Red Mosquito

every time they cross your path you cannot help but fall in love with them all over again. That’s the magic of being a great rock band I guess, and Pearl Jam have always been a great rock band.

Heathen wrote:

every time they cross your path you cannot help but fall in love with them all over again. That’s the magic of being a great rock band I guess, and Pearl Jam have always been a great rock band.

Wow yeah this guy sounds so dismissive

dimejinky99 wrote:

harmless wrote:The English press generally hate PJ, and this guy sounds dismissive from the beginning. They've rarely achieved "fun" since "Rats"? What does he even mean there?

Agreed. There's a lot of that condescension in this review that Pj suffer from English media.
It's almost like a running gag. But all these journos know each other so it probably is.

harmless wrote:

Dr. Van Nostrand wrote:

harmless wrote:The English press generally hate PJ, and this guy sounds dismissive from the beginning. They've rarely achieved "fun" since "Rats"? What does he even mean there?

is rats supposed to be fun? i love it, and think its kinda funky, but i dont know if its supposed to be fun

This guy's favourite ballad on the album is Future Days. Which means they either fucked it up at Wrigley and it's great on the album, or he's a douche.

Drowned in Sound wrote:
‘My Father’s Son’
This is a bit more like the Backspacer sound. There may be some synths going on in the background here, which is nice. On first listen this is fairly unremarkable, but it definitely signals that the album isn’t going to stay in the more rock-centric vein of the first two tracks.

Drowned in Sound wrote: ‘Sirens’
Right, we’ve reached cheesy ballad territory now. Any remaining hope that the album signals a return to a consistently harder rocking Pearl Jam sound is dwindling. The band think highly of this one apparently, but it’s bit too fluffy and middle-aged sounding for these ears.

Drowned in Sound wrote: ‘Infallible’
Ooh, more synths. This reminds me of some of the more interesting moments on Binaural. Probably the most exciting moment on the record upon first listen, but, as ever, it’s tricky to be too positive on the back of just one listen. Definitely one to look out for at any rate.

Drowned in Sound wrote: ‘Pendulum’
Yet more synths, and some piano too. We’ve gone full-on from punkier Pearl Jam to that rarest of Pearl Jam forms, the experimental Pearl Jam, in the space of the first seven tracks. Matt Cameron’s drumming gives this an almost krautrockian vibe, which is pretty damned cool it has to be said.

Drowned in Sound wrote: ‘Sleeping by Myself’
A reprisal of one of the songs from Eddie’s solo Ukulele Songs record from a couple of years back. Apparently this was re-recorded and included on the album at the suggestion of producer Brendan O’Brien. He’s had better ideas.

Drowned in Sound wrote: ‘Yellow Moon’
Quite an atmospheric track, and features some great guitar playing from Mike McCready. It feels like it’s trying to be a bit more epic than it’s perhaps capable of, but it’s definitely a massive step-up from the previous two songs. “One life, one grave”; Eddie at his least cheerful or his most philosophical?

Drowned in Sound wrote: ‘Future Days’
We’re at the end already. This comes off a bit like the band’s attempt at ‘Love Reign O’er Me’ at first, largely thanks to a sweeping piano intro. It ends up being a bit lower key than that though. There are no drums, but there is some nice violin playing. A nice way to end the album, and the best ballad-like track on the record into the bargain.

Drowned in Sound wrote: All in all? Well it’s a mixed bag in all honesty. The first two tracks are very misleading, as they are the two most up-tempo “rocking” tracks on the whole album by some distance. Predominantly this is very methodically paced. In fact it’s almost Riot Act esque in that it feels very measured from ‘My Father’s Son’ onward. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing when it results in ‘Infallible’ and ‘Pendulum’, or in fact ‘Yellow Moon’ and ‘Future Days’, but ‘Sirens’ and ‘Sleeping by Myself’ come across as rather flaky from first listen. Whether a more consistent sonic approach would have been better is debatable, but at least Lightning Bolt isn’t afraid to be varied. This in itself proves that Pearl Jam are still very much a valid concern.

harmless wrote:

Heathen wrote:

every time they cross your path you cannot help but fall in love with them all over again. That’s the magic of being a great rock band I guess, and Pearl Jam have always been a great rock band.

Wow yeah this guy sounds so dismissive

This sentence was an obligatory one. There are just as many sentences you could've picked out to prove my point. I know the general feeling about PJ here.

harmless wrote:This review basically said that PJ are an incredible, even legendary rock band that we all love... but look, they're actually a bit shit aren't they, and here's why. Any praise he gives them is obligatory media arse-kissing.

Heathen wrote:

harmless wrote:

Heathen wrote:

every time they cross your path you cannot help but fall in love with them all over again. That’s the magic of being a great rock band I guess, and Pearl Jam have always been a great rock band.

Wow yeah this guy sounds so dismissive

This sentence was an obligatory one. There are just as many sentences you could've picked out to prove my point. I know the general feeling about PJ here.

I really don't see it. Show this review to anyone who isn't a PJ fan and they'll never think of it as dismissive or condescending or as an example of journalists hating the band.

harmless wrote:This review basically said that PJ are an incredible, even legendary rock band that we all love... but look, they're actually a bit shit aren't they, and here's why. Any praise he gives them is obligatory media arse-kissing.

harmless wrote:The English press generally hate PJ, and this guy sounds dismissive from the beginning. They've rarely achieved "fun" since "Rats"? What does he even mean there?

Heathen wrote:

harmless wrote:This review basically said that PJ are an incredible, even legendary rock band that we all love... but look, they're actually a bit shit aren't they, and here's why. Any praise he gives them is obligatory media arse-kissing.

So every positive line in the review doesn't count because it's mandatory and he doesn't mean it anyway and a few songs that the guy likes a bit less means he calls them shit? Come on harmy. I wonder what it's gonna be if there's an actually dismissive review at some point.

Mirella wrote:

harmless wrote:The English press generally hate PJ, and this guy sounds dismissive from the beginning. They've rarely achieved "fun" since "Rats"? What does he even mean there?

I think for British standards this is a raving review

groetjes,
Mirella