A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Infallible

[stip]

as a heads up I don't know that I'm going to be able to get to infallible today or tomorrow, and then I'm away for a week, so this thread may end up pausing (at least on my end)

[McParadigm]

Yes I understand I like unpopular songs Just Breathe.

Oh sweet Jesus, it's worse than we could have ever imagined.

It's not a great song, but Just Breathe has the benefit of being an understated and softly spoken shuffle through a topic that warrants and (aside from an overdose of strings in the chorus) receives a genuinely tender delivery. It sets a good mood, it leaves space between the instruments, and is only burdened by pushing a little too hard in that chorus.

As such, it is superior to everything on Lightning Bolt.

[PHATJ]

Yes I understand I like unpopular songs Just Breathe.

Oh sweet Jesus, it's worse than we could have ever imagined.

It's not a great song, but Just Breathe has the benefit of being an understated and softly spoken shuffle through a topic that warrants and (aside from an overdose of strings in the chorus) receives a genuinely tender delivery. It sets a good mood, it leaves space between the instruments, and is only burdened by pushing a little too hard in that chorus.

As such, it is superior to everything on Lightning Bolt.

Just Breathe is a piece of shit.

[bada]

I'd like to hear a version without the strings.

[stip]

Same

[E.H. Ruddock]

I'd like to hear a version without the strings.

[McParadigm]

it is superior to everything on Lightning Bolt.

Just Breathe is a piece of shit.

Well, these statements could simultaneously be true. But no, it's not.

[lecherouslittlestump]

I believe Just Breathe is PJ's biggest hit in America ever. Even bigger than Last Kiss (that got Gold; JB went Platinum)

Let that sink in.

[PHATJ]

it is superior to everything on Lightning Bolt.

Just Breathe is a piece of shit.

Well, these statements could simultaneously be true. But no, it's not.

I get what you are saying in the previous post about the "good" qualities of JB, I just can't stand the song. It grates on me. I hate Ed's vocals so much. I generally dislike the music. I find the song both incredibly boring and super annoying to listen to. I just don't think this kind of song is something the band does well. Production and the like doesn't help, but the song would be terrible (to my ears) no matter what choices they made in that regard.

The Willie Nelson version is far superior.

[LetMeSleep]

it is superior to everything on Lightning Bolt.

Just Breathe is a piece of shit.

Well, these statements could simultaneously be true. But no, it's not.

I get what you are saying in the previous post about the "good" qualities of JB, I just can't stand the song. It grates on me. I hate Ed's vocals so much. I generally dislike the music. I find the song both incredibly boring and super annoying to listen to. I just don't think this kind of song is something the band does well. Production and the like don't help, but the song would be terrible (to my ears) no matter what choices they made in that regard.

The Willie Nelson version is far superior.

Yes yes yes. Jeff is super plodding boring here. And the production is bloody awful.

[Kevin Davis]

There are a lot of live versions of "Just Breathe" without the strings.

[stip]

it is superior to everything on Lightning Bolt.

Just Breathe is a piece of shit.

Well, these statements could simultaneously be true. But no, it's not.

I get what you are saying in the previous post about the "good" qualities of JB, I just can't stand the song. It grates on me. I hate Ed's vocals so much. I generally dislike the music. I find the song both incredibly boring and super annoying to listen to. I just don't think this kind of song is something the band does well. Production and the like don't help, but the song would be terrible (to my ears) no matter what choices they made in that regard.

The Willie Nelson version is far superior.

Yes yes yes. Jeff is super plodding boring here. And the production is bloody awful.

I can see why Eddie's voice on this might throw people off, but Eddie's playing is simple and lovely and it's a very touching sentiment. 'I'm a lucky man to count on both hands the ones I love' is a graceful expression of the kind of sentiment that is a bit too hamfisted in a song like Future Days.

[LetMeSleep]

Stip, I didn't mind this song for the first 4-5 listens. The sentiment is lovely. But the albums production and later Ed's live mannerisms make this a chore to listen to. If it was just Ed and an acoustic, and he didn't strain or aw huh then I'd prefer it.

[PHATJ]

Stip, I didn't mind this song for the first 4-5 listens. The sentiment is lovely. But the albums production and later Ed's live mannerisms make this a chore to listen to. If it was just Ed and an acoustic, and he didn't strain or aw huh then I'd prefer it.

Yes. Also, song sentiment makes no difference to me. There are millions of sentimental songs about love of family/spouse/children etc. Just because I find these things to be noble things to write about doesn't make the song any good.

[dprival78]

yes I unda steee-ann, that every life must eeee-anndd

[LoathedVermin72]

Knowing that McP likes "Just Breathe" makes me look at him totally differently

[Birds in Hell]

I don't hate Just Breathe, they've certainly done worse on the last two records.

When Ed talked about how the song was originally intended as something of a brief sketch that Brendan insisted on them fashioning into something more fleshed-out, that made a lot of sense to me (and is further fuel for my feeling that these guys are better served by following their own impulses rather than listening to Brendan's advice on how to make SMASH HIT RECORDS).*

* I can't actually dispute the value of his advice by that measure, mind you, I'm under the impression the last two Pearl Jam records (or, at least, the singles from the records) had a lot more commercial traction than the band's efforts in the early-to-mid 2000s.

[Jorge]

[McParadigm]

Knowing that McP likes "Just Breathe" makes me look at him totally differently

JB has the same basic underlying affections and fears of Sirens, but doesn't bombast them to the point of what I assume Creed would have sounded like in 2020 if Scott Stapp hadn't gotten into experimental performance art and Rob Thomas had helped write melodies...like that song does.

It's rare that Pearl Jam is willing to let a quiet song get as quiet as it deserves to be. The best case example is Around the Bend. And these days, JB is as close as they get to "unbloated," which is what insecure but loving odes ought to be.

I genuinely appreciate that whole record for wanting to present a side of the band's sound that is unique in the catalog. "They tried a new thing and that thing was corny" is way less of a tragedy in my eyes than "they did the thing they always did before but only as best they are now able, because it's all about keeping the flock." Backspacer is the only record post-Riot Act where I hear any genuine romance...any sense that one or two songs birthed from pure idea and not from being measured mathematically at the songwriting level (versus the production level) for maximum impact.

[knee tunes]

Knowing that McP likes "Just Breathe" makes me look at him totally differently

JB has the same basic underlying affections and fears of Sirens, but doesn't bombast them to the point of what I assume Creed would have sounded like in 2020 if Scott Stapp hadn't gotten into experimental performance art and Rob Thomas had helped write melodies...like that song does.

It's rare that Pearl Jam is willing to let a quiet song get as quiet as it deserves to be. The best case example is Around the Bend. And these days, JB is as close as they get to "unbloated," which is what insecure but loving odes ought to be.

I genuinely appreciate that whole record for wanting to present a side of the band's sound that is unique in the catalog. "They tried a new thing and that thing was corny" is way less of a tragedy in my eyes than "they did the thing they always did before but only as best they are now able, because it's all about keeping the flock." Backspacer is the only record post-Riot Act where I hear any genuine romance...any sense that one or two songs birthed from pure idea and not from being measured mathematically at the songwriting level (versus the production level) for maximum impact.

JB is trumped so triumphantly tho by TE