Lightning Bolt: The Official Album Thread

[Got Some]

Lightning bolt better than RA

I wouldn't say better.....
but at this point it is approaching

with every listen, there is more of that weaving going on

I would. It's more concise!!!!

I like RA I think it's very underrated.

Its My 6th fav PJ album.

[southp]

Sirens owns me everytime i listen to this goddamn album. And yes, i adore Mike´s solo. Its perfect.

It's absolutely stunning. I can't believe Ed was capable of such a beautiful song.
Just Breathe and The End were both sweet and melancholy in their own way, but Sirens has much more impact.

[knee tunes]

one thing I notice about this album that stands out from the rest is the incredible build inside most of the songs.

I have recognized this "build" before in unthought known and marker in the sand, but on this album , it's in alot of the songs

--lightning bolt, sirens, swallowed whole, infallible, are the biggies.

[stip]

there's a lot of really satisfying anthems on this record.

[Strat]

there's a lot of really satisfying anthems on this record.

There are but I have yet to hear a good version of any Lightning Bolt song live

Maybe the title track....

[E.H. Ruddock]

one thing I notice about this album that stands out from the rest is the incredible build inside most of the songs.

I have recognized this "build" before in unthought known and marker in the sand, but on this album , it's in alot of the songs

--lightning bolt, sirens, swallowed whole, infallible, are the biggies.

yeah every time I hear Lightning Bolt or Swallowed Whole I think "Unthought Known".

[bodysnatcher]

I am starting to love this album in a huge way.

swallowed whole is smackin the shit out of me

I can hear the crash
I can feel the pound
I can feel the
.current
.pulling
down down down down

down down down down

Swallowed Hole....feel the pound ..??

[warehouse]

pendulum-best song since no code
infallable-awesomely catchy. the verses have a creep kinda pop feel, and the chorus soars into this almost motown vibe.
getaway-i love the intensity in this one. its not super aggressive, sorta heavy new wave. ed's voice sounds great
yellow moon/swallowed whole-i cant really separate these songs, and i think they are both top notch. they both have a sorta mature folky feel to them ive been wanting from pearl jam. obviously, swallowed whole is the more upbeat version, kinda reminds me of the birds. yellow moon is clearly the more mellow version, and kinda has a pink floyd feel to it. i also think both deal with similar subjects lyrically.
my father's son-pretty intense for one song and two bass'. stone's licks in this song are great, and some of the lyrics are kinda witty too. the bridge outa nowhere is awesome, i love songs that take 2 completely different parts and jam them together
mind your manners-pretty nice attempt at being the dead kennedy's. ed's vocal delivery is pretty cool, not overly aggressive, but proving his point vocally.
let the records play-fun little blues number. not their best attempt at the blues, but i dig it.
sleeping by myself-interesting transformation into a country-ish song. i really like the music, but the lyrics are so fuckin sad.
lightning bolt-its not bad. i think its trying a little too hard to be a classic live pearl jam song
sirens-i listen to it when its on the radio, but never on the cd. overly poppy. i like splitting up "over-whelmed" though
future days-ive probably listened to this song less than 10 times. kinda blows.

As much as I love the song lightning bolt that's a fair criticism of it

I Don't understand this criticism at all

it just seems like it was written w/ a live audience in mind. like "ok, this is the part where the crowd will clap". even the band said its seems like a classic live pearl jam song, i just think its trying to hard. "pendulum" is the best live song on the album, but its pretty much the best thing they've done since the 90s.

[E.H. Ruddock]

"pendulum" is the best live song on the album, but its pretty much the best thing they've done since the 90s.

I couldn't agree more. I enjoyed it live and it hasn't gotten old for me after many listens.

Neither has Infallible or Yellow Moon. The rest of the album I'm just ho-hum about. But SBM is actually getting more play from me. Only because I think I wrote it off when the album first came out. I would skip over it because I didn't want to hear an Ed solo song. I don't mind the arrangement, though.

This long after Backspacer came out, I think the only songs I wouldn't skip over were GSMF and Johnny Guitar. So that's two from BS and three from Lightning Bolt. Keep it up Pearl Jam, at this pace I'll like every song on your 16th album.

[bodysnatcher]

pendulum-best song since no code
infallable-awesomely catchy. the verses have a creep kinda pop feel, and the chorus soars into this almost motown vibe.
getaway-i love the intensity in this one. its not super aggressive, sorta heavy new wave. ed's voice sounds great
yellow moon/swallowed whole-i cant really separate these songs, and i think they are both top notch. they both have a sorta mature folky feel to them ive been wanting from pearl jam. obviously, swallowed whole is the more upbeat version, kinda reminds me of the birds. yellow moon is clearly the more mellow version, and kinda has a pink floyd feel to it. i also think both deal with similar subjects lyrically.
my father's son-pretty intense for one song and two bass'. stone's licks in this song are great, and some of the lyrics are kinda witty too. the bridge outa nowhere is awesome, i love songs that take 2 completely different parts and jam them together
mind your manners-pretty nice attempt at being the dead kennedy's. ed's vocal delivery is pretty cool, not overly aggressive, but proving his point vocally.
let the records play-fun little blues number. not their best attempt at the blues, but i dig it.
sleeping by myself-interesting transformation into a country-ish song. i really like the music, but the lyrics are so fuckin sad.
lightning bolt-its not bad. i think its trying a little too hard to be a classic live pearl jam song
sirens-i listen to it when its on the radio, but never on the cd. overly poppy. i like splitting up "over-whelmed" though
future days-ive probably listened to this song less than 10 times. kinda blows.

As much as I love the song lightning bolt that's a fair criticism of it

I Don't understand this criticism at all

it just seems like it was written w/ a live audience in mind. like "ok, this is the part where the crowd will clap". even the band said its seems like a classic live pearl jam song, i just think its trying to hard. "pendulum" is the best live song on the album, but its pretty much the best thing they've done since the 90s.

i understand what you're getting at, and agree. it works much better than Unthought Known, but still.

[bodysnatcher]

ok, now that i've listened to this 5-6 times, and seen them live twice on their tour, i'll rank my songs

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

[Norah]

Take it to the ranking thread.

[southp]

one thing I notice about this album that stands out from the rest is the incredible build inside most of the songs.

I have recognized this "build" before in unthought known and marker in the sand, but on this album , it's in alot of the songs

--lightning bolt, sirens, swallowed whole, infallible, are the biggies.

yeah every time I hear Lightning Bolt or Swallowed Whole I think "Unthought Known".

Lightning Bolt has moved up the ranks for me quite a bit. I was listening too much to some opinions posted here after the Wrigley show, but since I've had the album and saw the Jimmy Fallon performance it's grown on me quite a bit.

Swallowed Whole meanwhile is near the very top of my list.

[Norah]

Swallowed Whole is still the best song on the album.

[LetMeSleep]

Swallowed Whole is still the best song on the album.

It's def up there. I wonder if Ed will do that at his solo shows.

[Lament]

Swallowed Whole is still the best song on the album.

This is a factual statement.

[bodysnatcher]

Swallowed Whole is still the best song on the album.

It's def up there. I wonder if Ed will do that at his solo shows.

that would actually be really cool to hear

[LetMeSleep]

More so than the inevitable Future Days.

[hlniv]

Take it to the ranking thread.

Screw that. I'm ranking right here

1. Swallowed Whole (live versions have moved it to the top for me, best live song on the record, imo)
2. My Father's Son
3. Lightning Bolt
4. Pendulum
5. Yellow Moon
6. Sleeping by Myself
7. Infallible
8. Mind Your Manners
9. Getaway
10. Let the Records Play
11. Sirens
12. Future Days

1-9 on this list are all very strong, I'd say.

I think the title track Lightning Bolt is much better than you guys give it credit for. Yes, it's a classic live PJ tune. So what? Great! It's well done, it's lyrically sound, it has a unique structure, they jam it out at the end. What's not to like?

Getaway and Infallible have aged the worst out of my top 9, but are still damn good songs.

LTRP has grown a little on me, but not much

Sirens has tumbled off of a cliff for me. Once the novelty of the initial emotion wears off, I just don't really want to hear it. I think I will enjoy this song once every two months MAX.

Future Days - uggh. Just a disappointing listen. All the way through - could have been so much better.

This record and Riot Act are neck and neck in my opinion, somewhat ahead of Avocado and miles ahead of Backspacer.

[southp]

Well if we're going to rank here then I'm going to do it with the official ranking-majigger.
I'm sure my choices are quite off from the popular picks here, but here's how it shakes out for me at the moment:

Yellow Moon (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Sirens (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Pendulum (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Swallowed Whole (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Lightning Bolt (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Infallible (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Getaway (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Future Days (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
My Fathers Son (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Mind Your Manners (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Sleeping By Myself (Lightning Bolt, 2013)
Let The Records Play (Lightning Bolt, 2013)