJ, really all time:

Rolling Stones
Grateful Dead
My Morning Jacket
Bruce Springsteen
Tom Petty

But there’s a long list of honorable mentions from the Beatles, Dylan, Neil Young, and the Who to Phish, Goose, the Allman Brothers Band, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and a ton of others. I am sure the list changes by month.
Nice! I’ve been getting into My Morning Jacket lately, especially Waterfall II.
Love all their stuff but yeah, the Waterfalls are both great growers of albums.
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