A Guided Tour of Lightning Bolt: Infallible

[PHATJ]

How about "loud?"

...and hard to distinguish one part from another or the possible intricacies in each part because the production is murky/un-defining/sloppy. Loud? Absolutely yes. But Vs. is loud in a lot of ways, and doesn't have these problems. It's much more than a volume issue. There is almost a complete lack of delicacy in the production of S/T.

[Birds in Hell]

It's the mastering, guys.

[PHATJ]

It's the mastering, guys.

I have no problem mastering

[Yeddie Yedder]

It's the mastering, guys.

The mastering is also questionable. However, the guitar tones are really poor. That is my first issue and the mastering is right there at the end of a long line of stink.

[LoathedVermin72]

Burt is going to be furious

[Birds in Hell]

It's the mastering, guys.

The mastering is also questionable. However, the guitar tones are really poor. That is my first issue and the mastering is right there at the end of a long line of stink.

I don't know, I really think the mastering in this case makes the entire mix sound much worse than it would otherwise. It's flattening all of the details and making everything tonally very brash and in-your-face.

Those leaked, early/unfinished songs from the sessions give an indication of what the album could've sounded like with a more sympathetic mastering job.

[Yeddie Yedder]

It's the mastering, guys.

The mastering is also questionable. However, the guitar tones are really poor. That is my first issue and the mastering is right there at the end of a long line of stink.

I don't know, I really think the mastering in this case makes the entire mix sound much worse than it would otherwise. It's flattening all of the details and making everything tonally very brash and in-your-face.

Those leaked, early/unfinished songs from the sessions give an indication of what the album could've sounded like with a more sympathetic mastering job.

Not to get TOO far off topic. How did the band view the final product? I just don't get it.

[stip]

I can't speak for the band but the public opinion regsrding riot act has undergone some considerable changes over the years. At the time S/T came out Riot Act was widely perceived as an album made by a band that couldn't muster up the energy to care. Eddie sounded like he had mailed in his vocals, etc. ST was meant to be a loud, aggressive, in your face response to those accusations.

Certainly S/T went too far in that direction, although one benefit was that it made it easier to appreciate riot act as signs of weakness and decline were transformed into artistic choices. But at the time I'd presume it was exactly what they wanted.

[darth_vedder]

I can't speak for the band but the public opinion regsrding riot act has undergone some considerable changes over the years. At the time S/T came out Riot Act was widely perceived as an album made by a band that couldn't muster up the energy to care. Eddie sounded like he had mailed in his vocals, etc. ST was meant to be a loud, aggressive, in your face response to those accusations.

Certainly S/T went too far in that direction, although one benefit was that it made it easier to appreciate riot act as signs of weakness and decline were transformed into artistic choices. But at the time I'd presume it was exactly what they wanted.

This sound about right. I kinda was thinking of something like this when I posted something about the songs on Riot Act not fitting the album title. Riot Act sounds defeated. Avocado is in your face. I do like the idea and the contrast between the two albums, but I just hate the way S/T was mastered. They could had still been rockin' and in your face without the brickwalling / loudness wars thing going on.

[stip]

it's the same team that produced riot act, I believe, so I have to assume this was what they wanted.

[darth_vedder]

it's the same team that produced riot act, I believe, so I have to assume this was what they wanted.

Sure, and I don't disagree with the contrast between the albums, but they really fucked the mastering up. It didn't have to be so brickwalled. The album still would have been more "in your face" without the extreme loudness.

[stip]

Oh I understand. I'm not disagreeing. I'm kind of curious why they wanted to go so aggressively in the direction they did.

I did love putting on headphones and blowing my face off to those early tracks. Maybe their hearing just gave out some point after comatose.

[darth_vedder]

To me, and looking back, I love that the band switched it up so much between albums. Vs. doesn't sound like Ten. Vitalogy doesn't sound like Vs. No Code doesn't sound like Vitalogy. Yield kinda sounds like them all. Binaural doesn't sound like Yield. Riot Act doesn't sound like Binaural. Pearl Jam doesn't sound like Riot Act, etc...I love that they have switched things up over the years. I just wish they'd officially re-master 'Pearl Jam'. It and Binaural would be my top two choices for the re-mastering treatment.

[Yeddie Yedder]

Really interesting.

I really pulled back from the band during the Binaural years (and yet that is a top record for me now). However, after a brief and somewhat embarrassing layover in Nu-Metal land, I was ready to embrace the music and band once Riot Act came out. It was all good timing. I loved the moodiness. I needed something less "in the your face". I had 4 shows lined up (Mansfield night 1 and 3 and both nights at MSG). It was a great record and a great set of shows. So, when S/T came out, I missed that vibe that so many viewed as "mailing it in"

I've heard that criticism so many times. I understood the viewpoint, but didn't agree. And yet, never really thought that S/T was a reaction to RA. While we could be 100% wrong, it makes sense to me and think it is a very likely possibility.

That all said, one of my favorite aspects of the band is how they change it up from record to record. Ten - S/T. All different. The kicker is that I think S/T, Backspacer, and LB are too similar to each other.

Anyways, really interesting thoughts...

[digster]

Oh I understand. I'm not disagreeing. I'm kind of curious why they wanted to go so aggressively in the direction they did.

I did love putting on headphones and blowing my face off to those early tracks. Maybe their hearing just gave out some point after comatose.

I don't know if it was necessarily a response specifically to Riot Act, as much as they had let their press get to them a bit too much. PJ wasn't really regarded as a bad band in this period, but they were certainly seen as a band that had let go of their massive popularity and were making weird records. This speaks more to the shallowness of the press and the public, I think, cause they weren't that unpopular, nor are their late-90s and early 2000s records that weird. But I wonder if that feeling got to them. After constantly being asked if they were going to ever 'return to rock', I think they wanted to prove that they could still 'rock', whatever that means.

I remember Mike, in an interview, comparing the new stuff to Ten and Vs. That was pretty striking, because they'd always seemed a little apprehensive about drawing comparisons to their most popular work.

I think that also may be why the album is produced in this fashion. It seems produced and mastered by folks who want to emulate the sound of what's on the radio without really knowing how to do it. I don't think they were chasing money, but I do think they wanted to be The Band again.

[Kevin Davis]

Oh I understand. I'm not disagreeing. I'm kind of curious why they wanted to go so aggressively in the direction they did.

I did love putting on headphones and blowing my face off to those early tracks. Maybe their hearing just gave out some point after comatose.

I don't know if it was necessarily a response specifically to Riot Act, as much as they had let their press get to them a bit too much. PJ wasn't really regarded as a bad band in this period, but they were certainly seen as a band that had let go of their massive popularity and were making weird records. This speaks more to the shallowness of the press and the public, I think, cause they weren't that unpopular, nor are their late-90s and early 2000s records that weird. But I wonder if that feeling got to them. After constantly being asked if they were going to ever 'return to rock', I think they wanted to prove that they could still 'rock', whatever that means

This feels 100% dead on to me.

That "weird record" thing really did seem to be a widespread impression in those years.

[Yeddie Yedder]

Agreed w all of the above. I think it all part of their thinking. Binaural and Riot Act were as far away from the mainstream as anything they've done in the past. I remember listening to "Nothing as it Seems" for the first time on the radio. I thought, this is such a cool track, but I bet most people will not like this. I had the same thought for I Am Mine.


Maybe they wanted to be (more) relevant again. Maybe they were afraid they would be playing smaller and smaller venues. Or maybe none of that. Sometimes, I think Ed just wants to pretend he is in The Who.

[stip]

Oh I understand. I'm not disagreeing. I'm kind of curious why they wanted to go so aggressively in the direction they did.

I did love putting on headphones and blowing my face off to those early tracks. Maybe their hearing just gave out some point after comatose.

I don't know if it was necessarily a response specifically to Riot Act, as much as they had let their press get to them a bit too much. PJ wasn't really regarded as a bad band in this period, but they were certainly seen as a band that had let go of their massive popularity and were making weird records. This speaks more to the shallowness of the press and the public, I think, cause they weren't that unpopular, nor are their late-90s and early 2000s records that weird. But I wonder if that feeling got to them. After constantly being asked if they were going to ever 'return to rock', I think they wanted to prove that they could still 'rock', whatever that means

This feels 100% dead on to me.

That "weird record" thing really did seem to be a widespread impression in those years.

I'd agree with all this as well. There's a few strands of thought that I think contribute to S/T.

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I don't know if it was necessarily a response specifically to Riot Act, as much as they had let their press get to them a bit too much. PJ wasn't really regarded as a bad band in this period, but they were certainly seen as a band that had let go of their massive popularity and were making weird records. This speaks more to the shallowness of the press and the public, I think, cause they weren't that unpopular, nor are their late-90s and early 2000s records that weird. But I wonder if that feeling got to them. After constantly being asked if they were going to ever 'return to rock', I think they wanted to prove that they could still 'rock', whatever that means.

I remember Mike, in an interview, comparing the new stuff to Ten and Vs. That was pretty striking, because they'd always seemed a little apprehensive about drawing comparisons to their most popular work.

I think that also may be why the album is produced in this fashion. It seems produced and mastered by folks who want to emulate the sound of what's on the radio without really knowing how to do it. I don't think they were chasing money, but I do think they wanted to be The Band again.

Exactly. They second guessed themselves and lost their mojo in the process. The only songs that I liked on S/T were the ones most reminiscent of Binaural and Riot Act (Parachutes, Big Wave, Unemployable). The rest is bland, middle of the road crap, completely devoid of any interesting or creative riffs and melodies. The comparisons to "Ten" and "Vs" are highly laughable and way off base. If Pearl Jam was a 60's band, S/T would be the beginning of their "lame 80's phase". But I guess it worked, because a lot of people buy into the idea that S/T was some kind of "return to form". I see it as the band throwing in the proverbial towel and selling their souls to crass commercialism. It amazes me that their last three albums received so much positive press, in comparison to No Code->Riot Act, which were basically ignored. Talk about missing the boat.

[Yeddie Yedder]

Pearl Jam Starship.