Song of the Moment: Lightning Bolt

General Pearl Jam discussion.
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Rate Lightning Bolt

5 Stars
34
24%
4 Stars
59
42%
3 Stars
22
16%
2 Stars
8
6%
1 Star
12
9%
Betterman (live)
4
3%
 
Total votes: 139

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Lament
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by Lament »

stip wrote:I meant to say MFS is good, though. I'm up too early to be expected to keep track of acronyms
Yeah, I figured the second MYM was supposed to by MFS, but I didn't want to say anything. I was gonna let it slide cause I was getting antsy to go leave mean messages about Miley Cyrus in the comments section of some articles on Buzzfeed.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by Release_Me »

I adore the hell out of MFS as a song but from a vocal standpoint, both MYM and Getaway are superior. There have been better aggressive Ed vocals on BS as well (GSMF) and S/T (WWS).

MFS is more an exercise in raw anger and sarcasm than a precise vocal. Somewhat like Blood in that respect.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by Lament »

Ed sounds uncomfortably strained to me in the verses of GSMF and in the chorus of WWS. Those are two of my least favorite vocals from him in the latter day catalog. Getaway lacks the bite of MFS and MYM and I think the song as a whole suffers for it (I talked about this more at length in the main thread, I believe..it's not just the vocals that lack bite either, it's the entire band's performance).
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by Release_Me »

Different strokes, I guess. Those are two of his best and most demanding. Never did too well live for that very reason.

Getaway is the best rocker overall I have heard from PJ post-Vitalogy, followed closely by MFS. MYM gets close but is behind these two.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by harmless »

Yeah I'm glad Ed isn't doing too much shrill screaming in this album, it was doing nothing for the S/T or Backspacer rockers. Nice that he's trying other approaches. I agree with the comment on Getaway; it's snarky but almost in a friendly way, rather than a frustrated one. It gets a bit more aggressive at the end, but that "It's OK" comes across as a friendly encouragement more often than it does a sarcastic rejection.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by Release_Me »

I feel Getaway gets the aggression just right. I am not much of a fan of their post Vitalogy punk-ish songs (with a few exceptions). Getaway is just the sort of rocker I'd been waiting for. It goes at it's own pace and has just the right blend of sarcasm, anger and melody.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by stip »

Lament wrote:Ed sounds uncomfortably strained to me in the verses of GSMF and in the chorus of WWS. Those are two of my least favorite vocals from him in the latter day catalog. Getaway lacks the bite of MFS and MYM and I think the song as a whole suffers for it (I talked about this more at length in the main thread, I believe..it's not just the vocals that lack bite either, it's the entire band's performance).
I LOVE the vocals in those songs, but after being reminded of what the alternatives could be on this record I get why they put some people off.

Did you ever post a review of the record, Lament, or just bits and pieces here and there.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by Lament »

stip wrote:Did you ever post a review of the record, Lament, or just bits and pieces here and there.

Just snippets here and there. I do want to write a full one, but I haven't been able to muster the initiative to give a few more listens it its entirety (plus, I like to let the album sit with me for at least a week or so before my opinions really start fully forming). Hopefully I'll toss something together this week.

My review for #11 is coming along much quicker than my LB one.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by verb_to_trust »

I like the Mike Ness copy McCready does on the first solo. This song is actually my third favorite on the record at this point. Kinda sad, really.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by stip »

this one is on its way back up.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by harmless »

Today I came to the realisation that this is one of the best songs on this album. It's true, I actually came.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by darth_vedder »

stip wrote:
Lament wrote:Ed sounds uncomfortably strained to me in the verses of GSMF and in the chorus of WWS. Those are two of my least favorite vocals from him in the latter day catalog. Getaway lacks the bite of MFS and MYM and I think the song as a whole suffers for it (I talked about this more at length in the main thread, I believe..it's not just the vocals that lack bite either, it's the entire band's performance).
I LOVE the vocals in those songs, but after being reminded of what the alternatives could be on this record I get why they put some people off.

Did you ever post a review of the record, Lament, or just bits and pieces here and there.
Of Coarse you do! :lol:

I agree with Lament up until the MYM bit. I really like that song. I think it's better than STBC. There, I said it.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by stip »

I do too!
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by SpectorHD »

Fantastic Performance.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by harmless »

SpectorHD wrote:Fantastic Performance.
Yeah this was good. He changes a couple of the vocal bits at the end, but otherwise I think they've finally nailed it.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by Lament »

darth_vedder wrote:
stip wrote:
Lament wrote:Ed sounds uncomfortably strained to me in the verses of GSMF and in the chorus of WWS. Those are two of my least favorite vocals from him in the latter day catalog. Getaway lacks the bite of MFS and MYM and I think the song as a whole suffers for it (I talked about this more at length in the main thread, I believe..it's not just the vocals that lack bite either, it's the entire band's performance).
I LOVE the vocals in those songs, but after being reminded of what the alternatives could be on this record I get why they put some people off.

Did you ever post a review of the record, Lament, or just bits and pieces here and there.
Of Coarse you do! :lol:

I agree with Lament up until the MYM bit. I really like that song. I think it's better than STBC. There, I said it.
I like MYM too. I was complimenting it.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by Hatfield »

SpectorHD wrote:Fantastic Performance.
That end jam is so great. Thank you for posting!
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by Beer »

darth_vedder wrote:
stip wrote:
Lament wrote:Ed sounds uncomfortably strained to me in the verses of GSMF and in the chorus of WWS. Those are two of my least favorite vocals from him in the latter day catalog. Getaway lacks the bite of MFS and MYM and I think the song as a whole suffers for it (I talked about this more at length in the main thread, I believe..it's not just the vocals that lack bite either, it's the entire band's performance).
I LOVE the vocals in those songs, but after being reminded of what the alternatives could be on this record I get why they put some people off.

Did you ever post a review of the record, Lament, or just bits and pieces here and there.
Of Coarse you do! :lol:

I agree with Lament up until the MYM bit. I really like that song. I think it's better than STBC. There, I said it.
Listen to MYM then go right into Comatose. They're related.
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by stip »

yeah, there is far more comatose than STBC in MYM. But STBC makes more sense to name drop in a review
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Re: New Song: Lightning Bolt

Post by 15showsandcounting »

Still my favorite on the album. However, it doesn't have much competition from the rest of the album, maybe Getaway, but that's the only contender. Sadly, as stated, that's probably an indictment of the album, not a testament to the greatness of the song, even though I do love it.
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