The Best Moment in Lightning Bolt

[BurtReynolds]

So, Stip, what series of threads do you have planned for us next?

[stip]

March madness is coming...

[stip]

Which will be set up into conferences this year

[bodysnatcher]

"Let the Records Play" is either an embarrassing piece of whitewashed George Thorogood faux-blues pablum or a remarkably feeble attempt at a Marc Bolan glam-rock stomp. Either way it fails hard. I can't believe Stone is responsible for it.

To be fair, in one of those interview videos leading up to the album release, Stone seemed like he was genuinely shocked when that song made the album. To me, it came across in a "really??" sort of way.

[Kevin Davis]

"Let the Records Play" is either an embarrassing piece of whitewashed George Thorogood faux-blues pablum or a remarkably feeble attempt at a Marc Bolan glam-rock stomp. Either way it fails hard. I can't believe Stone is responsible for it.

Only part of it -- Eddie's lyrics and delivery, the band's arrangement, and especially O'Brien's production go a long way towards stamping the song with the identifying features you accurately criticize. But I could easily imagine the song being relatively successful as a Stone solo number, with everything set just a few degrees weirder and stripped of that level of "normalcy" it attains by virtue of being a PJ track, with ultra-earnest Eddie Vedder on the mic -- Stone can certainly pull off this type of lyric with a level of distance that's well outside Eddie's range. Mentally allowing for that difference, I don't think it's all that far removed from some of the "Moonlander" stuff.

But you're right -- as it is, it's a total dud. One of the weaker tracks on "LB," which took some doing. At the very least it should have been a Christmas single with Stone on vocals.

[Tuolumne]

The bridge on Swallowed Whole is a sort of cathartic moment for the album for me. Tied the album together lyrically and emotionally for me and made sense out of the whole thing. Before I got to that, I had trouble getting the album down as a whole singular concept. It's a strong middle of the pack album for me, with certain songs on it that I play as much as any in their catalogue, although not one I can play easily all the way through like Backspacer. It definitely feels like and album put together in 2 very separate recording sessions. Stellar album though.

I would love to hear your take on what "sense is to be made out of the whole thing", and what the "singular concept" is. I honestly can't connect any of this mess.

Lyrically, to me atleast, the album is about encountering mortality and squeezing all you can out of life while we're stil living in a world that is very noisy and fragile etc etc, that bridge pretty much encapsulates it. That bridge could also easily fit somewhere on Into the Wild, and for some reason I hear the same guy writing some of the lyrics. My whole point would definitely make more sense if Let the Records Play wasn't such a big turd.

[hlniv]

The bridge on Swallowed Whole is a sort of cathartic moment for the album for me. Tied the album together lyrically and emotionally for me and made sense out of the whole thing. Before I got to that, I had trouble getting the album down as a whole singular concept. It's a strong middle of the pack album for me, with certain songs on it that I play as much as any in their catalogue, although not one I can play easily all the way through like Backspacer. It definitely feels like and album put together in 2 very separate recording sessions. Stellar album though.

I would love to hear your take on what "sense is to be made out of the whole thing", and what the "singular concept" is. I honestly can't connect any of this mess.

Lyrically, to me atleast, the album is about encountering mortality and squeezing all you can out of life while we're stil living in a world that is very noisy and fragile etc etc, that bridge pretty much encapsulates it. That bridge could also easily fit somewhere on Into the Wild, and for some reason I hear the same guy writing some of the lyrics. My whole point would definitely make more sense if Let the Records Play wasn't such a big turd.

Uh-huh. OK. I guess there could be some lyrics that have some connection. The whole thing just feels disjointed to me

[darth_vedder]

"Let the Records Play" is either an embarrassing piece of whitewashed George Thorogood faux-blues pablum or a remarkably feeble attempt at a Marc Bolan glam-rock stomp. Either way it fails hard. I can't believe Stone is responsible for it.

Only part of it -- Eddie's lyrics and delivery, the band's arrangement, and especially O'Brien's production go a long way towards stamping the song with the identifying features you accurately criticize. But I could easily imagine the song being relatively successful as a Stone solo number, with everything set just a few degrees weirder and stripped of that level of "normalcy" it attains by virtue of being a PJ track, with ultra-earnest Eddie Vedder on the mic -- Stone can certainly pull off this type of lyric with a level of distance that's well outside Eddie's range. Mentally allowing for that difference, I don't think it's all that far removed from some of the "Moonlander" stuff.

But you're right -- as it is, it's a total dud. One of the weaker tracks on "LB," which took some doing. At the very least it should have been a Christmas single with Stone on vocals.

Spot on.

[darth_vedder]

I think my favorite moment of this album is the first solo on LB the song. Maybe the intro to MYM.

[darthvedder81]

As overwrought as it might be at times and as much as people mock it, I still think "Sirens" is the most complete song on the record. "Yellow Moon" is also a highlight (esp. the bridge leading into the solo—I wish we could have had a whole album with that kind of dark intensity). LTRP play is a really cool riff from Stone but that's all it is—a riff. The chorus sounds like the chorus you put in there while you are waiting to write the real one. It just needed more work.

[numbers]

I think my favorite moment of this album is the first solo on LB the song..

I really like this as well.

[darth_vedder]

I think my favorite moment of this album is the first solo on LB the song..

I really like this as well.

It's definitely a fun moment on an otherwise oddly constructed song.

[Release_Me]

LTRP is one of the weaker songs on LB but I like it better than most of Riot Act, Binaural and some of No Code. Yeah, I said it.

[Got Some]

Getaway- "making love like lizards" onwards
MYM - intro
MFS- "from the whites of your eyes" onwards
Sirens - lyrics
L/Bolt - 2nd verse onwards
Infallible- Think we've been here before/time we best begin/our ships sinking parts
Pendulum- easy left me a long time agooooooo
Swallowed hole- bridge onwards
LTRP - opening line
SBM - uke
yellow Moon - bridge
Future days - chorus

[darth_vedder]

LTRP is one of the weaker songs on LB but I like it better than most of Riot Act, Binaural and some of No Code. Yeah, I said it.

That's not a moment at all.

[tommymtcom]

LTRP is one of the weaker songs on LB but I like it better than most of Riot Act, Binaural and some of No Code. Yeah, I said it.

Good lord.

[stip]

I like it better than quite a few songs from those albums as well.

[Kaius]

You're nuts.

[stip]

That's possible.

I do need to qualify that comment by saying that there are some songs that I think are compositionally superior to LTRP that I do not enjoy listening to as much.

[Norah]