Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

[Ms Harmless]

I enjoy the Tube of Yous!

[digster]

As I said then, I like Backspacer so this isn't the knock from me that it might be from some. But apart from a couple odd elements here and there, I really can't wrap my brain around what it is about this record that has people thinking it sounds or feels like '90's Pearl Jam. To me it's as modern as modern PJ gets.

I agree that I don't really think it sounds like 90s Pearl Jam, either (barring something like the end of Waiting for Stevie, which feels awfully similar to the end of a song like Breath or Alive). But where I can see a parallel to something like Ten (though not as much the other 90s work), in attitude at least, is that (almost) everything here is written like an anthem. If a song like Won't Tell had been on Backspacer, for example, I'm not sure the ending of the song would have the kind of sweep it has.

There's other songs, like Upper Hand and Setting Sun, that swing for the back row of the arena in a way they may not have had the band attempted those songs for other albums. I think they lean into this side of their songwriting in fits and starts throughout their career, but I feel like Dark Matter may be the first time they'd tried to do so over the course of an entire album since Ten.

[Ms Harmless]

every single YouTube review for Dark Matter that I've found begins with "Gigaton was bad" and it's pissing me off

Gigaton is the 2nd best PJ album since...

Spoiler: show

Binaural.

that's the other thing, "Gigaton was bad" seems to always be paired with "Riot Act sucks" and "they should make more albums like Lightning Bolt"

[Kevin Davis]

it's definitely a long way from anything 90s if you can't get past the production / presentation

I don’t care for the production, but it hasn’t lessened my appreciation for the songs or performances. I guess these songs just don’t feel to me like songs they would have (or could have) written in the ‘90’s. The working methods may have been similar but the result — understandably — feels way different to me. Ed writes melodies differently now, much more intentionally I would say, and the band’s relationship to their influences feels more direct and case-by-case than it used to, even in this “all for one, one for all” recording setting.

Again, it’s not a criticism, I like the record. I am just not hearing the musical similarities that others are hearing. To me, musically, it’s — forgive me — a logical extension of the few records that came before.

[Buby]

every single YouTube review for Dark Matter that I've found begins with "Gigaton was bad" and it's pissing me off

Gigaton is the 2nd best PJ album since...

Spoiler: show

Binaural.

that's the other thing, "Gigaton was bad" seems to always be paired with "Riot Act sucks" and "they should make more albums like Lightning Bolt"

Holy shiiiit!

[Kevin Davis]

As I said then, I like Backspacer so this isn't the knock from me that it might be from some. But apart from a couple odd elements here and there, I really can't wrap my brain around what it is about this record that has people thinking it sounds or feels like '90's Pearl Jam. To me it's as modern as modern PJ gets.

I agree that I don't really think it sounds like 90s Pearl Jam, either (barring something like the end of Waiting for Stevie, which feels awfully similar to the end of a song like Breath or Alive). But where I can see a parallel to something like Ten (though not as much the other 90s work), in attitude at least, is that (almost) everything here is written like an anthem. If a song like Won't Tell had been on Backspacer, for example, I'm not sure the ending of the song would have the kind of sweep it has.

There's other songs, like Upper Hand and Setting Sun, that swing for the back row of the arena in a way they may not have had the band attempted those songs for other albums. I think they lean into this side of their songwriting in fits and starts throughout their career, but I feel like Dark Matter may be the first time they'd tried to do so over the course of an entire album since Ten.

That is fair. And I wonder if that isn’t the most natural (and obvious) byproduct of it being written essentially as performance — the songs contain elements typically associated with the live performance (i.e. “swinging for the back of the arena”) because the songs were born out of that configuration, that dynamic.

[DDWJMUVW]

every single YouTube review for Dark Matter that I've found begins with "Gigaton was bad" and it's pissing me off

Gigaton is the 2nd best PJ album since...

Spoiler: show

Binaural.

that's the other thing, "Gigaton was bad" seems to always be paired with "Riot Act sucks" and "they should make more albums like Lightning Bolt"

Yeah that’s just plain insanity. I’m sorry but one really needs to be clinically “evaluated” if they hold such a belief.

[Ms Harmless]

I find it fascinating that someone could think all three of those things

[Leatherhead]

I've never felt like DM sounds like 90's PJ. Maybe the energy is kinda like some of the 90's stuff. It sound like modern PJ, but it's also really good.

[stip]

I think Digster and KD are probably both right. there is a willingness to go big that is really something they abandoned in a studio record after Ten/vs, but ten feels more expansive and loose then the more coiled vs, and DM has more of that openness.


But, the live performance is where that energy went, and I think its presence on DM comes from leaning into that live, instinctive, lean into the collective moment approach Watt established

[stip]

my younger brother is a knowledgeable casual fan - knows their music, likes them, but not devoted to them. he just got around to the album a few days ago. Thus far Wreckage and Dark Matter are his two favorites, so good choice on the singles I suppose

his two favorite artists are Radiohead and REM for context

[Rangi Guy]

his two favorite artists are Radiohead and REM for context

My wife would absolutely hate him

[VinylGuy]

Wreckage is a fantastic single really. Wish they did some kind of video or tv appearance behind it, but well PJ.

[WaitingForBluey]

my younger brother is a knowledgeable casual fan - knows their music, likes them, but not devoted to them. he just got around to the album a few days ago. Thus far Wreckage and Dark Matter are his two favorites, so good choice on the singles I suppose

his two favorite artists are Radiohead and REM for context

My brother could be described the exact same way and all I got was "I'm gonna need some more time".

Also, my best friend who is a big RH/Smile nerd said "some bands just hit for some and not others"... his way of saying "why are you nerding out about this boilerplate rock"?

[stip]

i mean i stopped caring about radiohead after hail to the thief and was only barely caring after ok computer. he ain’t wrong

[liebzz]

i mean i stopped caring about radiohead after hail to the thief and was only barely caring after ok computer. he ain’t wrong

I would have said same except In Rainbows is exceptional and possibly their best work.

[stip]

it felt reductive to me. but maybe i didnt stay with it long enough

[Revelator]

To me, and I'm probably oversimplifying, but it's the first album since Riot Act where it sounds like the entire band was part of the creative process. I wouldn't say it sounds like one of their 90's albums, but there are elements (energy, anthems, Mike's Guitar tone, Ed soaring instead of screeching constantly, etc) that I haven't felt authentically from a PJ album for ~20 years. Hard to put into words after a long ass work day

[Jorge]

In Rainbows is exceptional and possibly their best work.

Yep. A masterpiece and to me the best post-2000 album by a 90s band

[Monkey_Driven]

In Rainbows is exceptional and possibly their best work.

Yep. A masterpiece and to me the best post-2000 album by a 90s band

That's probably true.