Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

[Monkey_Driven]

Do you think Ed watched Moneyball and was so moved by Brad’s performance that he thought to himself what if i freaky fridayed the situation?

This is a nice melody that could have sounded great if it weren’t for bad production and the fact that it’s pseudo stolen. And the lovely sentiment is marred by the fact that it seems taken from an original song in a movie. Can we agree that Ed is the weak link of this band now and shouldn’t be the leader anymore? What is happening right now? Am I overreacting?

yes, that is an overreaction

Counterpoint:

Not sure a band playing something written and released in 1990 really counts for this discussion.

[RockPusher]

I think this song is going to end up having a very country solo and I am cool with that.

[stip]

Calling one of the greatest singers and front men in rock and roll history the weak link for two thirds of the bands existence is a hilarious take.

No one can take away his accomplishments over his career and how amazing of a singer and even songwriter he was. But he’s not the same singer he used to be (understandably in part due to age, but also in part due to poor vocal and lyrical choices), and his creative direction and choices are often mediocre, or worse, they sometimes hold back the other band members.

I will always have love for the man for all that he’s done, and for his endearing earnest nature. But his creative choices and musical preferences don’t align with mine. Yes, that’s a personal preference and to each their own. He is still the face of this band and I can’t imagine Pearl Jam without him; there is no such thing. I want Eddie in the band doing what he does best, singing, and cede more creative control to others.

That may truly come true on this album. It seems there are plenty of stone and Jeff penned songs. If this is the only Ed ballad shoehorned in then I can live with that. It’s not that I don’t enjoy schmaltz, I have room for that. It’s just… why does this one feel wrong and forced?

Placing one Eddie driven ballad on a record (which he's been doing since No Code) doesn't seem like too much of a burden on the rest of the band to me. The image that RM conjures up every time there's a song they don't like that Eddie is involved in seems to be that Stone and Jeff are chained up in a basement somewhere, handed instruments for good behavior, and instructed to fill in guitar parts for Eddie's latest travesty.

You may just not like the song. I'd argue that A: it's too early to tell (I love Dark Matter but was not blown away by the first clip) and B: it's okay if you don't. One of RMs very common (and I think less endearing) traits is to lose its mind every time something doesn't immediately land in a huge way. This may not, but it's just a sound clip devoid of the context of the rest of the song, the album, time needed to process, and all the rest. It may end up making sense on the record. It could work for you. And if it doesn't, but you find other things that do, then it's also okay.

That's not directed at you specifically F_V. It's just the post I responded to.

[stip]

Future Days was a successful song outside of the fanbase? I mean, I'm not even sure Sirens permeated that heavily.

In terms of Spotify plays they are 1 and 2. Sirens has 102 million plays. Future Days is number two on the album with 33 million. Getaway is a fairly distant third with 21 mill. MYM, Lightning Bolt, and Pendulum are all in the 16s


For some context (again, Spotify play counts, with all the caveats this come with)

Come Back is the highest on Pearl jam with 30 million. Second highest is WWS with 12

I am Mine leads Riot Act with 55 million, but number two is Thumbing my Way with 9 million

Light Years is the highest on Binaural with 11 million


So I think these are songs that do penetrate outside of the fanbase, just not within (or not as much)

[VinylGuy]

I dont think there is a song on lets say, No Code or Yield or even ST that has that element of "this is an eddie solo sugar song". It started on BS a bit ( they worked with Just Breathe which was something he already had for ITW) and went full on with LB. Gigaton seemed to stop that, and now seems to be back.

[Ms Harmless]

I like that the band give us the full palette on the three singles

- First one: oh cool! i like this! oh there is a hint of You Are!! oh damn the single

-Second one: well, yeah not a fan of these, but that bridge is great! the ending mm yes.

-Third one: fuck you

Serious Lightning Bolt vibes with this approach too.

i loved both Mym and Sirens...which was the third single? so, no its not closer to me

I just mean in the sense that they seem to be signaling that they'll cover a variety of styles on this album, albeit without any subtlety. LB very much felt like genre-hopping, as did Earthlings.

you bit my head off when I said that (albeit I did say "the sound is inconsistent" which is one way to vaguely say the same thing)

I don't hear genre-hopping even in these three

[Ms Harmless]

I dont think there is a song on lets say, No Code or Yield or even ST that has that element of "this is an eddie solo sugar song". It started on BS a bit ( they worked with Just Breathe which was something he already had for ITW) and went full on with LB. Gigaton seemed to stop that, and now seems to be back.

No Code: Off He Goes
Yield: Wishlist
S/T: Parachutes

we may all like those songs now, but we were mostly saying the same things about them then

[digster]

Future Days was a successful song outside of the fanbase? I mean, I'm not even sure Sirens permeated that heavily.

In terms of Spotify plays they are 1 and 2. Sirens has 102 million plays. Future Days is number two on the album with 33 million. Getaway is a fairly distant third with 21 mill. MYM, Lightning Bolt, and Pendulum are all in the 16s


For some context (again, Spotify play counts, with all the caveats this come with)

Come Back is the highest on Pearl jam with 30 million. Second highest is WWS with 12

I am Mine leads Riot Act with 55 million, but number two is Thumbing my Way with 9 million

Light Years is the highest on Binaural with 11 million


So I think these are songs that do penetrate outside of the fanbase, just not within (or not as much)

Ah, ok. Yeah, I think trying to gauge how much a song has permeated outside of a fanbase just using Spotify like that doesn't really lead anywhere. There's tons of reasons a higher number could be the case (and trying to compare those numbers to albums like Binaural, Riot Act, S/T or even Backspacer, which came out when Spotify either didn't exist or barely had launched, doesn't offer much either).

[Ms Harmless]

didn't name the Binaural or Riot Act ones because they're obvious (Soon Forget and All or None)

this song slots right into "Ed writes a 5 minute folky ditty on acoustic guitar or uke" tradition, even if age and family have increased the shmaltz

[Ms Harmless]

I think this song is going to end up having a very country solo and I am cool with that.

definitely

[liebzz]

I dont think there is a song on lets say, No Code or Yield or even ST that has that element of "this is an eddie solo sugar song". It started on BS a bit ( they worked with Just Breathe which was something he already had for ITW) and went full on with LB. Gigaton seemed to stop that, and now seems to be back.

No Code: Off He Goes
Yield: Wishlist
S/T: Parachutes

we may all like those songs now, but we were mostly saying the same things about them then

Yes on Wishlist. Not so much with Parachutes (Come Back was in that slot). Off He Goes I think has always had a pretty generous reception though, I think.

[Bi_3]

Do you think Ed watched Moneyball and was so moved by Brad’s performance that he thought to himself what if i freaky fridayed the situation?

This is a nice melody that could have sounded great if it weren’t for bad production and the fact that it’s pseudo stolen. And the lovely sentiment is marred by the fact that it seems taken from an original song in a movie. Can we agree that Ed is the weak link of this band now and shouldn’t be the leader anymore? What is happening right now? Am I overreacting?

yes, that is an overreaction

Counterpoint:

Not sure a band playing something written and released in 1990 really counts for this discussion.

In the sense that this is the example we have for PJ not being lead by modern day Ed it kinda does. Not dissing him as we are all at the point of our lives where we suffer from diminishing power, but I know I'm not alone in feeling the songs are now structured to suit Ed's current abilities and approach where in the past they were focused on just being the best musically they can be. It's an understandable compromise given their ages but begs the question what might have been (or might still be) if Ed was sent an album of tracks to focus on writing lyrics for.

[VinylGuy]

I dont think there is a song on lets say, No Code or Yield or even ST that has that element of "this is an eddie solo sugar song". It started on BS a bit ( they worked with Just Breathe which was something he already had for ITW) and went full on with LB. Gigaton seemed to stop that, and now seems to be back.

No Code: Off He Goes
Yield: Wishlist
S/T: Parachutes

we may all like those songs now, but we were mostly saying the same things about them then

nah those three are very very different in many ways, specially in their sound and the overall participation of the band too. Parachutes for example is not even a vedder composition, its a stone gossard song.

[digster]

Picking a producer for a record is always important, but it just may be possible that who PJ picks has an outweighed impact on how a record comes out in the end. It just seems like that's the one ingredient changing album-to-album; the lineup isn't changing.

[Fattie_Vedder]

Calling one of the greatest singers and front men in rock and roll history the weak link for two thirds of the bands existence is a hilarious take.

No one can take away his accomplishments over his career and how amazing of a singer and even songwriter he was. But he’s not the same singer he used to be (understandably in part due to age, but also in part due to poor vocal and lyrical choices), and his creative direction and choices are often mediocre, or worse, they sometimes hold back the other band members.

I will always have love for the man for all that he’s done, and for his endearing earnest nature. But his creative choices and musical preferences don’t align with mine. Yes, that’s a personal preference and to each their own. He is still the face of this band and I can’t imagine Pearl Jam without him; there is no such thing. I want Eddie in the band doing what he does best, singing, and cede more creative control to others.

That may truly come true on this album. It seems there are plenty of stone and Jeff penned songs. If this is the only Ed ballad shoehorned in then I can live with that. It’s not that I don’t enjoy schmaltz, I have room for that. It’s just… why does this one feel wrong and forced?

Placing one Eddie driven ballad on a record (which he's been doing since No Code) doesn't seem like too much of a burden on the rest of the band to me. The image that RM conjures up every time there's a song they don't like that Eddie is involved in seems to be that Stone and Jeff are chained up in a basement somewhere, handed instruments for good behavior, and instructed to fill in guitar parts for Eddie's latest travesty.

You may just not like the song. I'd argue that A: it's too early to tell (I love Dark Matter but was not blown away by the first clip) and B: it's okay if you don't. One of RMs very common (and I think less endearing) traits is to lose its mind every time something doesn't immediately land in a huge way. This may not, but it's just a sound clip devoid of the context of the rest of the song, the album, time needed to process, and all the rest. It may end up making sense on the record. It could work for you. And if it doesn't, but you find other things that do, then it's also okay.

That's not directed at you specifically F_V. It's just the post I responded to.

This may an issue of timing with crossed messages, but that’s not entirely fair. Nothing on NoCode compares, and it’s not Ed ballads in their nature that bother me. I absolutely LOVE just breathe for example. While RM may lose its collective mind and blame Ed for all the bands woes based on one song, my issue is broader as Ed has been the primary songwriter and creative director of the band for a while now, and they’ve often not aligned with my personal taste. This 20 second sample, coupled with the idea that it might be lifted from another song, while magnifying how the production issues hamper the song (not really anything to do with Ed) became the scapegoat for Ed issues. I see it’s not fair to conflate all these things together.

[Ms Harmless]

I dont think there is a song on lets say, No Code or Yield or even ST that has that element of "this is an eddie solo sugar song". It started on BS a bit ( they worked with Just Breathe which was something he already had for ITW) and went full on with LB. Gigaton seemed to stop that, and now seems to be back.

No Code: Off He Goes
Yield: Wishlist
S/T: Parachutes

we may all like those songs now, but we were mostly saying the same things about them then

Yes on Wishlist. Not so much with Parachutes (Come Back was in that slot). Off He Goes I think has always had a pretty generous reception though, I think.

my point really is, just because we like(d) a song it doesn't remove it from any possible "Ed solo throwaway" accusations; yeah, we could add Come Back

the unspoken thing on this forum seems to be "this song falls into <genre/category> I hate... unless I like it, then it doesn't"

[Fattie_Vedder]

I dont think there is a song on lets say, No Code or Yield or even ST that has that element of "this is an eddie solo sugar song". It started on BS a bit ( they worked with Just Breathe which was something he already had for ITW) and went full on with LB. Gigaton seemed to stop that, and now seems to be back.

No Code: Off He Goes
Yield: Wishlist
S/T: Parachutes

we may all like those songs now, but we were mostly saying the same things about them then

nah those three are very very different in many ways, specially in their sound and the overall participation of the band too. Parachutes for example is not even a vedder composition, its a stone gossard song.

I loved those songs when I first heard them and still do.

[oneway23]

There are some days where the gang feels more willing to poke fun and joke around on here and some days we seem more likely to want to play things straight down the middle.
Today feels a bit more like the latter.

No catastrophe.
I'm sure the song is a future classic in waiting.
My wife and I will probably cry when hearing it.

[digster]

This may an issue of timing with crossed messages, but that’s not entirely fair. Nothing on NoCode compares, and it’s not Ed ballads in their nature that bother me. I absolutely LOVE just breathe for example. While RM may lose its collective mind and blame Ed for all the bands woes based on one song, my issue is broader as Ed has been the primary songwriter and creative director of the band for a while now, and they’ve often not aligned with my personal taste. This 20 second sample, coupled with the idea that it might be lifted from another song, while magnifying how the production issues hamper the song (not really anything to do with Ed) became the scapegoat for Ed issues. I see it’s not fair to conflate all these things together.

Yeah, no one here is arguing that the issue is Pearl Jam is putting ballads on their albums. And if someone thinks the band's stumbling, it makes perfect sense that more responsibility would be on Ed. He's the lead singer and writes as much as half the songs for each album.

[Strat]

Guys, its the production. Thats it. Dont blame Ed. Blame Wottman