Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

[Thurman Murman]

To what extent do you think DM has benefited from having Gigaton as its predecessor? Feels like Gigaton won back a lot of credibility from the hardcore because it was a bit more experimental and less poppy and polished than Lightning Bolt and Backspacer. If DM had followed LB it might have felt they a) they had perfected their attempts at a more accessible and mainstream sound but b) the more ambitious and experimental PJ was truly a thing of the past, which might have been disconcerting. I think Gigaton probably served as an important reminder of what they still had in their locker.

Gigaton was the first new Pearl Jam release where i basically had low expectations going in...and to that extend it blew me out of the water. If anything i think DM has kind of diminished Gigaton a bit here because its another significant leap forward. Did i overrate Gigaton a bit because of the turds that preceded it?

[liebzz]

I think Gigaton is still a great album, but there’s a sense they were going for more on Dark Matter, and I think it’s a bit ahead of Gigaton for that reason, even though it’s a perfectly excellent album. I think Gigaton did the job of perfecting what they were going for on Backspacer and Lightning Bolt, and that Dark Matter does more to perfect what they were going for on Avocado.

[mattyv1908]

Interesting, because I always felt like agitation was an about face from either of those two albums that preceded it. More like a modern Riot Act in that it felt more introspective and resigned to the world affairs of the time and political landscape.

[digster]

Interesting, because I always felt like agitation was an about face from either of those two albums that preceded it. More like a modern Riot Act in that it felt more introspective and resigned to the world affairs of the time and political landscape.

Yeah, I've always felt like Gigaton, in terms of sound and its songs, was up there with Yield/Binaural and Riot Act/ST in terms of the biggest about-faces the current album was from the previous.

I think for the general question, Gigaton had a pretty big hurdle to clear because it came out at a time when I didn't really think PJ was capable of making a great record anymore. It'd been almost 20 years since Riot Act, and about 14 years since Avocado, which I liked but didn't love. 14 years was about half the band's career at that point, so I felt like maybe they'd just lost the plot, as happens with bands some time.

My reaction to Gigaton was measured at first, because it took a bit of time to warm up to the idea that they were capable of making a great album, and that they'd done it. I felt like that kind of took the pressure off of Dark Matter for me; it didn't need to save PJ. Maybe they'd make a good record, and maybe make a bad one, but it wouldn't be because they just couldn't make a good one anymore.

[RockPusher]

I love the way these two look next to each other:

[stip]

Interesting, because I always felt like agitation was an about face from either of those two albums that preceded it. More like a modern Riot Act in that it felt more introspective and resigned to the world affairs of the time and political landscape.

Backspacer is an apolitical album (which was itself a statement of sorts, given when it came out, but also given the fact that Tom Tomorrow did the artwork). Lightning Bolt has some very political moments (Getaway, Mind Your Manners, Infallible_. Fewer, but they are there. They are just bound up in family dynamics in a more interior way - the politics feels tied into the concern he has about the future for his loved ones. Gigaton, for all its introspection, is more openly grappling with these questions in a more external way.

Dark Matter does not seem very political to me outside of a few pockets where there are political ways to read moments and songs (excepting maybe the title track), which is not the case for those moments on Gigaton, or even Lightning Bolt. It's almost pre-political, and focused on rehabilitating the idea of human connection as a precursor to any kind of sustainable politics

[Fattie_Vedder]

I love the way these two look next to each other:

https://imgur.com/a/dY0xYUJ

I swear I was thinking the same. I’ve loved that font ever since they started using it on the yield cover.

[Ms Harmless]

To what extent do you think DM has benefited from having Gigaton as its predecessor? Feels like Gigaton won back a lot of credibility from the hardcore because it was a bit more experimental and less poppy and polished than Lightning Bolt and Backspacer. If DM had followed LB it might have felt they a) they had perfected their attempts at a more accessible and mainstream sound but b) the more ambitious and experimental PJ was truly a thing of the past, which might have been disconcerting. I think Gigaton probably served as an important reminder of what they still had in their locker.

totally, I am comforted with both albums; they both do what they do very well

[Ms Harmless]

I think Gigaton is still a great album, but there’s a sense they were going for more on Dark Matter, and I think it’s a bit ahead of Gigaton for that reason, even though it’s a perfectly excellent album. I think Gigaton did the job of perfecting what they were going for on Backspacer and Lightning Bolt, and that Dark Matter does more to perfect what they were going for on Avocado.

interesting! I would agree with those points but put those two albums the other way round

[liebzz]

I thought of Gigaton more in perfecting those albums from a, I guess, song specific place: 7 O’Clock as perfecting the efforts on songs like Unthought Known and Lightning Bolt. Retrograde upgrading Swallowed Whole. Never Destination as spritz done right (via a vis Supersonic and The Fixer).

[DeeDee]

I think I've listened to it about 30 times, and it keeps getting better.

I'm blown away.

[Strat]

Inaugural Vinyl Spin here we go!

[Strat]

Thing doesnt sound any better on Vinyl, as expected, such a damn shame

However, it don't matter. The songs are so fucking good its sickening.

Goddamn, i love this band.

[Strat]

Man alive, wish RM was bumping right now as im. oh so joyfully tearing through my first Vinyl spin on this glorious record.

[stip]

I’m giving this at least two listens a day and I am not the least bit ready to be done. It’s so effortlessly good it almost pisses me off. These assholes can’t just sit in a room together for a month every other year and knock one of these out?

[Strat]

It is such a wonderful pay off as a fan.

Look, im strat, im always going to love/find things i love about anything they put out. I'm better at calling out things that i dont like about them, but even in those situations its always been "ah, gee, well, its pearl jam and i love just hearing this or that"

Lightning Bolt i think is their absolute worst, and i can still listen and have fun and connect. To me, its clearly the bottom. Backspacer? Good for its time, a perfect moment in my life, sure. Great.

Even Gigaton.....Gigaton felt like a nod from them to us that "Hey, we're still trying, we still got it", but it felt labored and when you hear about the sessions, yea, no wonder if feels that way. The songs were a step above everything over the prior couple records and it gave me hope. As usual, it came out at the exact time i needed it. My mom passed away from cancer March 5. The world shut down a week later. Gigaton came out shortly after.

it was perfect. It was what i needed and it served me well but I definitely tried to convince myself that it was top tier, rather than a step in the right direction. It didnt help that the songs i loved most were pretty quickly cut from the setlists, and DOTC was a bit of a letdown live. However, it was a total comfort blanket for me.

It was obvious to me that the band was in a different headspace as far as "pearl jam" was concerned, but i always understood that. They were in their late 40's/50's and raising kids. I dont blame them. It was obvious that getting them all in a room together and "hammering it out" was not going to happen over this 15 year period, and the music suffered (compared to their heights) for it. But i continued to see them live and i always left knowing they were still the greatest band of my life. I knew the magic was still there and I understood why albums took longer, tours were shorter, songs were recorded via demo sharing.

Now we have Dark Matter. Fuck. My patience paid off. its legit. Watt knew it too. Get these motherfuckers in a room together and become the band they once were/always have been.

It matters. It paid off. Its so fucking glorious and worth it. "No Hyperbole, this may be our best record yet".

Ed, you crazy bastard, you werent too far off.

[VinylGuy]

thats very nice Strat!!

Im getting my vinyl copy this week but it seems my turntable needs to go the the hospital again.

Im taking a little rest from the album because i listened to it a lot, not only the new one but previous ones and some boots. But ill come back in full mode this week because i really want to.

I agree with you, Watt really knew what to do. And the band seems to be in such a good spot right now, it makes me really happy.

Gigaton still is my fav from the last batch because DM is still very new, and like you, it arrived at a very special moment and it felt relevant to what i was going through. DM also has that feeling, im guessing it will be very tied with it.

[RockPusher]

I’m giving this at least two listens a day and I am not the least bit ready to be done. It’s so effortlessly good it almost pisses me off. These assholes can’t just sit in a room together for a month every other year and knock one of these out?

Let's just pray that they are having as much fun as we are and that some kind of renaissance emerges.

[oneway23]

I’m giving this at least two listens a day and I am not the least bit ready to be done. It’s so effortlessly good it almost pisses me off. These assholes can’t just sit in a room together for a month every other year and knock one of these out?

Let's just pray that they are having as much fun as we are and that some kind of renaissance emerges.

For as happy as they've sounded during these recent interviews, I wouldn't be shocked.

[Angus]

Vitalogy is number 1 for me because it's a remarkably consistent artistic, conceptual statement, including the weird stuff

My personal feeling for the last 25 years has always been:

-Yield is my favourite
-But Vitalogy is their best

Anyway, I'm totally in line with some of the tweets here. After Riot Act I got more & more disappointed & felt like maybe they should just quit. Each time there was a song or two that kept me in it, but overall totally not enough. Gigaton was the awakening of the giant and one that came out at the absolutely right time. "Swim sideways from this undertow and do not be deterred" is a line that literally gave my life a new & better direction after the first covid wave. But overall, I think the album didn't really hold up and the disappointment of the EU tour (hardly seen any Gigaton songs, last-minute cancellations) made me drop off again.

I hope they don't do that again and there will be more than just this 5 city EU "tour", ignoring the places they cancelled. But if not, so be it. I'm not sure I would pay this anyway.