Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[harmless]

Alright, a question that requires an honest answer: how many of these five songs we've heard so far do you think have staying power? Honest.

MYM
Getaway
Swallowed Whole

and then the others

I wanted to respond with my own list but suddenly realized I'm not ready.
Let me get back to this a few days later...

I'm experiencing a bit of a meltdown atm, if that is the appropriate word to use. I'm just sitting here listening to random stuff out of my vast musical library. "Galapagos" and "Zero" by The Smashing Pumpkins. "Inertia Creeps" by Massive Attack. "Last Exit" by Pearl Jam. "Breathe" by The Prodigy. "3 AM Eternal" by KLF ( ). "In My Tree" by Pearl Jam. "Slip Away" by Mad Season. "Parallel Universe" by RHCP. "Low Rider" by War. "No Rain" by Blind Melon. "Diadems" by Megadeth... and I feel very very sad. I want my PJ back. Shit.

You have reached the wall, dude.

[Lounge Lizard]

[harmless]

You might have a few drunken nights of this before you're able to move on... or not. I did, sort of.

[harmless]

These songs are reaching me where I am *now*. And I'm a cheesy fucker who has been depressed for far too long now, and is ready to cut a rug on any dance floor laid in front of me. So yeah. I just need this superficial music right now, I wanted it from Backspacer and it just was just... not. Quite. There.

[Lounge Lizard]

You might have a few drunken nights of this before you're able to move on... or not. I did, sort of.

A bit of good old denial gets you by?

[harmless]

You might have a few drunken nights of this before you're able to move on... or not. I did, sort of.

A bit of good old denial gets you by?

There has been denial. I tried to like S/T more than I did, and then I tried to like Backspacer more than I did. Years later I know for a fact which handful of songs I like from each album. The same thing might happen with Lightning Bolt, but there are definitely good changes here and I see Pearl Jam being Pearl Jam more with this one, even if they're a more poppy version. Because that's what they want, for now. If PJ were more akin to Counting Crows in their current demographic, they'd play this stuff. And I don't mind that. It doesn't give me that feeling I had in the 90s or even mid noughties, but it doesn't have to, I still have those albums, and they were still by the same band in certain phase of their lives. This band were nothing if not honest about where they were.

[Lounge Lizard]

This band were nothing if not honest about where they were.

Then why does it look to me like they are having an identity crisis? Like they don't know who to beeeee... yeah... yeahhh...

[harmless]

This band were nothing if not honest about where they were.

Then why does it look to me like they are having an identity crisis? Like they don't know who to beeeee... yeah... yeahhh...

What I mean is, they were honest about where they were personally, spiritually, and in terms of band dynamics. If anything they've just got more honest as they've got older... They are horribly honest now, to the point where they don't mind publicising the fact that they just want to get along with one another and have a happy, cosy dynamic between friends. Which is fine. But that's what I mean. Musically, I don't think PJ ever *knew who they were*, or rather, they were happy to redefine themselves with each and every album. The only thing that remains intact throughout are their favourite musical influences, which you see crop up time and time again. And you still do here. So in that sense, nothing's changed. But the packaging for those sounds and influences changed all the time. The feelings I'm having now about the new stuff were the same feelings I was having with every new album even from the early days. And then at Lost Dogs, I didn't know what to do with the fact that so many of the songs (even if I liked them) were pop, surf rock, 50s, etc. etc. etc. I was like "Where is my grunge / hard rock band?" In subsequent years I realised they weren't really that, and they will always be the kind of band that plays what the fuck they want. They're hovering around 50 and this is what they're playing...

[harmless]

Rumour: the missing track on the leak is actually the yin to "My Father's Son"s yang. Another reworked out-take from ITW, and one which Brendan O'Brien dared not mention as its lyrics are so sexually depraved, "Big, Hard Son" will literally blow.

[Mine]

Rumour: the missing track on the leak is actually the yin to "My Father's Son"s yang. Another reworked out-take from ITW, and one which Brendan O'Brien dared not mention as its lyrics are so sexually depraved, "Big, Hard Son" will literally blow.

Theres a big
A big hard son
Banging all the big people
In a big hard world

[harmless]

Rumour: the missing track on the leak is actually the yin to "My Father's Son"s yang. Another reworked out-take from ITW, and one which Brendan O'Brien dared not mention as its lyrics are so sexually depraved, "Big, Hard Son" will literally blow.

Theres a big
A big hard son
Banging all the big people
In a big hard world

I hope they do this but they won't. BO'B won't allow it.

[Lounge Lizard]

And then at Lost Dogs, I didn't know what to do with the fact that so many of the songs (even if I liked them) were pop, surf rock, 50s, etc. etc. etc. I was like "Where is my grunge / hard rock band?"

There's a reason these songs went on Lost Dogs - it was because they (minus 4-5 songs) didn't fit grundge/hard rock.
It's like they had a very clear understanding of what was good for them and what wasn't, but they lost it.
Now everything seems like B-Sides Album 2, B-Side Album 3, etc...

[harmless]

And then at Lost Dogs, I didn't know what to do with the fact that so many of the songs (even if I liked them) were pop, surf rock, 50s, etc. etc. etc. I was like "Where is my grunge / hard rock band?"

There's a reason these songs where on Lost Dogs - it was because they (minus 4-5 songs) didn't fit grundge/hard rock.
It's like they a very clear understanding of what was good for them and what wasn't, but they lost it.
Now everything seems like B-Sides Album 2, B-Side Album 3, etc...

Yes, maybe, but 1) They still put songs on albums that didn't "fit" hard rock albums, 2) Lost Dogs was fucking great, after years of appreciation, and 3) they no longer have any "hard rock" obligations, certainly not in terms of the fanbase, who generally likes them for the surprises they dish out now, however hard to stomach they are, so they just play all of it and call it Pearl Jam because it's all by Pearl Jam. So Lost Dogs, looking back, just looks like "Hey, bonus Pearl Jam!" rather than the quirky b-sides and rarities it was originally sold as. (I mean, even before it I had the sense that they wouldn't seem so quirky in a few more years; they were just showing us new sides to the band.)

[harmless]

Even the live show was increasingly looking like we had a "Lost Dogs" kind of band on our hands. The title could represent Pearl Jam as much as those songs. We don't know what we're doing but we're having fun doing it.

[stip]

I am new posting. Have stalked for ages. I am surprised about the reaction to the leaked songs. For a little background I think vs/vit was the pinnacle for the band. I still enjoy their new music and think that, especially after the reviews, after hearing these songs we may be in for a good record.

As a new member/poster all of you people who are negative about these songs, can you please relay to me what you think the end all be all of pearl jam songs/album is?

The three albums the board holds in the highest esteem are the vitalogy through yield run. Many of the posters critical of new material are also big fans of binaural and riot act.

[Lounge Lizard]

Yes, maybe, but 1) They still put songs on albums that didn't "fit" hard rock albums

One thing to add an occasional song that don't fit, another to make them the norm

[stip]

is it too early to talk about retracking the album, yet?

Long overdue, i think. Which song would you take out to make room for ole?

[Lounge Lizard]

Logical extension of Backspacer.

We all should have paid more attention to this phrase.

[harmless]

Yes, maybe, but 1) They still put songs on albums that didn't "fit" hard rock albums

One thing to add an occasional song that don't fit, another to make them the norm

Well, would you say they've just established new norms? I would. What song "fits" the blueprint most out of these five? If the answer is none, then what you're wanting them to fit is an old blueprint, not one that PJ are currently setting for themselves. Is there a new "norm" you could look for? I guess I see one in "enjoyable contemporary-yet-classic rock music". That's enough for me. I'll always hear a classic rock band using tried and tested grunge / alternative-rock influences and flourishes. But when they're feeling happier, those influences will be more 'palatable'.

[stip]

Alright, a question that requires an honest answer: how many of these five songs we've heard so far do you think have staying power? Honest.

MYM
Getaway
Swallowed Whole

and then the others

I have no idea