A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Infallible

General Pearl Jam discussion.
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Kevin Davis
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by Kevin Davis »

I appreciate Willie's cover as a gesture (nice to see PJ get covered by an artist of some repute for once) but I think it sounds fucking terrible. I'm partial to the live versions of the song, with the SNL version from "PJ20" probably being my favorite (I can't remember if there are strings or not, but it's a great vocal take and has the "room vibe" that Backspacer's sterile production can't achieve). Dismissing the song as disingenuous just because of its saccharine presentation isn't fair; I think it's pretty clear that Ed means what he sings in the song, and that the stuff swirling on around him is pretty secondary. It's a minor song given an unnecessarily dramatic treatment on record, but taken as a minor song nonetheless, it does what it aims to do.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by PHATJ »

Tj wrote:I wonder how the haters of JB feel about the following three songs
1. No Ceiling
2. Wishlist
3. Betterman
I am just trying to gain a pulse here of what elements are hated the most.
No Ceiling - it's been so long sing I've listened to this song that I barely remember anything about it. No opinion.

Wishlist - for years and years this was one of my least favorite PJ songs. Over the last few years my distaste has actually grown into a fondness. I'd rate this somewhere in the middle of the PJ pack, but I would absolutly call Wishlist a good song and one that I now enjoy.

Better Man - I like Better Man, but I don't love it. I enjoy it when I'm in the mood to hear it but I probably skip it 2/3 of the time it pops up on my iPod. It's probably a better song than I give it credit for being, but I've just heard it so damn many times that its easy to want to ignore it.
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LoathedVermin72
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by LoathedVermin72 »

Love "Wishlist" and "Better Man". No idea what "No Ceiling" is.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by stip »

No ceiling is that great little one minute song on into the wild that comes to a hard stop with the 'this love has got no ceiling' lyric. Great song
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by Jorge »

Kevin Davis wrote:I appreciate Willie's cover as a gesture (nice to see PJ get covered by an artist of some repute for once) but I think it sounds fucking terrible.
Yeah, it's not good.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by LoathedVermin72 »

I've never listened to the ITW soundtrack
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by stip »

theplatypus wrote:
Kevin Davis wrote:I appreciate Willie's cover as a gesture (nice to see PJ get covered by an artist of some repute for once) but I think it sounds fucking terrible.
Yeah, it's not good.
I'm relieved to hear other people say this
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri January 02, 2026 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri January 02, 2026 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Kevin Davis
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by Kevin Davis »

tragabigzanda wrote:
stip wrote:
theplatypus wrote:
Kevin Davis wrote:I appreciate Willie's cover as a gesture (nice to see PJ get covered by an artist of some repute for once) but I think it sounds fucking terrible.
Yeah, it's not good.
I'm relieved to hear other people say this
Wow, I really like it -- I think it illustrates that it's actually an old-school Nashville-style song, masquerading as a PJ love song.
It does do that, trag -- I just think Willie's performance is poor.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by LoathedVermin72 »

tragabigzanda wrote:
LoathedVermin72 wrote:I've never listened to the ITW soundtrack
Is this intentional, or just happenstance? Because it's really, really good -- probably the best thing Ed's done since Riot Act.
I've just never cared enough to seek it out. Hell, I didn't even listen to Backspacer until a few months ago, and that was just because RM pushed me into it.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri January 02, 2026 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by Jorge »

I think that's his son. He sounds just like a younger Willie.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by E.H. Ruddock »

theplatypus wrote:I think that's his son. He sounds just like a younger Willie.
yeah, I saw them a few years ago and was surprised at how much he sounds like his dad.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by tragabigzanda »

pearl jam sucks now
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Fri January 02, 2026 10:00 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by Kaius »

LoathedVermin72 wrote:
tragabigzanda wrote:
LoathedVermin72 wrote:I've never listened to the ITW soundtrack
Is this intentional, or just happenstance? Because it's really, really good -- probably the best thing Ed's done since Riot Act.
I've just never cared enough to seek it out. Hell, I didn't even listen to Backspacer until a few months ago, and that was just because RM pushed me into it.
Aren't you edgy.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by LoathedVermin72 »

Kaius wrote:
LoathedVermin72 wrote:
tragabigzanda wrote:
LoathedVermin72 wrote:I've never listened to the ITW soundtrack
Is this intentional, or just happenstance? Because it's really, really good -- probably the best thing Ed's done since Riot Act.
I've just never cared enough to seek it out. Hell, I didn't even listen to Backspacer until a few months ago, and that was just because RM pushed me into it.
Aren't you edgy.
I'm not trying to be edgy. I just genuinely am not interested.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by Leatherhead »

tragabigzanda wrote:
LoathedVermin72 wrote:I've never listened to the ITW soundtrack
Is this intentional, or just happenstance? Because it's really, really good -- probably the best thing Ed's done since Riot Act.
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by epilogue »

I totally forgot that Lightning Bolt was the last track on this album. :P
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Re: A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Lightning Bolt

Post by Strat »

durdencommatyler wrote:I totally forgot that Lightning Bolt was the last track on this album. :P

que?
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