Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Fri September 13, 2024 2:50 pm
Petty isn’t exactly racking up new hits these days
Red Mosquito
Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Page 765 of 795
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Fri September 13, 2024 3:17 pm
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 14, 2024 10:47 am
Important lesson in there: fewer songs like Running, more songs like Stevie
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 14, 2024 11:52 am
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sun September 15, 2024 7:51 pm
My TSIS review - putting it here since it's the DM tour and I'm not sure it justifies its own thread.
I was fortunate enough to make it to three shows this 2024 tour – my first three show run since possibly as far back as 2008. I downloaded the Pearl Jam Stat Tracker at the start of the tour, and tragically I cannot reproduce my entire history. Those 2009-2013 shows run together, and I did not save every stub or get a poster at every show. So, while the app tells me these are shows twenty-four to twenty-six, it feels like it should be closer to thirty.
I saw MSG Night 1, Philly Night 2, and Baltimore. All three were fan club tickets. Crappy upper deck Stone side seats for MSG and Philly. Great Stone side floor seats for Baltimore. But honestly the seats do not matter. At this point in my life, I am simply happy to be in the building and be there for the music. To take communion with the band.
My original plan was to review each show separately, but honestly, they all kind of blurred together in the best way possible. The band was on fire every night. The crowds were electric. You could not only feel the energy – the reciprocity was tangible. Pearl Jam was simultaneously five guys (or six or seven if you want to count Boom and Josh) and the 15,000 people in the arena. They have been at this for thirty years, but they still come out every night and play with the emotional intensity of a band grateful for the opportunity. The chemistry is otherworldly. The responsiveness supernatural. This was probably the best block of shows I have been to since my 03 run of Uniondale and MSG nights 1 and 2. It was the sound of a band that refuses to leave its prime – and wherever there may have been a loss in power it was easily offset by craft and connectivity – with the band knowing how to generate communal intimacy, and a fan base who understands that they are not just there to listen. They are there to participate. As long as they provide fuel the music will keep burning.
I occasionally read fan reviews on Facebook and elsewhere, and it seems like the self-entitled fan reviews get the most attention. The ones written by someone who goes to their shows with a spreadsheet and judges their success by the boxes they can tick off. Fandom as curation. But I can say, definitively, that the crowds in the building emphatically disagreed with your disappointment. I have my favorite albums. I have my favorite live songs. I have my own wish list. But what was made abundantly clear is that, in the moment, the song I want to hear the most is whatever they are playing. I do not necessarily feel that way watching set lists unfold at home or listening to a bootleg of a show I wasn’t at. But when I am there, I don’t want to think. I want to feel. And after thirty years at this, the band knows the science of the heart, and how to calibrate a setlist to create a deep and visceral emotional response of everyone in attendance. And trying to draw distinctions between the shows feels arbitrary, or academic in the most pedantic way possible.
But the variety was there – the delicate balance between the songs that destroy a crowd and the unexpected moment that keeps you on your toes was fully present. The alchemy between what you want and what you need in full effect. Out of the seventy-six songs I got to hear over three nights, fifty-one were unique. 67% of the total setlist. That is an astounding ratio. Only six songs were played across three nights. Only sixteen repeated at all. And every repeated song elicited a huge response from the crowd, and was the only time thousands of people in the room will get to hear it this tour. So for anyone complaining about cookie cutter setlists:
A: Cookies are still delicious.
B: Your math does not add up.
What can I say about the shows themselves? It is easier to capture moments. But the band roared out of the gate every night. It took a few moments to settle into slow burn openers like Of the Girl, Pendulum, and Can’t Keep (a first for me) – these are moody, atmospheric moments that slowly envelop you on their records, or as part of a gradually building openers. But the band was almost too excited to wait for the songs to settle. They were eager to get to work.
But I also do not know that these crowds would have waited. Every song received an explosive reaction, and there were moments that rang of prophecy. MSG exploded singing along to “I cannot stop the thought of running in the dark” during Immortality. The roof blew off of Philly at “I just want to scream ‘hello’” and after a ten-year drought of not hearing Elderly Woman my eyes absolutely welled up. Not just for the emotion of that particular moment, but in awe of the shared vocabulary we have built with each other over decades of fandom – the lyrics a language unto themselves, the arena a campfire for the soul.
Mike was a man possessed all three nights. MSG saw him play half of the Even Flow solo behind his back. I am pretty sure he played it with teeth at Philly. He destroyed a guitar during Black at MSG and spent the end of the song trying to resurrecting it – a séance as much as a solo. And during Baltimore Eddie repeated the “I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life…” outro, and no one in the crowd minded getting it twice. He sounded great throughout the run, and was always chatty, playful, poinginant, and real. The politics were present, but the continue to be focused more around building inclusive communtiy - inviting people in rather than pushing them out. At this point Pearl Jam's values are of surprise to no one, and I think Eddie recognizes that while he may be able to inspire (or at least remind) someone to participate in our democratic process, this is not an appropriate venue for the long, hard work of changing minds - and that leaving feeling good about your fellow human beings is itself a political act in an era where politics is too often defined by cruelty.
Songs like Love Boat Captain that do not excite me in theory felt elemental in the moment, and the band made something like Inside Job feel like the most important song in the world. In Baltimore they stopped on a dime during Alive to make sure someone in general admission was okay, and picked right back up again with a kind of zero to infinity explosion of energy that, if harnassed, could solve a lot of the world’s problems. Otherwise, the older songs are the older songs. There are some, like Dance of the Clairvoyants (a top ten song in their entire catalog for me) that the band is still trying to figure out how to reproduce – the rare song that is gradually morphing into an entirely different animal live since they cannot reproduce the layered vocals of the outro. There are others, like Jeremy that sound impossibly vibrant for a song that old, a joyful, shared exorcism of our collective demons. At MSG,Eddie shared a story of a young kid surviving bullying and personal tragedy and transformed Given to Fly into an anthem of defiance. Moments like Out of My Mind, Alone, Tremor Christ, and Satan’s Bed feel like being let in on a secret. A run of songs like Present Tense -> Given to Fly -> Corduroy was a reminder of how deeply embedded into my DNA this band’s music is, and how hearing them together feels like both an affirmation and validation of my life. That to be here in this moment, hearing these songs, having the reaction, means I must have done something right. And I was not the only one in Baltimore having that experience. This is real ‘lifetime achievement of your favorite band’ kind of shit – something that defies words and explanations, but no less tangible and real. Eddie has spoken repeatedly about how transformative the live experience of music can be. The feeling of solidarity, of finding your tribe, of not being alone in a world full of isolating structures. How vast and powerful you feel in those moments. That is what they set out to create at a show, and somehow they are as good at it as they ever were.
Perhaps what was most remarkable is how great the Dark Matter songs sounded. I love Backspacer and Lightning Bolt, but those songs did not necessarily translate live the way I wanted them to, or the band gave up on most of them a little too quickly (with a few exceptions like Unthought Known and Mind Your Manners). Gigaton songs sounded really good, but Gigaton never really had a proper tour – the 2022, and 2023 shows felt more interstitial – tours between records, rather than tours celebrating a record. But the Dark Matter songs were vibrant. They felt like they mattered. And they felt timeless, songs that I had been hearing my whole life, songs that felt quintessentially Pearl Jam, and they nestled seamlessly alongside the rest of the catalog. React/Respond may have been the biggest surprise for how hard hitting it was – the sly winking of the studio version replaced by something raw and far more powerful. But Wreckage is a great sing along. Dark Matter pulses exactly the way you want it to – one of the heaviest moments in each set. Upper Hand felt suitably epic. Running is genuinely fun and playful, Scared of Fear sturdy and thoughtful. Waiting for Stevie was the five-minute shot of catharsis I hoped it would be. In fact, my only two complaints about these shows are that I never got to hear Setting Sun, and that Stevie is not in every setlist. I will unapologetically own that entitlement.
I should also add that Glen Hansard is incredible, and at each show I saw a side of him I wasn't familair with, but need to be. I would love to see him and Eddie have a true full length collaberation together. Flag Day doesn't count.
In the end, I had the total experience I was looking for. Pre-show I got to finally meet so many of the people I interact with on message boards and Discord servers, the people who sustain my fandom in between shows and records. I truly believe Pearl Jam’s music is best experienced as part of a community, and being able to put names to screen names, and infuse internet personas with actual humanity strengthens and sustains those relationships. Every night was exactly the right mixture of surprising and familiar. And every member of the band brought the commitment that made them legends in this space. It turns out that every song, in the moment, is exactly the song I want to hear. That every song speaks to some part of who I am. And hearing them live, singing along with so many other fans, seeing how much these songs still mean to the band, revitalizes those parts of myself.
I am older than I was. Three shows in ten days takes a new toll on my body. The travel is demanding. This is not cheap, and I am grateful I was able to get to what I did. The planning can be a hassle. But for those two and a half hours, this band makes me feel immortal. And the next day the world feels just a little softer, and I fit into it just a little better. The experience has a price, but the feeling is priceless.
After thirty years, Pearl Jam is still the best band in the world. Not because they have something to prove, but because they do not, and insist on proving it anyway. Thank you for three more amazing nights.
I was fortunate enough to make it to three shows this 2024 tour – my first three show run since possibly as far back as 2008. I downloaded the Pearl Jam Stat Tracker at the start of the tour, and tragically I cannot reproduce my entire history. Those 2009-2013 shows run together, and I did not save every stub or get a poster at every show. So, while the app tells me these are shows twenty-four to twenty-six, it feels like it should be closer to thirty.
I saw MSG Night 1, Philly Night 2, and Baltimore. All three were fan club tickets. Crappy upper deck Stone side seats for MSG and Philly. Great Stone side floor seats for Baltimore. But honestly the seats do not matter. At this point in my life, I am simply happy to be in the building and be there for the music. To take communion with the band.
My original plan was to review each show separately, but honestly, they all kind of blurred together in the best way possible. The band was on fire every night. The crowds were electric. You could not only feel the energy – the reciprocity was tangible. Pearl Jam was simultaneously five guys (or six or seven if you want to count Boom and Josh) and the 15,000 people in the arena. They have been at this for thirty years, but they still come out every night and play with the emotional intensity of a band grateful for the opportunity. The chemistry is otherworldly. The responsiveness supernatural. This was probably the best block of shows I have been to since my 03 run of Uniondale and MSG nights 1 and 2. It was the sound of a band that refuses to leave its prime – and wherever there may have been a loss in power it was easily offset by craft and connectivity – with the band knowing how to generate communal intimacy, and a fan base who understands that they are not just there to listen. They are there to participate. As long as they provide fuel the music will keep burning.
I occasionally read fan reviews on Facebook and elsewhere, and it seems like the self-entitled fan reviews get the most attention. The ones written by someone who goes to their shows with a spreadsheet and judges their success by the boxes they can tick off. Fandom as curation. But I can say, definitively, that the crowds in the building emphatically disagreed with your disappointment. I have my favorite albums. I have my favorite live songs. I have my own wish list. But what was made abundantly clear is that, in the moment, the song I want to hear the most is whatever they are playing. I do not necessarily feel that way watching set lists unfold at home or listening to a bootleg of a show I wasn’t at. But when I am there, I don’t want to think. I want to feel. And after thirty years at this, the band knows the science of the heart, and how to calibrate a setlist to create a deep and visceral emotional response of everyone in attendance. And trying to draw distinctions between the shows feels arbitrary, or academic in the most pedantic way possible.
But the variety was there – the delicate balance between the songs that destroy a crowd and the unexpected moment that keeps you on your toes was fully present. The alchemy between what you want and what you need in full effect. Out of the seventy-six songs I got to hear over three nights, fifty-one were unique. 67% of the total setlist. That is an astounding ratio. Only six songs were played across three nights. Only sixteen repeated at all. And every repeated song elicited a huge response from the crowd, and was the only time thousands of people in the room will get to hear it this tour. So for anyone complaining about cookie cutter setlists:
A: Cookies are still delicious.
B: Your math does not add up.
What can I say about the shows themselves? It is easier to capture moments. But the band roared out of the gate every night. It took a few moments to settle into slow burn openers like Of the Girl, Pendulum, and Can’t Keep (a first for me) – these are moody, atmospheric moments that slowly envelop you on their records, or as part of a gradually building openers. But the band was almost too excited to wait for the songs to settle. They were eager to get to work.
But I also do not know that these crowds would have waited. Every song received an explosive reaction, and there were moments that rang of prophecy. MSG exploded singing along to “I cannot stop the thought of running in the dark” during Immortality. The roof blew off of Philly at “I just want to scream ‘hello’” and after a ten-year drought of not hearing Elderly Woman my eyes absolutely welled up. Not just for the emotion of that particular moment, but in awe of the shared vocabulary we have built with each other over decades of fandom – the lyrics a language unto themselves, the arena a campfire for the soul.
Mike was a man possessed all three nights. MSG saw him play half of the Even Flow solo behind his back. I am pretty sure he played it with teeth at Philly. He destroyed a guitar during Black at MSG and spent the end of the song trying to resurrecting it – a séance as much as a solo. And during Baltimore Eddie repeated the “I know someday you’ll have a beautiful life…” outro, and no one in the crowd minded getting it twice. He sounded great throughout the run, and was always chatty, playful, poinginant, and real. The politics were present, but the continue to be focused more around building inclusive communtiy - inviting people in rather than pushing them out. At this point Pearl Jam's values are of surprise to no one, and I think Eddie recognizes that while he may be able to inspire (or at least remind) someone to participate in our democratic process, this is not an appropriate venue for the long, hard work of changing minds - and that leaving feeling good about your fellow human beings is itself a political act in an era where politics is too often defined by cruelty.
Songs like Love Boat Captain that do not excite me in theory felt elemental in the moment, and the band made something like Inside Job feel like the most important song in the world. In Baltimore they stopped on a dime during Alive to make sure someone in general admission was okay, and picked right back up again with a kind of zero to infinity explosion of energy that, if harnassed, could solve a lot of the world’s problems. Otherwise, the older songs are the older songs. There are some, like Dance of the Clairvoyants (a top ten song in their entire catalog for me) that the band is still trying to figure out how to reproduce – the rare song that is gradually morphing into an entirely different animal live since they cannot reproduce the layered vocals of the outro. There are others, like Jeremy that sound impossibly vibrant for a song that old, a joyful, shared exorcism of our collective demons. At MSG,Eddie shared a story of a young kid surviving bullying and personal tragedy and transformed Given to Fly into an anthem of defiance. Moments like Out of My Mind, Alone, Tremor Christ, and Satan’s Bed feel like being let in on a secret. A run of songs like Present Tense -> Given to Fly -> Corduroy was a reminder of how deeply embedded into my DNA this band’s music is, and how hearing them together feels like both an affirmation and validation of my life. That to be here in this moment, hearing these songs, having the reaction, means I must have done something right. And I was not the only one in Baltimore having that experience. This is real ‘lifetime achievement of your favorite band’ kind of shit – something that defies words and explanations, but no less tangible and real. Eddie has spoken repeatedly about how transformative the live experience of music can be. The feeling of solidarity, of finding your tribe, of not being alone in a world full of isolating structures. How vast and powerful you feel in those moments. That is what they set out to create at a show, and somehow they are as good at it as they ever were.
Perhaps what was most remarkable is how great the Dark Matter songs sounded. I love Backspacer and Lightning Bolt, but those songs did not necessarily translate live the way I wanted them to, or the band gave up on most of them a little too quickly (with a few exceptions like Unthought Known and Mind Your Manners). Gigaton songs sounded really good, but Gigaton never really had a proper tour – the 2022, and 2023 shows felt more interstitial – tours between records, rather than tours celebrating a record. But the Dark Matter songs were vibrant. They felt like they mattered. And they felt timeless, songs that I had been hearing my whole life, songs that felt quintessentially Pearl Jam, and they nestled seamlessly alongside the rest of the catalog. React/Respond may have been the biggest surprise for how hard hitting it was – the sly winking of the studio version replaced by something raw and far more powerful. But Wreckage is a great sing along. Dark Matter pulses exactly the way you want it to – one of the heaviest moments in each set. Upper Hand felt suitably epic. Running is genuinely fun and playful, Scared of Fear sturdy and thoughtful. Waiting for Stevie was the five-minute shot of catharsis I hoped it would be. In fact, my only two complaints about these shows are that I never got to hear Setting Sun, and that Stevie is not in every setlist. I will unapologetically own that entitlement.
I should also add that Glen Hansard is incredible, and at each show I saw a side of him I wasn't familair with, but need to be. I would love to see him and Eddie have a true full length collaberation together. Flag Day doesn't count.
In the end, I had the total experience I was looking for. Pre-show I got to finally meet so many of the people I interact with on message boards and Discord servers, the people who sustain my fandom in between shows and records. I truly believe Pearl Jam’s music is best experienced as part of a community, and being able to put names to screen names, and infuse internet personas with actual humanity strengthens and sustains those relationships. Every night was exactly the right mixture of surprising and familiar. And every member of the band brought the commitment that made them legends in this space. It turns out that every song, in the moment, is exactly the song I want to hear. That every song speaks to some part of who I am. And hearing them live, singing along with so many other fans, seeing how much these songs still mean to the band, revitalizes those parts of myself.
I am older than I was. Three shows in ten days takes a new toll on my body. The travel is demanding. This is not cheap, and I am grateful I was able to get to what I did. The planning can be a hassle. But for those two and a half hours, this band makes me feel immortal. And the next day the world feels just a little softer, and I fit into it just a little better. The experience has a price, but the feeling is priceless.
After thirty years, Pearl Jam is still the best band in the world. Not because they have something to prove, but because they do not, and insist on proving it anyway. Thank you for three more amazing nights.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Mon September 16, 2024 11:49 am
I made it to MSG 2 this year. Agreed on all points, especially Stevie which was really great.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Wed September 18, 2024 9:09 pm
Nice review Stip!
I can do a lot of complaining on the board, about Eddie's voice, the way the band sounds...it's easy to forget that no matter how it sounds on bootleg or on a phone video, when you're in the building it's a COMPLETELY different animal. Like...wow.
Listening to them leading up to the tour I think they are washed up. In the building I realize they are still at a peak of their powers. I went to four shows (both MSG and both Fenway) with four different people, and pretty much everybody was impressed. And what amazed me is how they kept exceeding my expectations...MSG1 I went with a friend who saw them with me back on the LB tour 11 years ago. He enjoyed this show even more. I thought it was great. But then came MSG2 and it made me wonder how I thought that about MSG1, because THIS one was the special one. And then came Fenway 2 and that exceeded even THAT (which was fun as it was the first time my mom has seen them live - she doesn't know their music but was very impressed by them ESPECIALLY Eddie, and the amount of energy they brought to the show). Just seemed like they kept blowing past what I thought was possible.
I listen to the videos and Eddie doesn't sound as good in the video as he did live, but in the building they sounded incredible, and the crowd, the band, the energy and the way it fed off each other - it was just so special and it made me feel like I could run through a wall O_O
So I apologize to Eddie and Pearl Jam for doubting them lol.
If they can keep playing like this...I dont even know. So much passion. When they finished Crazy Mary last night and then with barely a pause Eddie exploded into Unthought Known with so much passion and urgency you could just feel how much he was feeling the show, the crowd, the night, everything. That was a real highlight for me.
Through the four shows I heard almost every Dark Matter song live (only missing Got to Give which I don't get why they won't play!!). They mostly worked really well, though some better than others. Some songs I liked less than the album, and some more!
My live highlights from Dark Matter? Those are clear to me...React/Respond, Dark Matter (shockingly), Won't Tell, and Waiting for Stevie. I hope they don't lose these songs in their rotation. Setting Sun is also great live it just seems that they have a hard time slotting it into the show in a way that works. it SOUNDS awesome, but it's a bit of a momentum killer. I hope it pops up occasionally but I just can't see them sticking with it as frequently as they've been playing it, but I hope they don't drop it completely. React/Respond sounds so great with that groovy and loud bass riff, the live setting really lets them dig into it. Dark Matter is completely saved by the live setting and removing the awful production, it's actually a ton of fun, which shocked me. Won't Tell I don't love on the album but it transfers very well. And Waiting for Stevie being good live should not be a shock, that should be an encore standard for years to come, I hope this one never goes away.
Wreckage, I LOVE on the album...but I saw it at each show and I just don't think it works that well live. Every good aspect of it on the album, I feel like you lose. It makes sense, since atmosphere is such a big part of this song. The guitar sound is sloppy-sounding live, when on the album it's so clear and clean. I feel like the clarity of those wonderful riffs just are too noisy live, it doesn't cut through like it does on the album. And you can barely hear the backup vocals at all over the vocals, making the ending also sound a bit messy, I LOVE the end of this song, but they can't seem to reproduce it all that well. Just in general Wreckage sounds messy to me live which is fine for some songs but takes away hugely from what makes the song work. I kind of hope they find a way to re-work this one because trying to reproduce the album vibe is just not working for me. Maybe they need to make it quieter?
Scared of Fear is fine, but I think it also has trouble slotting into a show - it's good to start the album, but I think live I'd rather hear others. Upper Hand has just not really ever done that much for me on album or live, I like Something Special and think Ed sounds good on it live but it is what it is (it will be divisive I know), and Running is fine but I just think there are better songs in that vein they could play.
Still I thought the new songs fit well in the show.
Best moments across all shows? Probably Given to Fly at MSG1 (he was so fired up in that speech the energy was insane), Glorified G at MSG2 (I was just so excited to get this song), and Corduroy (with the actual bridge!) and Unthought Known at Fenway 2 (It was just perfect where and when they played it - you wouldn't think Crazy Mary into Unthought Known would work but oh man did it, especially under the actual moon, Eddie played this one with so much urgency)
All in all some amazing shows, Fenway 2 maybe being my favorite ever.
I can do a lot of complaining on the board, about Eddie's voice, the way the band sounds...it's easy to forget that no matter how it sounds on bootleg or on a phone video, when you're in the building it's a COMPLETELY different animal. Like...wow.
Listening to them leading up to the tour I think they are washed up. In the building I realize they are still at a peak of their powers. I went to four shows (both MSG and both Fenway) with four different people, and pretty much everybody was impressed. And what amazed me is how they kept exceeding my expectations...MSG1 I went with a friend who saw them with me back on the LB tour 11 years ago. He enjoyed this show even more. I thought it was great. But then came MSG2 and it made me wonder how I thought that about MSG1, because THIS one was the special one. And then came Fenway 2 and that exceeded even THAT (which was fun as it was the first time my mom has seen them live - she doesn't know their music but was very impressed by them ESPECIALLY Eddie, and the amount of energy they brought to the show). Just seemed like they kept blowing past what I thought was possible.
I listen to the videos and Eddie doesn't sound as good in the video as he did live, but in the building they sounded incredible, and the crowd, the band, the energy and the way it fed off each other - it was just so special and it made me feel like I could run through a wall O_O
So I apologize to Eddie and Pearl Jam for doubting them lol.
If they can keep playing like this...I dont even know. So much passion. When they finished Crazy Mary last night and then with barely a pause Eddie exploded into Unthought Known with so much passion and urgency you could just feel how much he was feeling the show, the crowd, the night, everything. That was a real highlight for me.
Through the four shows I heard almost every Dark Matter song live (only missing Got to Give which I don't get why they won't play!!). They mostly worked really well, though some better than others. Some songs I liked less than the album, and some more!
My live highlights from Dark Matter? Those are clear to me...React/Respond, Dark Matter (shockingly), Won't Tell, and Waiting for Stevie. I hope they don't lose these songs in their rotation. Setting Sun is also great live it just seems that they have a hard time slotting it into the show in a way that works. it SOUNDS awesome, but it's a bit of a momentum killer. I hope it pops up occasionally but I just can't see them sticking with it as frequently as they've been playing it, but I hope they don't drop it completely. React/Respond sounds so great with that groovy and loud bass riff, the live setting really lets them dig into it. Dark Matter is completely saved by the live setting and removing the awful production, it's actually a ton of fun, which shocked me. Won't Tell I don't love on the album but it transfers very well. And Waiting for Stevie being good live should not be a shock, that should be an encore standard for years to come, I hope this one never goes away.
Wreckage, I LOVE on the album...but I saw it at each show and I just don't think it works that well live. Every good aspect of it on the album, I feel like you lose. It makes sense, since atmosphere is such a big part of this song. The guitar sound is sloppy-sounding live, when on the album it's so clear and clean. I feel like the clarity of those wonderful riffs just are too noisy live, it doesn't cut through like it does on the album. And you can barely hear the backup vocals at all over the vocals, making the ending also sound a bit messy, I LOVE the end of this song, but they can't seem to reproduce it all that well. Just in general Wreckage sounds messy to me live which is fine for some songs but takes away hugely from what makes the song work. I kind of hope they find a way to re-work this one because trying to reproduce the album vibe is just not working for me. Maybe they need to make it quieter?
Scared of Fear is fine, but I think it also has trouble slotting into a show - it's good to start the album, but I think live I'd rather hear others. Upper Hand has just not really ever done that much for me on album or live, I like Something Special and think Ed sounds good on it live but it is what it is (it will be divisive I know), and Running is fine but I just think there are better songs in that vein they could play.
Still I thought the new songs fit well in the show.
Best moments across all shows? Probably Given to Fly at MSG1 (he was so fired up in that speech the energy was insane), Glorified G at MSG2 (I was just so excited to get this song), and Corduroy (with the actual bridge!) and Unthought Known at Fenway 2 (It was just perfect where and when they played it - you wouldn't think Crazy Mary into Unthought Known would work but oh man did it, especially under the actual moon, Eddie played this one with so much urgency)
All in all some amazing shows, Fenway 2 maybe being my favorite ever.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Wed September 18, 2024 9:10 pm
(also the one song my mom (who knows zero pearl jam) asked like "What was that song? That was really good" the whole night was Unthought Known lol)
Also I forgot Falling Slowly, loved that too.
Also I forgot Falling Slowly, loved that too.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Fri September 20, 2024 3:20 pm
I have settled into listening to this "EP" version of the album:
React, Respond
Wreckage
Dark Matter
Upper Hand
WfS
Got to Give
Setting Sun
And I love it.
React, Respond
Wreckage
Dark Matter
Upper Hand
WfS
Got to Give
Setting Sun
And I love it.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 12:17 am
epilogue wrote:I have settled into listening to this "EP" version of the album:
React, Respond
Wreckage
Dark Matter
Upper Hand
WfS
Got to Give
Setting Sun
And I love it.
Same. Mine looks like this:
Sof
R,R
Wreckage
DM
Won’t Tell
Upper Hand
WFS
Running
Special
Gtg
Setting
Yeah. This record is a truly a no skip masterpiece. Ten and Vs are as well.
Even my beloved Yield has two skips (red dot and push me pull me). So I guess that could be the fourth perfect 11 track record without those songs.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 3:28 am
Skips are fine they make the listening experience feel earned. Sometimes a album needs to feel earned. I would say London Calling Tusk and Vitalogy are like this. I could reduce each album down to something with no skips, but I don't think it would serve them. Ten Rumors Harvest Pet Sounds and yes Dark Matter are perfect straight through.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 3:35 am
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 3:45 am
Every one of my favorite albums is perfect straight through. And every one of them has songs that I skip.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 3:56 am
Oh no, that song rules.tragabigzanda wrote:Harvest has A Main Needs a Maid which is a must skip.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 4:01 am
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 4:41 am
Definitely doesn't rule but doesn't need to be skipped. It's like Something Special or Oh Daddy in that way.Birds in Hell wrote:Oh no, that song rules.tragabigzanda wrote:Harvest has A Main Needs a Maid which is a must skip.
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 4:52 am
I need to clarify. Oh Daddy and Man Needs a Made are beyond superior to Something Special. My point was each album could live without those tracks. That doesn't necessarily mean they are skippers. If I were to stop those would be skippers .
This brings me to the ultimate Pj mix tape
SKIPPERS
OCEANS
WMA
BUGS
I AM OPEN
RED Dot
Rivals
Get RIgHt
Life Wasted ReprisE
Got Some
Sleeping By Myself
Buckle Up
Something Special
This brings me to the ultimate Pj mix tape
SKIPPERS
OCEANS
WMA
BUGS
I AM OPEN
RED Dot
Rivals
Get RIgHt
Life Wasted ReprisE
Got Some
Sleeping By Myself
Buckle Up
Something Special
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 4:54 am
u wot m8Tj wrote: SKIPPERS
OCEANS
WMA
Get RIgHt
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 7:50 am
tragabigzanda wrote:Harvest has A Main Needs a Maid which is a must skip.
is it the orchestra?
or how he says Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiaiaaayad?
or the notion that a man needs a maid?
Re: Dark Matter: Official Album Thread
Posted: Sat September 21, 2024 4:55 pm