Gigaton: Official album thread

[Donald]

There are plenty of bands who have made albums better than this 30 years into their career...this album isn't THAT good

My knowledge is neither deep nor broad enough to agree with or refute this statement. Do you have any examples to share?

Off the top of my head:

Tool
Melvins
Bruce Springsteen
Steely Dan
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Helmet
David Bowie
Tom Waits

i think solo artists reflect a different dynamic, for what its worth.


That Tool album was incredibly disappointing

Okay then remove three of those, point stands

Fear Inoculum is already my second favorite Tool album and waaaaaaaaay better than Gigaton

i gave it about 5 listens and nothing stood out. I wasnt a big fan of 10000 Days either though

FWIW I didn’t like 10,000 Days either

FI is basically a Steely Dan metal album so of course I love it. Yacht metal

I agree with mostly everything LV says in this......except 10,000 Days is phenomenal

[scrub12]

Another review.

https://www.gratefulweb.com/articles/pe ... ton-review

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

I love this album from top to bottom, i want to set an initial ranking but really cant, they are all so good for different reasons but i do know
Favorite so far
Dance
Quick escape
Alright
Seven o clock
Buckle up
Right now i feel like they are all 5 stars
Then just below
Who ever said
Never destination
Comes then goes
River cross
Id say i feel like they are 4.5 stars
Then to finish
Superblood
Take the long way
Retrograde
Those are in the 4 star range.

Im sure with time there will be lots of ups and downs but i cant remember the last time there were 5 songs that were equally favorites on a new pj album for me, and i could easily see up to 9 of them ending up at the top of my list.

[Jammer XCI]

Mining some salt right now.

[Strat]

All of these songs deserve to be played live on a regular basis. I truly hope the band, by spending their time with these songs for so long, they have lived int hem long enough where they feel confident and excited about them to make them regular live staples.

I feel like the last two records they were such short and creative outbursts that they maybe got too excited about them and putt hem on a record but learned to maybe not care for them as much.

Tuolomne will disagree with me.

But all of these songs deserve to be highlighted on a regular basis. Theyre so good.

[spike]

steady as she goes team

[Strat]

I hope ed finally succumbs to a teleprompter from now on. He's gonna need it.

[Jaeti]

It's early days yet, but, looking to future days, who thinks any of these new songs will settle into their top 25? Top 20? Top 10?

[Tuolumne]

I often evaluate a song best when I'm not listening to it. The distance away lets the song creep back into me. If it's good enough, the melody, playing, groove, or lyric will bring me back. Comes Then Goes is doing that for me. Man, what a good song. I imagine the band heard this and came to the conclusion that they just could not improve anything and would just get in the way if it. No amount of guitar leads, keyboard atmosphere, backbeat or other atmospheric touches were gonna add to the quality. I'm glad they left this one alone. I've only heard it a handful of times, but the lyrics are evocative and cutting, the melody just works, and the guitar strumming is just right on the spot throughout. Really highlighting an experienced and learned craftsman. Bravo, Ed.

[PHATJ]

It's early day yet, but, looking to future days, who thinks any of these new songs will settle into their top 25? Top 20? Top 10?

I think Quick Escape is a lock. Dance is right up there too. A couple others might have a chance.

[Strat]

It's early day yet, but, looking to future days, who thinks any of these new songs will settle into their top 25? Top 20? Top 10?

I think Quick Escape is a lock. Dance is right up there too. A couple others might have a chance.

The way im feeling right this moment of posting i'd say 9 out of 12 are my favorite songs ever

But yea, definitely dance and Quick Escape...

[LoathedVermin72]

It's early days yet, but, looking to future days, who thinks any of these new songs will settle into their top 25? Top 20? Top 10?

No way in hell. Some of them are good but nowhere near that level.

[Jaeti]

It's early day yet, but, looking to future days, who thinks any of these new songs will settle into their top 25? Top 20? Top 10?

I think Quick Escape is a lock. Dance is right up there too. A couple others might have a chance.

Yeah, I'm trying to be conservative about it and not rate or rank things yet, but there may be no stopping Quick Escape.

[Norah]

the poet laureate of RM does it again

knee tunes didn't write that review

[Tuolumne]

All of these songs deserve to be played live on a regular basis. I truly hope the band, by spending their time with these songs for so long, they have lived int hem long enough where they feel confident and excited about them to make them regular live staples.

I feel like the last two records they were such short and creative outbursts that they maybe got too excited about them and putt hem on a record but learned to maybe not care for them as much.

Tuolomne will disagree with me.

But all of these songs deserve to be highlighted on a regular basis. Theyre so good.

I mean, yeah. I'm a big massive fan of Backspacer. It's just it's own beast. Those songs grab you by the throat and concisely deliver the melody, riff, and groove and resolve quickly before getting to the next cool tune. And LB had Getaway and MYM, one of my alltime favorite 1-2 punches they've ever delivered, and that's saying something. Gigaton is neither going for that or is as effective. Live, I really wish they played Getaway more, but MYM is a scorcher and to me outshines songs like Animal. If they ever figured out Getaway I think it would've killed. I can't tell you how many times I rocked that one, I don't know what happened with live version. I think the studio version is so good that they just couldn't replicate it.

Gigaton I feel has just great mid-set or early encore sort of tunes. Just good mood setters. I don't see 7 o'clock translating well live. It's a tune I like so far and think will just get better, but it lingers in terms of a concert flow, IMO. DOTC could be a really fun tune if they could pull it off, like really really fun. And Quick Escape could be a behemoth rivaling Porch musically speaking while not being a set closer.

[Monkey_Driven]

I don't really think of the band's catalog in some sort of ranked order, but there several songs on this that I will revisit regularly.

[warehouse]

It's early days yet, but, looking to future days, who thinks any of these new songs will settle into their top 25? Top 20? Top 10?

DOTC has the best chance i think. completely different for pj

[Fattie_Vedder]

Got damn Stip (and Mcparadigm) those are some insightful and thoughtful words. And by some I mean lots. I need to reread them again after I’ve had some time to digest it all.

I agree that Take The Long Way doesn’t fit the album thematically. It seems like it’s a very personal story about a particular person. Im having trouble seeing it fit into this album, like SBWM, despite that it’s a better fit musically. I’m still glad it’s on the album because I think it’s a kickass song. I’ve also come around to seeing how SBWM fits the album well, especially after Who Ever Said. It’s a fun, upbeat (musically anyways) song that wants you to have fun with it, and embrace love (without it we are each of us fucked after all) despite the potentially soul crushing nature of the world at times. This is especially true following the closing line of WES: “who ever said there’s nothing left to be said gave up on satisfaction”.

[Tuolumne]

One of these days some of you guys have to get me up to speed on your producer-y knob twiddling technical observations. I just do not get them at all. "They turned one of those hundred knobs on the mixing board thingy the wrong way! This song sucks bc of that! The band has lost it bc they turned that little knob thingy the wrong way! They're phoning it in!" LOL.....

[McParadigm]

It's early days yet, but, looking to future days, who thinks any of these new songs will settle into their top 25? Top 20? Top 10?

I never really know how to evaluate a song or an album I just fell in love with against another that I've been listening to for a quarter of a century.

This record reminds me a lot of when The Rising came out: they achieved something that I thought was no longer possible for them, but also in places tried for and achieved things that I NEVER thought they had in them. Both records are in many ways a return to form (insert joke) for their respective artists, but both are also a deceptively different approach, ambition, and sound relative to what came before. There isn't really another Pearl Jam record that achieves some of the sonic returns this record delivers. There wasn't an old Springsteen record that would scratch your Rising itch, either.