Lightning Bolt: The Official Album Thread

[Kaius]

The bridge is fucking awesome and one of the best moments on the record, you idiots.

You are!

[McParadigm]

A tower!

[harmless]

And I'm!

[McParadigm]

British!

I think?

[bada]

Prove it.

I tried to upload an edit to Soundcloud but I keep getting copyright crap.

[harmless]

British!

I think?

LOLS yeah.

[Kaius]

Prove it.

I tried to upload an edit to Soundcloud but I keep getting copyright crap.

You already put in enough effort to convince me.

[96583UP]

you had me at "dicks fuck asses", Kent

[bada]

Heard Sirens on the radio today. The intro, the solo and the outro were all edited. It's not that long of a song I don't get it. It was a four song run....In Bloom, Immigrant Song, Sirens and Dead Or Alive. It was a little weird that the Bon Jovi balled was edgier than the PJ one but I guess that's life.

[LetMeSleep]

It was a little weird that the Bon Jovi balled was edgier than the PJ one but I guess that's life.

RIP PJ

[mastaflatch]

fucking pearl jam balled!!

[harmless]

'Dead or Alive' is a ballad?

[bada]

I would think its the very definition of a 80's power ballad(notice I spelled it right this time!).

[Huell]

Was going to do a write up for the album if anyone was interest and share my thoughts on the album... but gave it a listen today, and couldnt get past Lightning Bolt (have rearranged the tracklist so Sirens comes after Pendulum, for thematic and tempo flow) before turning it off.

I would rate MYM, Pendulum, Infallible, Swallowed Whole and maybe Yellow Moon as quality additions to the canon. I cannot put my finger on what puts me off this album, its not necessarily the any particular song is off putting but there definitely something that doesnt bring me personally back for repeat listens.

I am a fan of the band since No Code came out, and ever since then I have always found each new album delivering something new while have some substance. Each album also had something in the lyrics that reflected that point in my life (Yield) or had some reflection of global events and a person place and feelings within that (Riot Act), all the way up to Backspacer which I love but is an anomaly within the catalogue for a number of reasons. I loved the free wheeling power of the opener, to feeling good for the sake of it spirit (Johnny Guitar, Supersonic) and letting yourself open to something bigger than yourself and not letting your mind run the show.

Even albums like No Code which compares to Lightning Bolt in terms of lack of flow had themes that bring you up to the end of the album for the kiss off of Around the Bend, which is really a fitting closer to struggle and development of the previous years for Eddie as a person and the band. No such tie up is there in Lightning Bolt, and the tracklist destroys the album, again with lyrical themes and tempo. Ugly snarling of MFS is followed by the concerned and grateful plea of Sirens, with its lightweight fluff guitar( I think Ament tries to ground it with high bass mix but it doesnt work for me) LB the song is the point where first half goes beyond the point of no return, special effects to make up for the lack of direction and some fooling around with arrangement which doesnt cover up for the fact that it should have been trimmed to accommodate the nice riffs of the pre-chorus/chorus.

I have pointed out the songs I like, and in a previous post outlined how I feel they didnt earn the sappy piano line on future days as the album was didnt carry you take you through emotional high's and low's to warrant a nostalgic wrap up. I note this as it is O'Brien piano, and while its noted on this site how his input is affecting the bands output ad nausem, the guitar line played over Sleeping By Myself shows how bland his playing is (and why he is a producer and not a member of say a band like Eleven), no band member would put something so pedestrian over a PJ song. He pushed for this song to be included, and then watered down the song for playing in malls, radio etc.

Lightning Bolt shows signs of complacency and perhaps the chemistry of the band that exploded at the time of Ten and which the band channeled through amazing album after album is truly fizzling out. I dont believe that its necessarily their new working schedule or their family/life circumstances and I dont believe its necessarily age, but for me this is their first album that I dont mind feel any passion for because there isnt any genuine passion or drama in it. No Code is worthy of comparison because it wasnt necessary about screaming your lungs out to fill the room but it had substance, it was about consideration, being present and some relief or maturity. This album has some nice developed lyrics (Swallowed Whole's imagery, MYM slap dash matches the tune, Yellow Moon's simplicity you can fill in yourself or let the guitar invoke) but overall leaves me feeling empty. Getaway's stab (really like a misdirected haymaker flailing around) at organised religion just feels like Ed grandstanding against something but he cant use the Obama administration because he is so entrenched with the idea the current Pres was the victory for suffering 2 Terms of Bush (Isnt Ed angry about the NSA? I wonder if they had a Republican president at the moment would there be a song about that on the latest album?)

Anyway, Im just a human being so my appraisal of the album is flawed and I would like to hear people's thoughts on it, Im open to your criticism. I looked forward to every PJ album since I got into them with my friends and I stuck with them as many of them lost interest. I feel like Ed's passion and using the band's platform to make people aware and accountable is waning, and letting their producer (who admittedly made some monstrous albums with them in the 90's) dilute the tunes are problems.

Again, to finish, comparing it to the time of No Code, Ed had the 'Do Not Resusitate' logo on the album to say even if they are a Zombie Band, then just let them be that, but the artwork was uncanny in reflecting the fact that they were just sitting there mindfully with their eyes closed, there was alot going on. However with Lightning Bolt they have this bold and brash cover, with harsh fonts and stark imagery hiding the fact that there isnt much drama behind the curtain.

[IlluminEddie]

Getaway's stab (really like a misdirected haymaker flailing around) at organised religion just feels like Ed grandstanding against something but he cant use the Obama administration because he is so entrenched with the idea the current Pres was the victory for suffering 2 Terms of Bush (Isnt Ed angry about the NSA? I wonder if they had a Republican president at the moment would there be a song about that on the latest album?)

I've been saying this since before the album was released (upon hearing MYM). Ed is clearly trying to find something to talk about, and purposefully steering clear of politics, so his logical backup was religion. He knows any mention of more direct politics in his songs will seem like an accusation towards President Obama, who he's been fundraising for. Since he can't talk politics (because of his infatuation with the Pres) we got the Backspacer and LB themes. Obvious facts like this are not very popular round these parts. When you wear a team's colors and someone is talking bad about said team, you stand up for your team (that's the logic).

Anyway, the part on the NSA and if this was a Republican president is dead on. If that was the case, Ed's songwriting and preachiness would be over...

...whelming. At the end of the day, Ed's a incredibly large, quite douche..y, hypocrite when it comes to politics. But, I guess, it doesn't really matter because in aggregate, I'd prefer to have him write non-political songs regardless of who or what party he'd be attacking. Then again, admittedly, it would simply be nice to see current day Ed write a song about a political issue that wasn't inspired by whether his team was in the white house.

I mean Grievance seems to fit the NSA issue pretty well. But, Ed wouldn't mention that, would he? Bush is still Ed's satan and Obama is now Ed's god. Just like Sherman is San Fran's satan and Kaepernick is their god. It's what happens when you're too busy waving pom-poms to look at the underlying issues with no sense of allegiance to a party/team.

[Brambo]

Heard today on 3FM (dutch radio) that the new single from the album lightning bolt is getaway.

[VinylGuy]

Just watched the whole Judd Apatow interview it was interesting.....and now im watching the Mark Richards one.
I loved the bit about how Brendan O Brien records the vocals. Im sure thats what Ed needed during those lazy RA era recordings.

[stip]

Heard Sirens on the radio today. The intro, the solo and the outro were all edited. It's not that long of a song I don't get it. It was a four song run....In Bloom, Immigrant Song, Sirens and Dead Or Alive. It was a little weird that the Bon Jovi balled was edgier than the PJ one but I guess that's life.

Wow, I can't believe that song did that well with the best parts missing

[stip]

Heard today on 3FM (dutch radio) that the new single from the album lightning bolt is getaway.

If true that's a smarter choice than LB. It made a better first impression.

[VinylGuy]

Heard today on 3FM (dutch radio) that the new single from the album lightning bolt is getaway.

If true that's a smarter choice than LB. It made a better first impression.

yeah, but Sleeping By Myself shoud be the third single. Im hoping they might release it as a fourth single, thinking this album still has legs.