Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[Norah]

FWIW, I'm pretty sure pete's ball-licking abilities are what gained him his high status on RM

Hey, girl.

i was just sitting here pondering the last couple pages and I think evenslow is bothered by a a mistaken perception of what Kevin Davis wrote. maybe he just wants to be happily expectant for new songs and is frustrated that the level of enthusiasm here is a bit lacking?

being famous for my own bad interpretations of posts on the interents ...well, I'm guessing that kind of where he's coming from.
plus, I was only kidding, you are horrid at ball-licking

You seemed to enjoy it in the Buick.

i miss that car

Me too. We had some good times.

[evenslow]

FWIW, I'm pretty sure pete's ball-licking abilities are what gained him his high status on RM

Hey, girl.

i was just sitting here pondering the last couple pages and I think evenslow is bothered by a a mistaken perception of what Kevin Davis wrote. maybe he just wants to be happily expectant for new songs and is frustrated that the level of enthusiasm here is a bit lacking?

being famous for my own bad interpretations of posts on the interents ...well, I'm guessing that kind of where he's coming from.
plus, I was only kidding, you are horrid at ball-licking

If you've studied any of my incredibly memorable posts from the last few days like the Torah-esque writings they should be regarded as, you'd notice I'm relatively ambivalent about these three tracks and how they might mesh with the rest of the album. I've also said it's silly to make any grand pronouncements about anything yet.

Perhaps Kevin Davis has been a target for my arguments but a good target nonetheless. We can all still be friends in the morning even when we vehemently question one other. Well, some of us.

[digster]

Again, I'm not sure how I conveyed that I was pre-emptively judging the new album as a whole, but even in your No Code example, wouldn't it be perfectly reasonable to assess those three songs on their own merits? Sure, the release of the album may recontextualize your understanding of them, but even then, the release of the following album may recontextualize it again. All work is perpetually subject to the emergence of new information or material which may alter your understanding of it. Until then all you can do is see it for what it is at the time.

I'm also not really sure how a live performance is an irrelevant piece of information for judging the quality of a song. Yeah, I may not be able to speak with any knowledge of the little nuances that they might hang on a song like Lightning Bolt when they do it in the studio, but I'm pretty sure I can know how I feel about the verse, the chorus, and how good or bad it sounds when they're put together.

[evenslow]

Before Pearl Jam releases No Code we hear Who You Are as the single and then get I'm open and Mankind in concert.

Of course I'm not comparing Lightning Bolt to No Code but the drift is to, ya know, wait things out. And as you know this amazing exercise can be applied to any album.

Again, I'm not sure how I conveyed that I was pre-emptively judging the new album as a whole, but even in your No Code example, wouldn't it be perfectly reasonable to assess those three songs on their own merits? Sure, the release of the album may recontextualize your understanding of them, but even then, the release of the following album may recontextualize it again. All work is perpetually subject to the emergence of new information or material which may alter your understanding of it. Until then all you can do is see it for what it is at the time.

Is arguing with your point or finding what you have to say ridiculous not allowed?

No, not at all, I just feel like you're arguing with something that I specifically didn't say. I also really don't understand this completely juvenile chip on your shoulder.

You made a very long post that was a lament no? A lament for how Pearl Jam has seemingly ceased to be what they once were no? I said essentially and with the ever present juvenile chip on the shoulder, TOO SOON.

Whatever next post you or your book club make I'd appreciate brevity if not a match for my disgusting sarcasm. It's getting late.

[Norah]

Your post was long nevermind what it actually said!

[digster]

Having said that, there are definitely a number of posts (or maybe it is just a few people posting it a lot) that seem to really be down on new material because it isn't dark enough---that if it isn't tortured it somehow isn't pearl jam. And yet many of those posters are also highlighting yield as an example of a record that they really love. It's sometimes hard to picture Yield and Ten being by the same band, thematically, especially if you really shackle what pearl jam music has to be to the dark brooding early albums.

Now if you don't like this new stuff because you don't think the songs are sonically interesting that's very different (and not what I was responding to). it's a separate line of criticism, and one that I (personally) think is a lot more valid, even if I don't necessarily share it. And I suspect many people who make the above argument are really just not happy with the way the songs sound and are looking to complicate that fact for whatever reason.

I have to admit, it does sometimes seem like you're aiming for the easiest targets, at least when it comes to the "PJ must write tortured music" contingent. I'm sure there are some people that just want their PJ to be darker, but I think many other people that bring it up do so simply as a shorthand for looking at what PJ has done in the past, seeing the songs that they have written that they feel to be their best, and hope to get songs that good again, or at least in the general ballpark. I think the extremely positive reaction to No Code and Yield shows that an optimistic PJ can hit a home run with their fans here.

It just seems like a lot of times, when old vs. new material comes up, some posters who enjoy the new stuff can sometimes project that there must be some reason that people don't like the new material, some hitch in the prejudices they're bringing to the table, instead of a good chunk of posters here simply thinking the band is writing poor songs, especially considering the caliber of their talents. How many of those Backspacer discussions devolved into a back-and-forth about how people didn't like it cause it was 'happy, poppy' PJ, and they just couldn't get their brains around PJ making that type of music? It's not to say that this is on you or anything like that, but merely that it seems like that line of thinking isn't that uncommon and it kind of does a disservice to people that have some pretty clear-headed opinions and ideas about what they think the band is doing wrong creatively.

[Kevin Davis]

Your post was long nevermind what it actually said!

I think his reading comprehension capacity went off the rails about 5 posts ago. I realize I have you all brainwashed to be my minions, but what I say seems to be making decent enough sense to everyone else, so I can only surmise that there is some kind of weird personal issue marching at the head of his army of straw men and non-sequiturs. I think he's just upset that I have minions. Everyone wants minions.

[evenslow]

Your post was long nevermind what it actually said!

I think his reading comprehension capacity went off the rails about 5 posts ago. I realize I have you all brainwashed to be my minions, but what I say seems to be making decent enough sense to everyone else, so I can only surmise that there is some kind of weird personal issue marching at the head of his army of straw men and non-sequiturs. I think he's just upset that I have minions. Everyone wants minions.

I almost always agree with you. This time I didn't. Juvenile behavior that I will correct Kevin Davis. Then I can say things like "THIS" in your honor. We'll get there friend. Please be patient.

[harmless]

Woah, something got negative in here last night.

Look, I don't know why the '50 year-old billionaires singing happy songs' came up, or where it comes from. Let's be honest, they would be 50 year-old billionaires whatever they were singing about, so in the end all that camplaint means is 'I don't want any uplifting songs about family and kids'. Which is fine, but it has nothing to do with their age or their bank accounts; it's just that you're not into that kind of song.

I think we'll get an album which is better than Backspacer, possibly on the level of S/T but with better production, and I'm looking forward to that. I like the version of Speed of Sound from Backspacer. I liked Just Breathe from Backspacer. I liked The End from Backspacer. So if this little FD ditty turns into either of those, but on a better album, I can throw out Backspacer and be happy with this one. Same with LB, which is like UK but much better.

This forum is going to be really boring for the next three months if we all decide we hate this album now. And I'm not in the mood for that, I've got more important shit going on.

[harmless]

The really frustrating thing is that they've dried up creatively after 10 albums. That's not actually a massive amount of albums; it's more the 23 years that might be the issue. If they'd made albums a little more frequently in their latter years we might forgive their quality a bit more.

[harmless]

Also, to whoever questioned why a live debut of a song might not be the best gauge of whether these songs are good or not: PJ are not very good live anymore. They're just not. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not. But they've phoned it in live just as many times on the stage as they have on CD. Look, Ed fucked up the first three lines of MYM at Wrigley and it was only the second time they've played it live! If that had been its 'live debut', could you trust it to be an accurate indicator of the studio song? Of course not. What it was was a ballsed-up performance. I'm wondering how much they got wrong on this LB one that we don't know about, and I have a couple of speculative thoughts.

[Jorge]

They're just not. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not.

But they're definitely not. But sometimes they are. But no.

[harmless]

They're just not. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not.

But they're definitely not. But sometimes they are. But no.

I just cannot fathom why you wouldn't be at least curious to see whether Unthought Known had become GTF in the studio.

Edit: I mean a general you, 'one', not you personally.

[Birds in Hell]

They're just not. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not.

But they're definitely not. But sometimes they are. But no.

I just cannot fathom why you wouldn't be at least curious to see whether Unthought Known had become GTF in the studio.

Edit: I mean a general you, 'one', not you personally.

Well, I'm thoroughly confused.

[Jorge]

They're just not. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not.

But they're definitely not. But sometimes they are. But no.

I just cannot fathom why you wouldn't be at least curious to see whether Unthought Known had become GTF in the studio.

Edit: I mean a general you, 'one', not you personally.

Well, I'm thoroughly confused.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

[Birds in Hell]

They're just not. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not.

But they're definitely not. But sometimes they are. But no.

I just cannot fathom why you wouldn't be at least curious to see whether Unthought Known had become GTF in the studio.

Edit: I mean a general you, 'one', not you personally.

Well, I'm thoroughly confused.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

Agreed.

[harmless]

They're just not. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not.

But they're definitely not. But sometimes they are. But no.

I just cannot fathom why you wouldn't be at least curious to see whether Unthought Known had become GTF in the studio.

Edit: I mean a general you, 'one', not you personally.

Well, I'm thoroughly confused.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

Are you both joking?

[harmless]

Anyway, have fun guys.

[Heathen]

Woah, something got negative in here last night.

It's RM's middle period. Stick around for a few years more if you want to see mostly boring posts about wives and kids mixed with a few attempts at looking angry.

[Sgt. Crackpot]

They're just not. Sometimes they are, sometimes they're not.

But they're definitely not. But sometimes they are. But no.

I just cannot fathom why you wouldn't be at least curious to see whether Unthought Known had become GTF in the studio.

Edit: I mean a general you, 'one', not you personally.

Well, I'm thoroughly confused.

Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

You've got to be kidding me. I've been further even more decided to use even go need to do look more as anyone can. Can you really be far even as decided half as much to use go wish for that? My guess is that when one really been far even as decided once to use even go want, it is then that he has really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like. It's just common sense.