Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[Jorge]

Also, not sure if this goes with the discussion, but im not overly fond of getting songs live that I've never heard before, as cool as it is that i can say i was there the first time they ever played of the earth, i have a hard time enjoying songs i don't know even a little.

Me too.

That's terrible.

[kreng]

Also, not sure if this goes with the discussion, but im not overly fond of getting songs live that I've never heard before, as cool as it is that i can say i was there the first time they ever played of the earth, i have a hard time enjoying songs i don't know even a little.

Me too.

I love hearing new songs live first. I fucking hate it when fans are singing along to the point that I can't hear the band/singer anymore. With new stuff this is not an issue.

[harmless]

Also, not sure if this goes with the discussion, but im not overly fond of getting songs live that I've never heard before, as cool as it is that i can say i was there the first time they ever played of the earth, i have a hard time enjoying songs i don't know even a little.

Me too.

That's terrible.

I know. It's just a mental block I have. I like hearing new songs I've already heard at home but that's it.

[BurtReynolds]

Pearl Jam are on the verge of self parody at this point.

I thought Pearl Jam were on the verge of self parody on my first listens to Yield and Binaural. I'm quite used to feeling that way.

I think Ed is writing music solely for his wife and kids at this point. They have no editors after they got off of Epic. They are surrounded by yes men and it shows.

[harmless]

Pearl Jam are on the verge of self parody at this point.

I thought Pearl Jam were on the verge of self parody on my first listens to Yield and Binaural. I'm quite used to feeling that way.

I think Ed is writing music solely for his wife and kids at this point. They have no editors after they got off of Epic. They are surrounded by yes men and it shows.

We can agree with that bit. But meh, I have a wife and stepkids so I don't mind who they write for.

[Lament]

An instrumental chorus would have been really cool. Or at least, so much better than LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT!

To hammer the point home, they had a set of lightning bolt shaped lights behind them going off while he screeched that.

someone please tell me this is true

You can kind of see them to the right of Ed in the video posted earlier in this thread.


One of the things that didn't transfer onto this recording (and probably not into the stream last night either since no one has mentioned it) is that Jeff's playing on this is probably the strongest part of the whole song. He's the only one who really seemed to know what he wanted to do and proceeded to do it well in the outro.

[harmless]

Yes, the lights are placed in the shape of a bolt of lightning. One or two of the videos show this more clearly.

[verb_to_trust]

I had a friend go to a Murder By Death show with me a while back who had never heard the band. He showed up to the show going in 'cold' in his own words. He had a really good time. I've had similar experiences my entire life with live music.

To each his own I guess

[harmless]

I had a friend go to a Murder By Death show with me a while back who had never heard the band. He showed up to the show going in 'cold' in his own words. He had a really good time. I've had similar experiences my entire life with live music.

To each his own I guess

I don't think I ever said live music doesn't give me a good time

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

Also, not sure if this goes with the discussion, but im not overly fond of getting songs live that I've never heard before, as cool as it is that i can say i was there the first time they ever played of the earth, i have a hard time enjoying songs i don't know even a little.

Me too.

That's terrible.

Its just tough for me to really get into it when i don't know where a song is going. Im not saying i don't enjoy the songs, some times it really gets me into a band i am seeing but haven't really listened to, like when we saw horse feathers last year, id never listened to them but chloe was a big fan, and they just blew me away, now i can't get enough of them.

[verb_to_trust]

Pearl Jam are on the verge of self parody at this point.

I thought Pearl Jam were on the verge of self parody on my first listens to Yield and Binaural. I'm quite used to feeling that way.

I think Ed is writing music solely for his wife and kids at this point. They have no editors after they got off of Epic. They are surrounded by yes men and it shows.

This is a good point. Their core fanbase will eat up whatever they throw out there, too. They can sell dog collars, why wouldn't they be able to sell average to below average music?

And the nostalgia factor will always be there to fill the rest of the seats not taken up by the Ten Club sheep......well, at least in the 8 markets they can still draw....

[harmless]

I don't think I've ever bought any merch from the 10C. I think it's unfair to say that everyone who still likes some of what they do will lap up anything they put out.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

I had a friend go to a Murder By Death show with me a while back who had never heard the band. He showed up to the show going in 'cold' in his own words. He had a really good time. I've had similar experiences my entire life with live music.

To each his own I guess

Yeah, its definitely a different thing to go see a band you don't know and have a song thrown into a set that you don't know, it feels (to me) like it just kills the flow for a bit. But again, im not saying i hate it, i would just prefer to know the song at least a little bit if i had a say

[harmless]

By which I mean that anyone who has bought a concert poster and framed it is more of a 'sheep' than me.

[verb_to_trust]

Didn't people wait all day in the sweltering heat to buy baseball cards the day before Wrigley? No need to try that hard if i'm Pearl Jam....

[Lament]

Didn't people wait all day in the sweltering heat to buy baseball cards the day before Wrigley? No need to try that hard if i'm Pearl Jam....

Merch is important man.

People seemed way more happy to wait in line two hours for a poster than they were to wait out the storm to actually see the band play. I know that there are other factors at play, but still.

[verb_to_trust]

Didn't people wait all day in the sweltering heat to buy baseball cards the day before Wrigley? No need to try that hard if i'm Pearl Jam....

Merch is important man.

People seemed way more happy to wait in line two hours for a poster than they were to wait out the storm to actually see the band play. I know that there are other factors at play, but still.

The sun was also down when the band was playing. And I get that people had to catch trains, work, pick up their kids or whatever but there still seemed to be way too many people streaming out on a Friday night.

[BurtReynolds]

Pearl Jam are on the verge of self parody at this point.

I thought Pearl Jam were on the verge of self parody on my first listens to Yield and Binaural. I'm quite used to feeling that way.

I think Ed is writing music solely for his wife and kids at this point. They have no editors after they got off of Epic. They are surrounded by yes men and it shows.

This is a good point. Their core fanbase will eat up whatever they throw out there, too. They can sell dog collars, why wouldn't they be able to sell average to below average music?

And the nostalgia factor will always be there to fill the rest of the seats not taken up by the Ten Club sheep......well, at least in the 8 markets they can still draw....

yeah the hardcore fans who are barely even there for the music are the worst enablers.

[darthvedder81]

Guys, production isn't going to save this stuff. If a song is any good it will come off live, these two didn't. They were just......there.

I sort of agree with this and I sort of don't.

Production won't save "Future Days". It's a simple song. A simple but extremely dull song with too much piano.

"Lightning Bolt" is a horrible song/album title and won't be a great song but depending on how the guitars are layered on the studio cut (especially in the interlude between verse/chorus) I might enjoy it.

Nothing I've heard from this album so far has any potential for being great and that's a first for me.

[harmless]

Guys, production isn't going to save this stuff. If a song is any good it will come off live, these two didn't. They were just......there.

I sort of agree with this and I sort of don't.

Production won't save "Future Days". It's a simple song. A simple but extremely dull song with too much piano.

"Lightning Bolt" is a horrible song/album title and won't be a great song but depending on how the guitars are layered on the studio cut (especially in the interlude between verse/chorus) I might enjoy it.

Nothing I've heard from this album so far has any potential for being great and that's a first for me.

What was 'great' off of Backspacer?