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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stip
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by stip »

i am having trouble collecting my thoughts about songs that arent WFS or settting sun. i cant remember the last time i was drawn so hard to two songs above others on an album where I like+ everything

im not going to go so far as to say these are two of their best songs. WAAYYY to early to tell. but man are they speaking to me right now
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

DeeDee wrote:
Ms Harmless wrote:anyone else feel like the first 1-2 punch conjures Binaural?

Scared of Fear - Breakerfall
React, Respond - God's Dice
I don't see it. Breakerfall is straightforward and God's Dice is way more punk than React, respond. I'd compare Scared of Fear to Life Wasted and React, respond to Got Some/My Father's son but 100 times better.
fair! I definitely hear Breakerfall in SOF and Binaural elsewhere on the album, but RR is not quite as fast as God's Dice; personally I think it's the production giving Backspacer more than the songs
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by DeeDee »

Ms Harmless wrote:
DeeDee wrote:
Ms Harmless wrote:anyone else feel like the first 1-2 punch conjures Binaural?

Scared of Fear - Breakerfall
React, Respond - God's Dice
I don't see it. Breakerfall is straightforward and God's Dice is way more punk than React, respond. I'd compare Scared of Fear to Life Wasted and React, respond to Got Some/My Father's son but 100 times better.
fair! I definitely hear Breakerfall in SOF and Binaural elsewhere on the album, but RR is not quite as fast as God's Dice; personally I think it's the production giving Backspacer more than the songs
As a bass player, I really like God's Dice, and Breakerfall is a good opener, but I feel this two are way better. More complex, riskier and convincing to me.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by DeeDee »

Btw, I'd never heard Jeff's bass sound the way it does in Waiting for Stevie.

Thick.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

DeeDee wrote:
Ms Harmless wrote:
DeeDee wrote:
Ms Harmless wrote:anyone else feel like the first 1-2 punch conjures Binaural?

Scared of Fear - Breakerfall
React, Respond - God's Dice
I don't see it. Breakerfall is straightforward and God's Dice is way more punk than React, respond. I'd compare Scared of Fear to Life Wasted and React, respond to Got Some/My Father's son but 100 times better.
fair! I definitely hear Breakerfall in SOF and Binaural elsewhere on the album, but RR is not quite as fast as God's Dice; personally I think it's the production giving Backspacer more than the songs
As a bass player, I really like God's Dice, and Breakerfall is a good opener, but I feel this two are way better. More complex, riskier and convincing to me.
they're great
liebzz
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by liebzz »

It’s funny that even with the high quality I think Scared of Fear and React Respond are, once Wreckage starts I feel the sense as if that is the moment we get to dig into the album for real. Like here’s your obligatory rockers, now let’s have a chat.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Tj »

Mike earlier on talked about how heavy this was, and it definitely is not. I am wondering if what got cut are the heavier songs
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by DeeDee »

liebzz wrote:It’s funny that even with the high quality I think Scared of Fear and React Respond are, once Wreckage starts I feel the sense as if that is the moment we get to dig into the album for real. Like here’s your obligatory rockers, now let’s have a chat.
I can see that, but the first two rockers are good on their own.
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Strat
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Strat »

Tj wrote:Mike earlier on talked about how heavy this was, and it definitely is not. I am wondering if what got cut are the heavier songs
It's heavy in that it's aggressively loud and my assumption is that is wha tis meant/heard by all the dead members of the band.

Can't wait to for second listen today!
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by DeeDee »

Tj wrote:Mike earlier on talked about how heavy this was, and it definitely is not. I am wondering if what got cut are the heavier songs
Mike probably didn't know what songs were gonna be included. He is PJ's Kirk Hammett.

:lol:
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EBowie
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by EBowie »

Tj wrote:Mike earlier on talked about how heavy this was, and it definitely is not. I am wondering if what got cut are the heavier songs
Mike was probably talking about the sound but its also possible to be "heavy" emotionally/psychologically without anything to do with sonics.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by DeeDee »

The ending of Got to give gives me the chiiiills.

Eddie goes Arc a little bit.
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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 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

Tj wrote:Mike earlier on talked about how heavy this was, and it definitely is not. I am wondering if what got cut are the heavier songs
imo it's heavier lyrically, thematically and musically than every album since Riot Act (except maybe S/T, maybe); "heavier than you might expect" is what he said; I wish we'd had more Dark Matter style guitar, but I still think it's pretty heavy
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by DeeDee »

I'm not too sold on the first half of Setting Sun. The second half is a whole other thing, though.
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tragabigzanda
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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 5:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Thurman Murman
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Thurman Murman »

Ensign9 wrote:
DeeDee wrote:
guitar_davey wrote:Could this be the best record ever by a band that's been around for more than thirty years?
Hold your horses there.
Who are they up against in this category?
Springsteens "Magic" comes to mind...34 years into his career and oddly enough another album of unquestionably great songs but does suffer from some production choices.
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Thurman Murman
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Thurman Murman »

tragabigzanda wrote:Thanks for the FLAC CD rip guys. I haven’t even had my coffee yet, so slow your roll on the DMs newcomers.
FLAC CD rip????
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Aunt_Claire_Foy
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Aunt_Claire_Foy »

tragabigzanda wrote:Thanks for the FLAC CD rip guys. I haven’t even had my coffee yet, so slow your roll on the DMs newcomers.
It’ll probably hurt your ears, no joke. I’m holding back my comments on the mix but after hearing the entire album a couple times now, there are clearly choices I don’t enjoy.

But the songs are fucking killer. Can’t wait for Baltimore.
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Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

Thurman Murman wrote:
tragabigzanda wrote:Thanks for the FLAC CD rip guys. I haven’t even had my coffee yet, so slow your roll on the DMs newcomers.
FLAC CD rip????
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