Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

[WaitingForBluey]

This is their best since Riot Act.

This is where I'm at as well

I really love Gigaton and it feels like I'm cheating on her, but yeah

Poor Gig... we still love you too little Giggy

[dimejinky99]

Fuck it.

I’m just gonna do what I do with certain Star Wars and play this shit on repeat until I brainwash myself into believing I like it.

Hasn’t let me down yet.

[WaitingForBluey]

Ok got it . I never heard Potatoes in Running.

It's still a better line than "love hater" ...which I do not hear at all

[WaitingForBluey]

Fuck it.

I’m just gonna do what I do with certain Star Wars and play this shit on repeat until I brainwash myself into believing I like it.

Hasn’t let me down yet.

It's called the S/T -> LB method

[VinylGuy]

I love Gigaton, but reflecting back on that launch some of its emotional power was that it offered a familiar light in a dark time. This is doing something very different

Is it? There’s so much familiarity on this album. In fact there’s virtually nothing I’d consider novel, despite having a solid amount of aspects I’d consider great

Sorry, I meant the emotional experience of the album. It's been much more powerful, and not tied to a place/moment in the way that Gigaton was what I needed to get through that early experience.


The familiarity of the album (without feeling like a retread) is one of its strengths, but I wouldn't praise its novelty. More of Gigaton felt new.

Ah got ya. Makes sense!

I still think there are many new things here; Won’t Tell being a very poppy song with a melody im very surprised they went for.

[dimejinky99]

Fuck it.

I’m just gonna do what I do with certain Star Wars and play this shit on repeat until I brainwash myself into believing I like it.

Hasn’t let me down yet.

It's called the S/T -> LB method

I haven’t heard ST since the year it came out. Nothing could make that one make sense to me. And it sounded terrible too.
It’s the awkward family member we just don’t talk about or even mention anymore in this house.

[Arthur Morgan]

Ok got it . I never heard Potatoes in Running.

Now you will never unhear it.

[jdopj]

I finally listened to a not cell phone recorded version. I can report the baby is no longer featured in the interlude.

Actually, I had quite an emotional response hearing this proper. For the joy I get from listening to Pearl Jam, I really can’t recall the last time I responded to a new album, even the ones I really love and adore, in this kind of way.

Same. I'm not sure if it's just me, and then I listen again and I'm like, "no, this is actually really good". I'm still in shock.

It’s so refreshing that a lot of this have this feeling. I just want to keep listening and when I do something else sticks out. Pure joy and emotion.

[stip]

It is odd to consider , but I bought 10 at 16 in 1991. I hadn't heard a single track.
The stick on the cassette said something about Mother LoveBone and Green River. I put it in the tape neck of my Jeep and that was it. In those early years they were super heros. I was inspired to write . I was inspired to pick up the guitar. Life moved forward they were there at every step.
Something strange happened though as we grew old and I grew older their capes and masks came off. We were peers. They did their thing well. I did my thing well. We were part of the same story. They went to work . I went to work . They had struggles as did I. In 1991 listening and watching those guys I wanted nothing more than to be on the largest stages of the world. That quickly faded and I was elated to be just a guy carving out a path for himself and his family. I no longer looked up to them. They were distant brothers.
Ed has beautifully spoke of the communal nature of music and how we are all apart of that Pearl Jam thing. The thing is he believes this it comes through in this album. He is not protecting himself on this he is opening his heart wide open much like the letters he receives from his fans. I'm really proud of him for this. I mean he could mail it in and we would still probably be here. Instead he went all in. Like I did 34 years ago. The thing there are things on here I'm looking at you outro to setting sun that live is gonna be a big ask. He will struggle. It will be again the crowd that moves this forward.

i mean all this is true, and well said, but shouldnt our priority be making ‘potato’ happen?

What is this thing about potatoes I'm missing

It's a self-protective response to an emotional reaction. He doesn't want to admit that your words had him all choked up and teary eyed so he deflects the subject back to potatoes.

(BTW, it's a reference to the misheard lyrics in Running, if you were really asking that question)

i build emotional walls with them

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

It is odd to consider , but I bought 10 at 16 in 1991. I hadn't heard a single track.
The stick on the cassette said something about Mother LoveBone and Green River. I put it in the tape neck of my Jeep and that was it. In those early years they were super heros. I was inspired to write . I was inspired to pick up the guitar. Life moved forward they were there at every step.
Something strange happened though as we grew old and I grew older their capes and masks came off. We were peers. They did their thing well. I did my thing well. We were part of the same story. They went to work . I went to work . They had struggles as did I. In 1991 listening and watching those guys I wanted nothing more than to be on the largest stages of the world. That quickly faded and I was elated to be just a guy carving out a path for himself and his family. I no longer looked up to them. They were distant brothers.
Ed has beautifully spoke of the communal nature of music and how we are all apart of that Pearl Jam thing. The thing is he believes this it comes through in this album. He is not protecting himself on this he is opening his heart wide open much like the letters he receives from his fans. I'm really proud of him for this. I mean he could mail it in and we would still probably be here. Instead he went all in. Like I did 34 years ago. The thing there are things on here I'm looking at you outro to setting sun that live is gonna be a big ask. He will struggle. It will be again the crowd that moves this forward.

i mean all this is true, and well said, but shouldnt our priority be making ‘potato’ happen?

What is this thing about potatoes I'm missing

It's a self-protective response to an emotional reaction. He doesn't want to admit that your words had him all choked up and teary eyed so he deflects the subject back to potatoes.

(BTW, it's a reference to the misheard lyrics in Running, if you were really asking that question)

i build emotional walls with them

but the album keeps tearing them down

[Arthur Morgan]

I love Gigaton, but reflecting back on that launch some of its emotional power was that it offered a familiar light in a dark time. This is doing something very different

Is it? There’s so much familiarity on this album. In fact there’s virtually nothing I’d consider novel, despite having a solid amount of aspects I’d consider great

Sorry, I meant the emotional experience of the album. It's been much more powerful, and not tied to a place/moment in the way that Gigaton was what I needed to get through that early experience.


The familiarity of the album (without feeling like a retread) is one of its strengths, but I wouldn't praise its novelty. More of Gigaton felt new.

Ah got ya. Makes sense!

I still think there are many new things here; Won’t Tell being a very poppy song with a melody im very surprised they went for.

I love this song but it just strikes me as a Lightning Bolt song that is actually good

Ii agree it’s like what they were going for on LB but executed way better.

I keep thinking of U2’s elevation album.

At the end of the day(dad) it’s all about the melody, lyrics and performance for me. This track has it all imo. Love it

[Revelator]

I don't think I've ever seen this much collective positivity toward a new Pearl Jam album on this board....maybe even this much positivity toward PJ writ large.

PS. Setting Sun is quietly rocketing up my chain as possibly the album's best song. Won't Tell and Wreckage in close contention.

[Fattie_Vedder]

This is their best since Riot Act.

This is where I'm at as well

I really love Gigaton and it feels like I'm cheating on her, but yeah

At this point in time I think this is better than riot act and binaural. Best since yield. We’ll see if that holds up.

[Fattie_Vedder]

Ok got it . I never heard Potatoes in Running.

Now you will never unhear it.

I may or may not have yelled “potatoes” in the theater.

[stip]

I love Gigaton, but reflecting back on that launch some of its emotional power was that it offered a familiar light in a dark time. This is doing something very different

Is it? There’s so much familiarity on this album. In fact there’s virtually nothing I’d consider novel, despite having a solid amount of aspects I’d consider great

Sorry, I meant the emotional experience of the album. It's been much more powerful, and not tied to a place/moment in the way that Gigaton was what I needed to get through that early experience.


The familiarity of the album (without feeling like a retread) is one of its strengths, but I wouldn't praise its novelty. More of Gigaton felt new.

Ah got ya. Makes sense!

I still think there are many new things here; Won’t Tell being a very poppy song with a melody im very surprised they went for.

I love this song but it just strikes me as a Lightning Bolt song that is actually good

Ii agree it’s like what they were going for on LB but executed way better.

I keep thinking of U2’s elevation album.

At the end of the day(dad) it’s all about the melody, lyrics and performance for me. This track has it all imo. Love it

So I stand by Lightning Bolt being a great song - I still prefer it to Won't Tell. But I will go back and listen to see if I hear LB. That's not a connection I made.

[Farmer John]

This is their best since Riot Act.

This is where I'm at as well

I really love Gigaton and it feels like I'm cheating on her, but yeah

At this point in time I think this is better than riot act and binaural. Best since yield. We’ll see if that holds up.

It's pretty crazy that this isn't an outrageous statement to make.

[stip]

I don't think I've ever seen this much collective positivity toward a new Pearl Jam album on this board....maybe even this much positivity toward PJ writ large.

PS. Setting Sun is quietly rocketing up my chain as possibly the album's best song. Won't Tell and Wreckage in close contention.

I've been here since Binaural and a regular post Riot Act and this remains, pretty handily the most well received album they've put out. that may change (Binaural and Riot Act have aged into more esteem then they had at the time in a way that, say Backspacer and Lightning Bolt haven't), but for now definitely this.

[Coach]

I can't stop playing this album, and ya know, I'm not gonna stop.

[EBowie]

Some have said best since Riot Act. Right now, I tend to agree. With that in mind, this album feels like what Avocado was trying to achieve but didn’t quite accomplish.