Challenge the recency bias/new albumitis: Rerank Dark Matter

[Farmer John]

As far as pure works of art? I would go

Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam
Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus
Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa
Pearl Jam’s Dark Matter

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

ah yes, the 5-star, perfect album. we're talking the likes of the Beatles' Revolver, Radiohead's OK Computer and Kid A, Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, the Beach Boys' Smile, Nick Drake's Pink Moon, the Velvet Underground's eponymous album, the Talking Heads' Remain in Light, and . . . checks notes . . . ah yes, Pearl Jam's Dark Matter.

Ah yes, subjectivity. None of the masterpieces you listed mean anything to me, but I love Dark Matter. I’d still rank it just behind their first three albums. The love we have for old records is bolstered by nostalgia

Only one of those records I care even the slightest bit about (well two now that Dark Matter is on the list). Though to be fair when I see people place Binaural above Ten I have pretty much the same reaction.

My ears are not overly precious so while I suppose I can hear what some folks go on about in terms of the audio quality, it is what it is. It is how I know the songs. Records I am familiar with I often hate listening to on sub par sound systems because I am aware of what is lost. But this is what Dark Matter is. And as a collection of songs, I think, truly, it is one of their strongest, and well ahead of some of the sacred cow records beloved by die hards and equally ignored outside those circles. And the overwhelming way so many of these songs can sound feels like a feature rather than a bug to me. Experienced as impact rather than assault.

Maybe these songs with different production become even better. Maybe they end up feeling neutered. Maybe they just feel different. It I know what a Pearl Jam album full of solid songs done dirty sounds like. That is Lightning Bolt. Dark Matter sounds like it needs to. And everything hits.

My challenge with Pearl Jam is that even their brightest, most electric albums still have at least one song I don’t get excited about. Vs and Gigaton were the only two, prior to Dark Matter. And while Vs has 30 years of memories behind it, and a stronger run of top tier songs, I think Dark Matter has a higher floor.

One year later, a remarkable record. Excellent lyrics, great songs, performed like their lives depended on it.

[Ms Harmless]

"Scared of Fear" has really clicked for me the past few days and sitting comfortably in the tracklist more than it used to

quick ranking

1. Won't Tell
2. Setting Sun
3. React Respond
4. Scared of Fear
5. Wreckage
6. Dark Matter
7. Upper Hand
8. Waiting for Stevie
9. Got to Give
10. Something Special
11. Running

looking at it, it seems a bit nuts that I put WFS and GTG so low in particular, but there aren't any bad songs here, just songs that I reach for more / less often

[96583UP]

oddly enough this album has gotten better for me with age

i think the effect of seeing these songs live made a positive imprint

[liebzz]

One of the side effects of that studio albums thread is that I am taking a PJ break after listening non-stop last year. I don’t think I have really heard much of any Pearl Jam since the beginning of December, and at some point I will find my way back and reassess how I feel about this album, but I would expect to still hold it in very high regard because I really enjoy the songs on this.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[stip]

25% of the total votes. this poll is also likely more reflective of RM regulars

[Monkey_Driven]

25% of the total votes. this poll is also likely more reflective of RM regulars

50 votes compared to 200ish. It's natural for that initial excitement to wear off a bit, but I think this will still settle into a fairly high ranking in the years ahead.

[stip]

for sure- just acknowledging that besides recency bias periods around new album releases are also not only populated by the typical RMer

[bada]

Like with all "new" Pearl Jam when the songs comes on I get all excited and I think wow this is great and then at the halfway point I lose interest and listen to something else. I think at this point I got to admit I'm just a first ten years guy.

[Kevin Davis]

Said differently, the original thread shows 9% of voters scoring it at 3 stars or lower. But the re-rank puts that at more like 32%, as of right now.

I was one who went from a 4 to a 3, but the 4 was coming from a place of listening regularly while the 3 comes from a place of not having listened for a while. So maybe the takeaway for me is that it's an album that creates an experience more than it leaves an impression.

The last few PJ albums have been weird. It's reasonable to expect some of that first-wave enthusiasm to fade, but you hope that that is where some of that "deeper connection" stuff takes over -- that point at which passion gives way to "getting to know each other well enough to spend a life together." I haven't felt that with a PJ album in a while, probably not since S/T. Maybe it's just a stage-of-life thing.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[Chris_H_2]

Said differently, the original thread shows 9% of voters scoring it at 3 stars or lower. But the re-rank puts that at more like 32%, as of right now.

I was one who went from a 4 to a 3, but the 4 was coming from a place of listening regularly while the 3 comes from a place of not having listened for a while. So maybe the takeaway for me is that it's an album that creates an experience more than it leaves an impression.

or maybe you haven't listened for a while precisely because it's a 3

[basically_infirmed]

self-titled is the last one I felt a deep connection to as well, and I've always assumed it's because we're all getting older

[Monkey_Driven]

Said differently, the original thread shows 9% of voters scoring it at 3 stars or lower. But the re-rank puts that at more like 32%, as of right now.

I was one who went from a 4 to a 3, but the 4 was coming from a place of listening regularly while the 3 comes from a place of not having listened for a while. So maybe the takeaway for me is that it's an album that creates an experience more than it leaves an impression.

The last few PJ albums have been weird. It's reasonable to expect some of that first-wave enthusiasm to fade, but you hope that that is where some of that "deeper connection" stuff takes over -- that point at which passion gives way to "getting to know each other well enough to spend a life together." I haven't felt that with a PJ album in a while, probably not since S/T. Maybe it's just a stage-of-life thing.

I don’t think it is just a stage of life thing, at least for me.

That deeper connection to the material of a rock band is largely informed by the band members’ personalities, and the extent to which those personalities are reflected in the music. It’s what leads to thrilling micro dynamics of interplay — little moments where the guys veer off-script of the macro composition and into unplanned territory.

There’s virtually none of that on the last three albums, with a few specific exceptions. You remove Eddie’s voice from the proceedings, and there’s little going on that couldn’t be reasonably ascribed to any number of studio musicians. In contrast, the last RHCP albums are filled with these moments, and it rewards repeated listens towards deeper discovery or enjoyment of those moments.

Dark Matter and LB are extreme examples of the problem, because the production obliterates the microdynamics of band interplay. But even on Gigaton, there’s a “places, parts everybody!” element to the compositions that undermines some of the more interesting numbers like Alright or SBWM.

Looseness and improvisation are so important in rock music. The band has really lost touch with those aspects.

Gigaton has more personality that you're giving it credit for here, but otherwise I mostly agree with your post. It speaks to the missing "character" in Dark Matter I mentioned earlier.

[Kevin Davis]

I don’t think it is just a stage of life thing, at least for me.

That deeper connection to the material of a rock band is largely informed by the band members’ personalities, and the extent to which those personalities are reflected in the music. It’s what leads to thrilling micro dynamics of interplay — little moments where the guys veer off-script of the macro composition and into unplanned territory.

I agree completely. I think what I was meaning to say, without being overly dramatic about it, was that I really just don't find myself getting that excited about new rock music at all anymore. I've all but stopped seeking it out -- other types of music just fire my imagination so much more -- yet I repeatedly subject Pearl Jam (and probably a few other artists) to these changing tastes as though it is their job to somehow overcome them. Then I hold it against them when they don't, even though in reality they probably can't.

So maybe it's a "headspace" thing more than a "stage of life" thing, but ultimately, not exclusively a Pearl Jam thing.

[EBowie]

Still 5 stars for me, based on the quality of songs, the performances, its cohesion, the tracklist plays like a live set, etc etc...

I agree with some of the qualms about the production but I don't blame the band for that - they're old and (mostly) deaf at this point.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now