Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

[stip]

How does DM hold up against Quick Escape. Musically they are pretty similar. Quick Escape is probably more exciting, and the solos/jams are top notch. It feels less purposeful/more playful than DM, but that's not necessarily a problem. Dark Matter has better lyrics.

I'm not sure, if I was keeping score, that Quick Escape is a 5 star song. I think DM overall is just a bit stronger. It's very close. The very best moments on QE trump Dark Matter.


For score keeping

Who Ever Said vs. Scared of Fear (I'll give this a tie. SOF is the better overall listen. But WES has higher highs)
Superblood Wolfmoon vs. React/Respond - still giving this to Superblood
Dance of the Clarivoyants vs. Wreckage - it's Dance, but Wreckage is a song to watch
Dark Matter vs. Quick Escape - it's Dark Matter, but barely.

So far I would give Gigaton a slight edge, but that first four song run on Gigaton is arguably the best 4 song run in the catalog to my ears. And DM is holding its own. And Dark Matter's best moments are still to come, which is not really true for Gigaton.

[Strat]

Im surprised you seem to still rate Gigaton over DM after reading your review of DM.

You must really love Gigaton!

[RockPusher]

Im surprised you seem to still rate Gigaton over DM after reading your review of DM.

You must really love Gigaton!

I think he’s hinting that DM’s backside turns him on though…

[Thurman Murman]

Im surprised you seem to still rate Gigaton over DM after reading your review of DM.

You must really love Gigaton!

As someone who loves Gigaton enough to have said its their best PRAMG album i dont even think its THAT close here. DM is their best since Yield.

[stip]

Im surprised you seem to still rate Gigaton over DM after reading your review of DM.

You must really love Gigaton!

When I put Gigaton as my number 4 album I'm not just trying to stir up shit on the board I do really love it.

But Gigaton just finished its strongest run.

[Arthur Morgan]

Got distracted. Continuining with my arbitrary Gigaton/Dark Matter comparison, I am not prepared to put Wreckage ahead of Dance, which remains such a singular, almost flawlessly (one lyric aside) exercise into a space they've never gone. I don't know that Dance is unequivocally the best song since at least S/T anymore, but it still remains a bar, if not the bar, set for recent work.


For score keeping

Who Ever Said vs. Scared of Fear (I'll give this a tie. SOF is the better overall listen. But WES has higher highs)
Superblood Wolfmoon vs. React/Respond - still giving this to Superblood
Dance of the Clarivoyants vs. Wreckage - it's Dance, but Wreckage is a song to watch

Onto Dark Matter

Re Dotc what lyric are you referring to?

Probably “Boys wanna grow their dicks”

That's the one

I thought that may be it. I thought he was saying that too. But I think it’s DIX, not dicks.

Meant to be a double entendre.

Still maybe off putting, but because it’s Ed there is more to it.

Please forgive me if y’all knew this already.

Once I realized it was not dicks, I was relieved.


The Dark Index (DIX) is a dollar-weighted measure of the Dark Pool Indicator (DPI) of the S&P 500 components. When the DIX is higher, market sentiment in dark pools is generally more bullish.

[EBowie]

I really like Gigaton but its biggest weakness, for me, is it feels bloated.

Gigaton is a great tasting meal but I struggle to clear my plate.

Dark Matter not only tastes great, but I clear my plate and leave the restaurant feeling better for it.

[Ms Harmless]

I still feel as if Dark Matter and Gigaton do completely different things very well (and not so well) and are complimentary sides of Pearl Jam; I wouldn't want one without the other; Gigaton brought back some of the cerebral "seriousness" I'd been missing since Riot Act, but Dark Matter is a vast, vast improvement of the "pop" template they attempted in BS and LB (so surely their best pop album of all time -- that's where "best ever" comes into the conversations for me), making me much less worried about any future pop-leaning endeavours; they've nailed it, but I've needed both albums to convince me that my favourite band can still do near enough everything I loved them for

[RockPusher]

I still feel as if Dark Matter and Gigaton do completely different things very well (and not so well) and are complimentary sides of Pearl Jam; I wouldn't want one without the other; Gigaton brought back some of the cerebral "seriousness" I'd been missing since Riot Act, but Dark Matter is a vast, vast improvement of the "pop" template they attempted in BS and LB (so surely their best pop album of all time -- that's where "best ever" comes into the conversations for me), making me much less worried about any future pop-leaning endeavours; they've nailed it, but I've needed both albums to convince me that my favourite band can still do near enough everything I loved them for

This is a nice take.

[stip]

Okay, very interesting visualizer listening experience for Won't Tell

First off - crappy visualizer

Second, I realize I am having an issue with this and Upper Hand. Dark Matter is such an obvious pivot into the 'anthem' section of the album, and once it starts I find myself getting a little fidgety - like this and Upper Hand are songs I have to get to so I can hear Waiting for Stevie. That will fade over time (it is day 3 or 4 depending on how you count. this is all VERY new). And it's both not fair to the songs preceding it and absolutely impacting my experience. I'm just consciously naming what is unconsciously happening.

So I tried to be present. This is a great pop song - like Johnny Guitar but serious and sincere. I quite like the storytelling in the lyrics. Eddie doesn't often write like this, I don't think it is one of his particular strengths, but the imagery here is all striking. It gets to the point. It's not overwritten or overdeveloped. The chorus language is maybe just a touch TOO poppy, but I recognize he's trying to work in those elements from jeff's dream.

This is a capital A anthem in the U2 style. I mean I think they nail it. But even so, the whole thing hasn't clicked for me as much as I think it should and hopefully one day will. Part of that might be the transition. This is almost like a medias res beginning, especially given the completely different space that Dark Matter is in. Wreckage is starkly different than React Respond, but that still feels more like a new beginning, whereas this feels almost like an interruption. An interstitial piece would have worked well here. It may be my primary issue with the sequencing

Also, interestingly, this is like they took the 'patterns' (very U2 like) at the end of Force of Nature and said 'what if this, but half the song'. And I love that Force of Nature outro. I love what's happening here in isolation. But it does lose some of its impact as the primary space of a song, rather than the reward.

Having said all that. I had my first feels moment during the final moments before the outro


FOR IN MY DREAM YOU TOLD
ME TO LET THE LONGING GO
AND THE PROMISE I STILL HOLD
WON'T TELL A SOUL.

That's just lovely. And enhanced in the larger context of the album. It's such an unabashedly romantic line, and I just love how they finally lean into these instincts on this record, without tying them to a specific line. This is an emotional space pearl jam is ALWAYS talking about. I had the realization about two years ago that every Pearl Jam song is, at heart, a love song. this is, in the end, what Eddie is ALWAYS talking about, in some facet or another. Love. Connections. But they were almost always oblique about it (not punk enough? not grunge enough? too commercial? I don't know). And as they enter what will be the final phase of their journey, even if it still has many years to go, it's just so nice to see them lean into and own and embrace it. It's why so many of us have described the album as a whole, or the experience of it, as something akin to a promise being fulfilled. This has always been there. They're finally just letting us all have a good long look.

[stip]

Got distracted. Continuining with my arbitrary Gigaton/Dark Matter comparison, I am not prepared to put Wreckage ahead of Dance, which remains such a singular, almost flawlessly (one lyric aside) exercise into a space they've never gone. I don't know that Dance is unequivocally the best song since at least S/T anymore, but it still remains a bar, if not the bar, set for recent work.


For score keeping

Who Ever Said vs. Scared of Fear (I'll give this a tie. SOF is the better overall listen. But WES has higher highs)
Superblood Wolfmoon vs. React/Respond - still giving this to Superblood
Dance of the Clarivoyants vs. Wreckage - it's Dance, but Wreckage is a song to watch

Onto Dark Matter

Re Dotc what lyric are you referring to?

Probably “Boys wanna grow their dicks”

That's the one

I thought that may be it. I thought he was saying that too. But I think it’s DIX, not dicks.

Meant to be a double entendre.

Still maybe off putting, but because it’s Ed there is more to it.

Please forgive me if y’all knew this already.

Once I realized it was not dicks, I was relieved.


The Dark Index (DIX) is a dollar-weighted measure of the Dark Pool Indicator (DPI) of the S&P 500 components. When the DIX is higher, market sentiment in dark pools is generally more bullish.

True fact - this popped up and I had to check to make sure this wasn't one of lecherous' posts.

[stip]

I still feel as if Dark Matter and Gigaton do completely different things very well (and not so well) and are complimentary sides of Pearl Jam; I wouldn't want one without the other; Gigaton brought back some of the cerebral "seriousness" I'd been missing since Riot Act, but Dark Matter is a vast, vast improvement of the "pop" template they attempted in BS and LB (so surely their best pop album of all time -- that's where "best ever" comes into the conversations for me), making me much less worried about any future pop-leaning endeavours; they've nailed it, but I've needed both albums to convince me that my favourite band can still do near enough everything I loved them for

I agree with all of this for sure. They do feel complimentary. The comparison I'm doing is mostly

A: Fun
B: Because they are chronological in the catalog
C: Because in my own treasured cannon rankings, this is the position Dark Matter is chasing. I won't know for at least a year if it has a serious shot at surpassing Vs. And it is probably not physically possible for something to pass Ten or Vitalogy because of how formative they were. I would need a record to come out at the same time as some utterly transformative moment in my life and guide me through it, and since I like where things are I'm not really looking for that. It would probably be dark.

[stip]

I really like Gigaton but its biggest weakness, for me, is it feels bloated.

Gigaton is a great tasting meal but I struggle to clear my plate.

Dark Matter not only tastes great, but I clear my plate and leave the restaurant feeling better for it.

Gigaton does feel long, and Dark Matter, despite not being a short record, does go by at a clip

[stip]

Wont' Tell vs. Alright - this is kind of a non comparison. These songs are doing two different things. And there's really no moment on Gigaton that is in Won't Tell's space. Seven Oclock is as close as you get, and that's not a good comparison.

Won't Tell is still getting unpacked. Alright is a really nice atmospheric piece, but it is not Jeff's finest lyrical work, and there is an immediacy to it that I think undercuts ever so slightly would should be a more distant, ethereal presentation - at least the verses so the chorus revelation moments can have a greater impact. But right now, I will always listen to and enjoy Alright if Gigaton comes on. But if I was just listening to things on shuffle I might skip it. And Won't Tell feels like it will have more stand alone legs. I'll call this one a tie

For score keeping

Who Ever Said vs. Scared of Fear - I'll give this a tie. SOF is the better overall listen. But WES has higher highs
Superblood Wolfmoon vs. React/Respond - giving this to Superblood
Dance of the Clarivoyants vs. Wreckage - it's Dance, but Wreckage is a song to watch
Dark Matter vs. Quick Escape - it's Dark Matter, but barely.
Alright vs. Won't Tell - tie

[Kevin Davis]

React Respond - also good visualizer.

This is almost certainly at least partially a political song, and the drawback to writing song by song album reviews in the first 24 hours. thoughts are always evolving but with some songs they are still forming

energy and music on this is great. I am really thinking about gigaton this AM (and how DM stacks against it. And again Gigaton is a top tier PJ album for me - no qualifiers) and there will probably be arbitrariy track by track compairsons.

Both SBWM and RR are playful, deceptively introspective songs. I think once SBWM gets going it is exceptional (another 5 star song for me). it has a few lyrics and moments that are all time catalog highlights for me. It took a while. SBWM was a journey of liking a song just a little bit more until i woke up one morning and realized ‘oh shit, is Superbloof Wolfmoon a five star song. I think it is. Would I rather hear it then almost anything else in the catalog? I think I would). RR feels more exciting. more unexpected. more immediate. But the SBWM bridge and outro gets me more than anything here. And overall (but not uniformly) SBWM has better lyrics. With a handful of exceptions (you know what!) i like the writing on gigaton more. it is more ornate, maybe even more try-hard in places, but it has really rewarded deep and persistent reflection - at least eddie’s lyrics

RR may make it to that elite tier. I have no notes. Great song. This may take time to fully arrive. i cannot sing along with the whole song and thats really when i know how i am going to feel about a song long term

I am hearing a lot of similar cadences in these two songs: “Don’t let the sky hook beat you to submission” “I can hear you singing in the distance” — these passages (and others like them in the song) are very close melodically, such that you could almost swap them out. Not a knock, just an observation. Both great tunes.

[Ms Harmless]

I still feel as if Dark Matter and Gigaton do completely different things very well (and not so well) and are complimentary sides of Pearl Jam; I wouldn't want one without the other; Gigaton brought back some of the cerebral "seriousness" I'd been missing since Riot Act, but Dark Matter is a vast, vast improvement of the "pop" template they attempted in BS and LB (so surely their best pop album of all time -- that's where "best ever" comes into the conversations for me), making me much less worried about any future pop-leaning endeavours; they've nailed it, but I've needed both albums to convince me that my favourite band can still do near enough everything I loved them for

I agree with all of this for sure. They do feel complimentary. The comparison I'm doing is mostly

A: Fun
B: Because they are chronological in the catalog
C: Because in my own treasured cannon rankings, this is the position Dark Matter is chasing. I won't know for at least a year if it has a serious shot at surpassing Vs. And it is probably not physically possible for something to pass Ten or Vitalogy because of how formative they were. I would need a record to come out at the same time as some utterly transformative moment in my life and guide me through it, and since I like where things are I'm not really looking for that. It would probably be dark.

absolutely, I think by comparing them you're doing a really cool and worthy thing -- they are companion pieces after all (signalled by those similar intros); if my post sounded a little responsive to something or even defensive, it's other people insisting that one must be "the best since..." over the other; the real miracle to me is that they've done that twice in a row now

[Arthur Morgan]

Got distracted. Continuining with my arbitrary Gigaton/Dark Matter comparison, I am not prepared to put Wreckage ahead of Dance, which remains such a singular, almost flawlessly (one lyric aside) exercise into a space they've never gone. I don't know that Dance is unequivocally the best song since at least S/T anymore, but it still remains a bar, if not the bar, set for recent work.


For score keeping

Who Ever Said vs. Scared of Fear (I'll give this a tie. SOF is the better overall listen. But WES has higher highs)
Superblood Wolfmoon vs. React/Respond - still giving this to Superblood
Dance of the Clarivoyants vs. Wreckage - it's Dance, but Wreckage is a song to watch

Onto Dark Matter

Re Dotc what lyric are you referring to?

Probably “Boys wanna grow their dicks”

That's the one

I thought that may be it. I thought he was saying that too. But I think it’s DIX, not dicks.

Meant to be a double entendre.

Still maybe off putting, but because it’s Ed there is more to it.

Please forgive me if y’all knew this already.

Once I realized it was not dicks, I was relieved.


The Dark Index (DIX) is a dollar-weighted measure of the Dark Pool Indicator (DPI) of the S&P 500 components. When the DIX is higher, market sentiment in dark pools is generally more bullish.

True fact - this popped up and I had to check to make sure this wasn't one of lecherous' posts.

Oh good!

Yes I only share because it removed the one potential blemish on a truly great song.

[stip]

React Respond - also good visualizer.

This is almost certainly at least partially a political song, and the drawback to writing song by song album reviews in the first 24 hours. thoughts are always evolving but with some songs they are still forming

energy and music on this is great. I am really thinking about gigaton this AM (and how DM stacks against it. And again Gigaton is a top tier PJ album for me - no qualifiers) and there will probably be arbitrariy track by track compairsons.

Both SBWM and RR are playful, deceptively introspective songs. I think once SBWM gets going it is exceptional (another 5 star song for me). it has a few lyrics and moments that are all time catalog highlights for me. It took a while. SBWM was a journey of liking a song just a little bit more until i woke up one morning and realized ‘oh shit, is Superbloof Wolfmoon a five star song. I think it is. Would I rather hear it then almost anything else in the catalog? I think I would). RR feels more exciting. more unexpected. more immediate. But the SBWM bridge and outro gets me more than anything here. And overall (but not uniformly) SBWM has better lyrics. With a handful of exceptions (you know what!) i like the writing on gigaton more. it is more ornate, maybe even more try-hard in places, but it has really rewarded deep and persistent reflection - at least eddie’s lyrics

RR may make it to that elite tier. I have no notes. Great song. This may take time to fully arrive. i cannot sing along with the whole song and thats really when i know how i am going to feel about a song long term

I am hearing a lot of similar cadences in these two songs: “Don’t let the sky hook beat you to submission” “I can hear you singing in the distance” — these passages (and others like them in the song) are very close melodically, such that you could almost swap them out. Not a knock, just an observation. Both great tunes.

Ohh, that's interesting. I'll listen for that. And I have not absorbed the lyrics of RR in any way yet (less than any other song on the album). But SBWM has so many great punchy moments

I don’t know anything, I question everything
This life I love is going way too fast

Both my hands are swollen, my face is broken
And I'm hoping that I hurt your first

But the world kept a spinning, always felt like it was ending
And love notwithstanding, we are each of us fucked

Even some lyrics with phrases like 'focus on your focusness' that are somewhat silly on paper just work unbelievably well in the delivery.

Don’t allow for hopelessness, focus on your focusness
I’ve been hoping that our hope does last

the italicized sections are three of my favorite passages from Ed, ever. I hope I can eventually pull something like that from RR.

But yes, both great regardless. There's no shame in only being a 4 star song right now. Once your past that point any critique or comparison is just nitpicking. We are in rarefied space.

[Arthur Morgan]

Wont' Tell vs. Alright - this is kind of a non comparison. These songs are doing two different things. And there's really no moment on Gigaton that is in Won't Tell's space. Seven Oclock is as close as you get, and that's not a good comparison.

Won't Tell is still getting unpacked. Alright is a really nice atmospheric piece, but it is not Jeff's finest lyrical work, and there is an immediacy to it that I think undercuts ever so slightly would should be a more distant, ethereal presentation - at least the verses so the chorus revelation moments can have a greater impact. But right now, I will always listen to and enjoy Alright if Gigaton comes on. But if I was just listening to things on shuffle I might skip it. And Won't Tell feels like it will have more stand alone legs. I'll call this one a tie

For score keeping

Who Ever Said vs. Scared of Fear - I'll give this a tie. SOF is the better overall listen. But WES has higher highs
Superblood Wolfmoon vs. React/Respond - giving this to Superblood
Dance of the Clarivoyants vs. Wreckage - it's Dance, but Wreckage is a song to watch
Dark Matter vs. Quick Escape - it's Dark Matter, but barely.
Alright vs. Won't Tell - tie

Reading along. It’s closer than I would have thought and I agree with your assessments. Gigaton holding its own.

I would say though Won’t Tell over Alright. Like you said they are doing different things. But my god Won’t tell is just such a big song.

[stip]

I still feel as if Dark Matter and Gigaton do completely different things very well (and not so well) and are complimentary sides of Pearl Jam; I wouldn't want one without the other; Gigaton brought back some of the cerebral "seriousness" I'd been missing since Riot Act, but Dark Matter is a vast, vast improvement of the "pop" template they attempted in BS and LB (so surely their best pop album of all time -- that's where "best ever" comes into the conversations for me), making me much less worried about any future pop-leaning endeavours; they've nailed it, but I've needed both albums to convince me that my favourite band can still do near enough everything I loved them for

I agree with all of this for sure. They do feel complimentary. The comparison I'm doing is mostly

A: Fun
B: Because they are chronological in the catalog
C: Because in my own treasured cannon rankings, this is the position Dark Matter is chasing. I won't know for at least a year if it has a serious shot at surpassing Vs. And it is probably not physically possible for something to pass Ten or Vitalogy because of how formative they were. I would need a record to come out at the same time as some utterly transformative moment in my life and guide me through it, and since I like where things are I'm not really looking for that. It would probably be dark.

absolutely, I think by comparing them you're doing a really cool and worthy thing -- they are companion pieces after all (signalled by those similar intros); if my post sounded a little responsive to something or even defensive, it's other people insisting that one must be "the best since..." over the other; the real miracle to me is that they've done that twice in a row now

No worries - it didn't. Just building off it