Aunt_Claire_Foy wrote:Just a thought... there are parts of the record that disappoint me only because the rest of the material on the album is so good. I want to list them here and get a reaction:
1. Scared of Fear - pool cue intro is cheesy and really feels out of place
2. React/Respond - 5 star song, no complaints
3. Wreckage - 5 star song, no complaints
4. Dark Matter - Ed's vocals on the chorus really feel like he's struggling and it makes ME feel like I'm struggling, too.
5. Won't Tell - The verse was initially enough to get me to hit skip because I felt like it was going down the path of Infallible... now all that's left annoying me is that little drum hook in the verse where Matt trades the snare for a tom or hi-hat. Feels too cute for a song that is a killer anthem in the end.
6. Upper Hand - the outro feels too mechanical. Again dinging Matt for this, he just feels stiff on this part. Someone said it reminded them of the Allman Brothers and I tend to agree.
7. Waiting for Steve - the cracking of the audio in the intro riff is just some Mickey Mouse bullshit if ever heard it.
8. Running - this is the one song that has done a complete 180 for me. I actually like it a lot and it's now 5 stars for me.
9. Something Special - Skip.
10. Got to Give - It's like Not for You had a baby with the Into the Wild soundtrack... the lyric "I called the doctor" is just pure cheese. But the song is placed well on the album and a not so subtle reminder that Ed knows 6 chords, not 4. I listen because it feels like a necessary intro to:
11. Setting Sun - verse is a bit Jimmy Buffet for me, but the chorus is one of the best they've written in years.
was the dark matter comment a critique or observation, since that feels like a feature, not a bug. i love how he sounds on that chorus except for the high part right before the bridge (but its nailed in the outro)
The pool break feels like an inside joke
the WFS crackle shouldnt be there. same with the end of the Upper Hand outro. That outro has not fully connected with me either despite the fact it checks like every box for me.
with the caveat that i also love the sound of that jimmy buffet riff (just ever so sad and wistful) i think its necessary. This is meant to evoke feelings of paradise and the tragedy that even good things end
The pool break is a nod to the way The Last Waltz kicks off. Same pool table too, no?
stip wrote:
was the dark matter comment a critique or observation, since that feels like a feature, not a bug. i love how he sounds on that chorus except for the high part right before the bridge (but its nailed in the outro)
I think it's a critique. I get that he's bringing a vibe of frustration and eventual panic, but it's either too theatrical for my taste or just too exhausting. I dunno.
with the caveat that i also love the sound of that jimmy buffet riff (just ever so sad and wistful) i think its necessary. This is meant to evoke feelings of paradise and the tragedy that even good things end
stip wrote:
was the dark matter comment a critique or observation, since that feels like a feature, not a bug. i love how he sounds on that chorus except for the high part right before the bridge (but its nailed in the outro)
I think it's a critique. I get that he's bringing a vibe of frustration and eventual panic, but it's either too theatrical for my taste or just too exhausting. I dunno.
with the caveat that i also love the sound of that jimmy buffet riff (just ever so sad and wistful) i think its necessary. This is meant to evoke feelings of paradise and the tragedy that even good things end
Well, you fixed it for me with that observation.
for me, it really evoked the loss of my marriage 5-ish years ago, and the cheese of the keys, the cheese keys, really helped that bittersweet nostalgia
I'm struggling so much with listening to this album, specifically with the apple music version with and without atmos. its so hard to hear the instrument separation and it full on hurts my hears. Spotify mix is MUCH better.
Still want to try other headphones like some open back grados, but right now the airpod pros and apple music, it's almost impossible to make it through the whole album. I hear others have issues with this mix too, but are you guys having a hard time listening front to back?
All of this actually had me go back and listen to Gigaton, and my god, what a gorgeously produced record. This one is aging VERY well.
Still DM is an incredibly strong album. Wreckage, Wont Tell, Waiting for Stevie, and Got to Give I see tons of love for. So far I like them, but none of them have really revealed themselves. I'm not hearing those small lovely nuances in the songs that I used to love finding on exploratory listens. Maybe this is still to do with the production, but I wish there was more depth to most of these songs.
Rankings in order.
Setting Sun - 5 (one of their best ever)
Upper Hand - 4.5
React Respond - 4.5
Scared of Fear - 4
Waiting for Stevie - 4
Running - 3.5
Something Special - 3
Won't Tell - 3
Dark Matter - 3
Got To Give - 3
Wreckage - 3
After dozens of listens all of these songs only have room to go up in score, so I gota say this is one of their best albums since Riot Act.
Love it.
You have to shave your nipples if you want to be with me.
Buby wrote:From what we know, is there a "who wrote what" list anywhere?
I know officially it's all lyrics by EV, and all music by PJ and AW except on "Something Special" PJ, JK and AW.
Curious if someone has gathered the credit info from what they've shared on interviews so far.
Scared of Fear = stone
React/respond - Jeff
Wreckage - Ed
Dark matter - Matt
Won’t tell - Jeff
Upper hand - stone
Waiting for Stevie - Ed
Running - Jeff
Something special - JK
Got to give - Ed
Setting sun - stone
Buby wrote:From what we know, is there a "who wrote what" list anywhere?
I know officially it's all lyrics by EV, and all music by PJ and AW except on "Something Special" PJ, JK and AW.
Curious if someone has gathered the credit info from what they've shared on interviews so far.
Scared of Fear = stone
React/respond - Jeff
Wreckage - Ed
Dark matter - Matt
Won’t tell - Jeff
Upper hand - stone
* Waiting for Stevie - Ed Wotman
Running - Jeff
Something special - JK
Got to give - Ed
Setting sun - stone
There are lyrics on here that have completely sideswiped me in the middle of the day, while working, that just knock me back...
I'm not sure I've been this connected to a set of lyrics for a PJ album since No Code.
We still make records to be listened to — not that everyone will listen to a record track one to twelve in a row or side A or Side B — but we still make 'em in case somebody does want to listen to it like that, that's how we make em…
Buby wrote:From what we know, is there a "who wrote what" list anywhere?
I know officially it's all lyrics by EV, and all music by PJ and AW except on "Something Special" PJ, JK and AW.
Curious if someone has gathered the credit info from what they've shared on interviews so far.
Scared of Fear = stone
React/respond - Jeff
Wreckage - Ed
Dark matter - Matt
Won’t tell - Jeff
Upper hand - stone
* Waiting for Stevie - Ed Wotman
Running - Jeff
Something special - JK
Got to give - Ed
Setting sun - stone
Buby wrote:From what we know, is there a "who wrote what" list anywhere?
I know officially it's all lyrics by EV, and all music by PJ and AW except on "Something Special" PJ, JK and AW.
Curious if someone has gathered the credit info from what they've shared on interviews so far.
Scared of Fear = stone
React/respond - Jeff
Wreckage - Ed
Dark matter - Matt
Won’t tell - Jeff
Upper hand - stone
* Waiting for Stevie - Ed Wotman
Running - Jeff
Something special - JK
Got to give - Ed
Setting sun - stone
is three jeff songs on an album a record?
A tie.
Jeff has 3 songs on Yield, 3 on Binaural, and 3 on Riot Act.
Buby wrote:From what we know, is there a "who wrote what" list anywhere?
I know officially it's all lyrics by EV, and all music by PJ and AW except on "Something Special" PJ, JK and AW.
Curious if someone has gathered the credit info from what they've shared on interviews so far.
Scared of Fear = stone
React/respond - Jeff
Wreckage - Ed
Dark matter - Matt
Won’t tell - Jeff
Upper hand - stone
* Waiting for Stevie - Ed Wotman
Running - Jeff
Something special - JK
Got to give - Ed
Setting sun - stone
This is a pretty crazy list for me. My favorites songs on the album are Wreckage, Waiting for Stevie, Something Special, and Got to Give. So the two Ed songs, and then the two songs by complete other people <_<
Not surprised the worst song is from Matt. Jeff and Stone did alright here.
The Stone songs are my favorite -- not surprising at all.
General question, not unique to DM (which is credited to everyone): when we say things like "music by Gossard, lyrics by Vedder," we're assuming that Eddie wrote the vocal melody too, right?
Dark Matter music was actually written by Stone/Jeff/Mike, Matt (only) came up with the drum part. I recall Stone saying in an interview they looped MC's drum part and then they came back the next day and combined verse parts while Mike came up with the bridge.
Didn't Mike also say in the Zane Lowe interview that he came up with the intro to Upper Hand or at least had a hand in writing it?
