Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

General Pearl Jam discussion.
Post Reply
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by harmless »

I kind of think it would've been in those days. The song's about some layabout religious leader, or God, or even the Devil, drinking himself to death at the end of the world. It would've been a great song back then, but they didn't care to make it one now. It's the same kind of attempt at traditional PJ they've been trying with every song since Life Wasted. But it fails pretty hard.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
Mike
Future Drummer
Posts: 3130
Joined: Sat August 24, 2013 2:33 pm
Location: Baltic Sea, Germany

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by Mike »

Yeah, I can see that. The song should be either way goofier or way snarkier. It's somewhere floating in the awkward middle.
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by harmless »

Hence its blandness. It's a complaint you could make about Getaway, but that performance is much more committed, so whether it goes one way or the other ("aggressive" or "snarky") isn't too much of an issue.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
TBAMTS
Broken Tamborine
Posts: 378
Joined: Mon January 07, 2013 11:39 pm
Location: Arlington Heights, IL

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by TBAMTS »

Really Like
1. Getaway
2. Sirens
3. Pendulum
4. Yellow Moon
5. Lightning Bolt

Like
6. Future Days
7. Swallowed Whole
8. Infallible
9. Mind Your Matters

Meh
10. Sleeping By Myself
11. Let the Records Play
12. Father's Son
samiad
A Return To Form
Posts: 107
Joined: Tue January 29, 2013 11:24 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by samiad »

Great.

Getaway
Lightning Bolt
Mind your manners
Sirens
Pendulum
My Fathers son
Sleeping by myself

Decent.

Swallowed whole (love the beginning, but then doesn't fully deliver...)
Let the records play (still making my mind up on this one)

Dodgy.

Infallible (sounds like it should be in a musical...)
yellow moon (snooooooze)
future days (i'm not big on "Just Breathe" and this is a poor mans version of that song)
Release_Me
AnalLog
Posts: 1269
Joined: Mon July 15, 2013 10:01 am

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by Release_Me »

I prefer LTRP hugely to 1/2 Full and Rival which I feel are two of the biggest snoozefests in their catalogue. Don't get why anyone would think Ed isn't enjoying himself while singing it. He's never sounded more into a fun song than this, ever. His performance is perfect to my ears. Don't see anything wrong with the chorus either. I enjoy it a lot. My musical tastes seem to be completely different from people who don't like it so it doesn't matter.
Pearl Jam is the only band I'll spend money on.
User avatar
stip
The worst
Posts: 42946
Joined: Thu December 13, 2012 6:31 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by stip »

i probably prefer studio LTRP to studio 1/2 full. 1/2 full live is a beast and I haven't heard LTRP yet.


I think Rival crushes both of them, but rival is also a cool inversion of the barroom blues standard.
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by harmless »

stip wrote:i probably prefer studio LTRP to studio 1/2 full. 1/2 full live is a beast and I haven't heard LTRP yet.


I think Rival crushes both of them, but rival is also a cool inversion of the barroom blues standard.
Yup. The problem with LTRP is that it isn't.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
stip
The worst
Posts: 42946
Joined: Thu December 13, 2012 6:31 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by stip »

was it trying to be, musically?
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by harmless »

stip wrote:was it trying to be, musically?
I think it was trying to be a fusion of generic bar blues, with generic 70s glam rock. The problem is, neither of those ideas was fleshed out into something interesting, and Ed's performance is stale, without enough character to take the song into either direction. I'm more interested in the 70s glam angle than the Blues one, but to pull that off would've required a different arrangement and production, and a different singer. Stone would've done this one better.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
stip
The worst
Posts: 42946
Joined: Thu December 13, 2012 6:31 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by stip »

stone singing tends to be a dealbreaker for me.
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by harmless »

Oh well, it's not really a song that can be spoiled :lol:
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
stip
The worst
Posts: 42946
Joined: Thu December 13, 2012 6:31 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by stip »

I can't get that up in arms about LTRP. I like it. that's it. They've written far worse songs that were reaching nowhere and failed to get there, and ambitious songs that were pretty big failures. It's a likeable, enjoyable little song.
Release_Me
AnalLog
Posts: 1269
Joined: Mon July 15, 2013 10:01 am

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by Release_Me »

It's the most out and out enjoyable song out of all the enjoyable songs they've ever tried to make.
Pearl Jam is the only band I'll spend money on.
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by harmless »

Release_Me wrote:It's the most out and out enjoyable song out of all the enjoyable songs they've ever tried to make.
What? Your hyperbole is starting to reach parody levels.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
harmless
10Club Complaint Department
Posts: 17337
Joined: Tue January 01, 2013 2:41 pm

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by harmless »

"Enjoyable" isn't a category. That's part of the problem, PJ think it is one. So every album from now on will feature a half-baked "enjoyable" song.
RisingTides wrote:There is more kindness on the internet than we would care to admit to ourselves. Sometimes we are so afraid of falling victim to a ruse, we miss out on actual opportunities.
User avatar
Thurman Murman
AnalLog
Posts: 1357
Joined: Sun January 06, 2013 4:25 am

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by Thurman Murman »

Thurman Murman wrote:1. Infallible
2. Pendulum
3. Sirens
4. Getaway
5. My Father's Son
6. Sleeping By Myself
7. Lightning Bolt
8. Yellow Moon
9. Mind Your Manners
10. Swallowed Whole
.
.
.
11. Future Days
12. Let The Records Play
10 days later....

1. Pendulum
2. Infallible
3. Sirens
4. Getaway
5. My Father's Son
6. Sleeping By Myself
7. Yellow Moon
8. Lightning Bolt
9. Mind Your Manners
10. Swallowed Whole
.
.
.
11. Future Days
12. Let The Records Play

I really like those 10 tracks...better than anything outside of The End off the last album.

As much as i try, i just can't bring myself to liking Future Days....and i typically love Pearl Jam's mellow stuff and Eddie's solo albums. There's just something about this one that stinks, and its not just the cheesy intro/outro.
User avatar
Thurman Murman
AnalLog
Posts: 1357
Joined: Sun January 06, 2013 4:25 am

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by Thurman Murman »

harmless wrote:"Enjoyable" isn't a category. That's part of the problem, PJ think it is one. So every album from now on will feature a half-baked "enjoyable" song.
It's a "minor" song....pretty much every Pearl Jam album has at least one minor song. Its not as good as the ones on the earlier records, but it's better than the minor tracks off the last two albums.
Release_Me
AnalLog
Posts: 1269
Joined: Mon July 15, 2013 10:01 am

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by Release_Me »

harmless wrote:
Release_Me wrote:It's the most out and out enjoyable song out of all the enjoyable songs they've ever tried to make.
What? Your hyperbole is starting to reach parody levels.
It's how I feel about the song. It's meant to be a fun and enjoyable song which it absolutely is. They tried making those before and they never worked out to become anything more than throwaways.
Pearl Jam is the only band I'll spend money on.
Release_Me
AnalLog
Posts: 1269
Joined: Mon July 15, 2013 10:01 am

Re: Alright guys, Lightning Bolt, you know what to do...

Post by Release_Me »

Thurman Murman wrote:
harmless wrote:"Enjoyable" isn't a category. That's part of the problem, PJ think it is one. So every album from now on will feature a half-baked "enjoyable" song.
It's a "minor" song....pretty much every Pearl Jam album has at least one minor song. Its not as good as the ones on the earlier records, but it's better than the minor tracks off the last two albums.
This is exactly the category of song I'm talking about. Though I disagree it's not as good as on the earlier records.
Pearl Jam is the only band I'll spend money on.
Post Reply