Gigaton: Official album thread

General Pearl Jam discussion.
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Early Impressions

5 stars
70
26%
4 stars
143
53%
3 stars
32
12%
2 star
16
6%
1 star
7
3%
 
Total votes: 268

Ms Harmless
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

Birds in Hell wrote:
Ms Harmless wrote:I'm repeating myself but I wish people would stop comparing Retrograde to Sirens

I love Sirens, but this is a more lowkey "Swallowed Whole" that is more... gently nibbled
Both Sirens and Retrograde were written by Mike, I believe that's why the two songs are being often compared.

In my own mind, it doesn't make a great deal of sense to compare the song to Swallowed Whole, as that's an Ed song.

I think the band's writers have such distinctive and identifiable songwriting voices that I can't really draw comparisons between songs written by the different members, however it's interesting to view something like Alright in the context of Jeff's other creative contributions to the band, or to appreciate how Take the Long Way continues Matt's tradition of bringing in off-kilter rock songs like Evacuation and Get Right.
I hear that - I just hear what I hear and don't pay much attention to who writes what
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Vindicator »

Retrograde has stupidly grown on me. It's such an embarassingly cheesy song, yet I like it. There's a hook. There's some production layers. There's the bridge into the outro. It's not bad.

I wish they had given the rest of the song some more power. Go full blown power ballad. I like Sirens as a power ballad. Retrograde is so restrained that it makes it sappy. But yet, here I am, begrudgingly liking it.

Seven O Clock is actually more like Sirens. Big overblown ballad in the chorus.
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

I think the tracking of this is near flawless; the peaks and troughs feel just like being at a PJ concert; the only thing I might've done is start the album with "River Cross" and end it with "Retrograde"
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by VinylGuy »

Ms Harmless wrote:I think the tracking of this is near flawless; the peaks and troughs feel just like being at a PJ concert; the only thing I might've done is start the album with "River Cross" and end it with "Retrograde"
River Cross is a beautiful closer...they fiex the horrible mistake of the last one. I actually hope they close their shows with this one.
BONE FUCKIN´ TOMAHAWK.
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

VinylGuy wrote:
Ms Harmless wrote:I think the tracking of this is near flawless; the peaks and troughs feel just like being at a PJ concert; the only thing I might've done is start the album with "River Cross" and end it with "Retrograde"
River Cross is a beautiful closer...they fiex the horrible mistake of the last one. I actually hope they close their shows with this one.
that's a good point, about fixing FD
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by injuddstree »

My three least favourite songs are Retrograde, Never Destination and Superblood Wolfmoon. I've gone with a 9-track rearrangement.

Alright
Who Ever Said
Quick Escape
Dance of the Clairvoyants
Seven O'Clock
Comes Then Goes
Take The Long Way
Buckle Up
River Cross
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Obbster »

injuddstree wrote:My three least favourite songs are Retrograde, Never Destination and Superblood Wolfmoon. I've gone with a 9-track rearrangement.

Alright
Who Ever Said
Quick Escape
Dance of the Clairvoyants
Seven O'Clock
Comes Then Goes
Take The Long Way
Buckle Up
River Cross
I would have retrograde in there maybe after dance or after buckle up. Apart from that. Yes. I like this.
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by gardenparty »

pm please? busted link
:heartbeat:
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by blueviper »

Going to try and do an early ranking of songs

Dance of the Clairvoyants 5/5
Quick Escape 5/5
Retrograde 4/5
Superblood Wolfmoon 4/5
Who Ever Said 4/5
Buckle Up 4/5
7 O’Clock 4/5
Come Then Goes 4/5
Alright 3/5
Never Destination 3/5
River Cross 3/5
Take the Long Way 2/5
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Fattie_Vedder »

Ms Harmless wrote:I think the tracking of this is near flawless; the peaks and troughs feel just like being at a PJ concert; the only thing I might've done is start the album with "River Cross" and end it with "Retrograde"
I find Who Ever Said to be the perfect opener. It’s the thesis of the album lyrically and even musically.
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Fattie_Vedder »

Obbster wrote:
injuddstree wrote:My three least favourite songs are Retrograde, Never Destination and Superblood Wolfmoon. I've gone with a 9-track rearrangement.

Alright
Who Ever Said
Quick Escape
Dance of the Clairvoyants
Seven O'Clock
Comes Then Goes
Take The Long Way
Buckle Up
River Cross
I would have retrograde in there maybe after dance or after buckle up. Apart from that. Yes. I like this.
Agreed. But I would still have Never Destination in there after Comes Then Goes. And I would still open the album with Who Ever Said exactly as it is with the synth/sitar intro. The perfect opener.

SBWM is the only song that I feel doesn’t fit the album thematically or musically. But I like it nonetheless.

Who Ever Said
Alright
Quick Escape
Dance of the Clairvoyants
Seven O'Clock
Buckle Up
Never Destination
Comes Then Goes
Take The Long Way
Retrograde
River Cross
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Fattie_Vedder »

stip wrote:Good luck, Harmless. This is an album about building bridges. I hope it works :)
I second that sentiment. I hope that brings you two closer in the ways you want.
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

Fattie_Vedder wrote:
stip wrote:Good luck, Harmless. This is an album about building bridges. I hope it works :)
I second that sentiment. I hope that brings you two closer in the ways you want.
thank you :)
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

my partner, on their first listen:

"Ooh it goes in nicely to super moon wolf bloody moon wolf"
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Jaeti »

Tuolumne wrote:Retrograde is awesome. Can't wait to blast that one on good speakers. Pearl Jam has *always* from Day 1 had their "cheesy" element. It's ultimately why I attached myself to them moreso than Nirvana way back then (who I love, but just can't relate to as much), who don't have this element in them. Yay for cheesy PJ.
Go on, keep talking me into it. I'm open, but it's gonna take more than this.
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Birds in Hell »

I always connected more with Nirvana than Pearl Jam, I still feel the same way.
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Hypnos »

You'all are going to share this with your partners with extreme prejudice?
Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Jaeti »

Ms Harmless wrote:
Tuolumne wrote:Retrograde is awesome. Can't wait to blast that one on good speakers. Pearl Jam has *always* from Day 1 had their "cheesy" element. It's ultimately why I attached myself to them moreso than Nirvana way back then (who I love, but just can't relate to as much), who don't have this element in them. Yay for cheesy PJ.
totally agree

I was drawn to PJ over the other "grunge" bands because of Ed's sentimentality and spirituality; over and above anything else, their music moved me; if they want to throw "Disney song" into their emotional wheelhouse in their old age, that's OK; it works better for being just the one song here
Hahaha, "Disney song," I like it.
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Birds in Hell »

I expect this may shift around, maybe quite a lot, as I get to know the songs better, but here is where I'm at based on my initial listens to the record. Rankings shown are vaguely in order.

Upper tier

Dance of the Clairvoyants
Take the Long Way
Alright

Upper-middle tier

Buckle Up
Never Destination
Seven O'Clock
Comes Then Goes

Lower-middle tier

Retrograde
River Cross
Quick Escape
Who Ever Said

Lower tier

Superblood Wolfmoon
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Re: The Official GIGATON Thread

Post by Ms Harmless »

Hypnosomnia wrote:You'all are going to share this with your partners with extreme prejudice?
was that in reference to my post?
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