Lightning Bolt: the official album thread

[Sgt. Crackpot]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff? It gets tiring. It's probably happened before.

[harmless]

It doesn't matter guys I'm just being stupid.

[Sgt. Crackpot]

It doesn't matter guys I'm just being stupid.

I don't think you are, man. Your involvement here has been so much more engrossed than most of us, that I think your emotions are heavily amplified. For some of us that aren't frequenting this place as much, it's easy to fly in and thrown a few sarcastic/smart ass remarks around and then fly out again.

[Jorge]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff?

Can you explain what's weird about it?

[wilkins]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff?

Er, no...?

OK. *shrug*

Well, to me, true fans of anything should be able to have the option to like everything or dislike something. I think disliking is less accepted at The Pit than here--where maybe at times, liking everything is less accepted. I'd still take a happy-medium/RM over lollipops and rainbows.

[harmless]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff?

Can you explain what's weird about it?

I've just never been here to witness the build-up to an album which is causing people to actually "jump ship". People are literally leaving their fandom because of how apparently awful this stuff is and I'm not feeling it. Maybe if I was honest with myself I would be but I'm being as honest as I can.

[Noaheb]

It doesn't matter guys I'm just being stupid.

It'll all be better in the morning Harmy...you just need to catch your breath to breathe

[wilkins]

It doesn't matter guys I'm just being stupid.

I don't think you are, man. Your involvement here has been so much more engrossed than most of us, that I think your emotions are heavily amplified. For some of us that aren't frequenting this place as much, it's easy to fly in and thrown a few sarcastic/smart ass remarks around and then fly out again.

Guilty! 9+ years and counting...

Agreed completely, and your posts and info are more than appreciated, but the jabs are with love.

[wilkins]

It doesn't matter guys I'm just being stupid.

It'll all be better in the morning Harmy...you just need to catch your breath to breathe

Just. Spat. Beer.

[gems and rhinestones]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff? It gets tiring. It's probably happened before.

I'm one of the lucky ones who loves these new songs. I wish the people who hate the new songs liked them because it must seriously suck posting 1000's of posts about a band and songs I think suck. Gosh I can't imagine wanting to post more than like 12 times tops saying how horrid Bon Jovi is. I'd get bored.

Lightning Bolt
Sirens
Getaway

[stip]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff?

Can you explain what's weird about it?

I've just never been here to witness the build-up to an album which is causing people to actually "jump ship". People are literally leaving their fandom because of how apparently awful this stuff is and I'm not feeling it. Maybe if I was honest with myself I would be but I'm being as honest as I can.

you're probably not lying to yourself, harmless. Some people just reach a point where they lose interest in a band. If that happens now it probably has little to do with lightning bolt as a statement and more to do with a gradual decline. And some people assume that others are interested in that fact for some reason. But if you've been happy with recent music (either you love it or you just like it) then you'll probably be happy with what you're getting now. It may be slightly better than recent stuff (it is) or it may be a bit worse but this happens every album. Literally every album since Ten has been the last straw for a few (or many) people for whom pearl jam meant something beyond what they're getting now. The fact that it is happening with lightning bolt doesn't mean you're deceiving yourself into liking something that everyone else has magically seen through. People walked away at No Code. They walked away at Yield. They walked away at Binaural, Riot Act, S/T, and Backspacer. And everyone meant it, and it probably has a lot less to do with the quality of the records than it does what people were hoping to get out of the band or how their tastes had evolved.

[gems and rhinestones]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff?

Can you explain what's weird about it?

I've just never been here to witness the build-up to an album which is causing people to actually "jump ship". People are literally leaving their fandom because of how apparently awful this stuff is and I'm not feeling it. Maybe if I was honest with myself I would be but I'm being as honest as I can.

Dude these songs are fucking amazing. Don't even listen to them. I knew no matter what Pearl Jam released this place would have a lot of people here knocking it. It's their shtick.

[harmless]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff?

Can you explain what's weird about it?

I've just never been here to witness the build-up to an album which is causing people to actually "jump ship". People are literally leaving their fandom because of how apparently awful this stuff is and I'm not feeling it. Maybe if I was honest with myself I would be but I'm being as honest as I can.

you're probably not lying to yourself, harmless. Some people just reach a point where they lose interest in a band. If that happens now it probably has little to do with lightning bolt as a statement and more to do with a gradual decline. And some people assume that others are interested in that fact for some reason. But if you've been happy with recent music (either you love it or you just like it) then you'll probably be happy with what you're getting now. It may be slightly better than recent stuff (it is) or it may be a bit worse but this happens every album. Literally every album since Ten has been the last straw for a few (or many) people for whom pearl jam meant something beyond what they're getting now. The fact that it is happening with lightning bolt doesn't mean you're deceiving yourself into liking something that everyone else has magically seen through. People walked away at No Code. They walked away at Yield. They walked away at Binaural, Riot Act, S/T, and Backspacer. And everyone meant it, and it probably has a lot less to do with the quality of the records than it does what people were hoping to get out of the band or how their tastes had evolved.

Good points. Thanks, stip.

[harmless]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff?

Can you explain what's weird about it?

I've just never been here to witness the build-up to an album which is causing people to actually "jump ship". People are literally leaving their fandom because of how apparently awful this stuff is and I'm not feeling it. Maybe if I was honest with myself I would be but I'm being as honest as I can.

Dude these songs are fucking amazing. Don't even listen to them. I knew no matter what Pearl Jam released this place would have a lot of people here knocking it. It's their shtick.

I don't know. I'd love to be able to just shrug it off as "shtick" but I know this place fairly well now and there are people I like a lot who are just hideously disappointed and bored of PJ, not just for musical reasons, and honestly I don't blame them. So I look to myself and think maybe I'm just duped.

[stip]

Okay team, lets get serious for a second. I just went back and looked at my pearl jam rankings chart I made ages ago for some thing we were doing two iterations of the board ago (pre backspacer). My current album rankings would look like this (the number is the average score of the songs on that album from 1-5).



Vitalogy: 4.6 (my favorite record of all time. I'm too hard on things)
Ten: 4. 36
Vs: 4.08
Backspacer: 3.87
Yield: 3.58
S/T: 3.47
No Code:3.35
Riot Act: 3.33
Binaural: 3.19

So here's what i learned. Backspacer is actually pretty far ahead of Yield and S/T (I thought they were closer). That album has just aged so well for me. S/T has gone down a bit in my esteem, and Yield has a pretty solid on it. No Code used to be on the bottom for me, so it's moved up a bit. And Riot Act has improved quite a bit too, based on new appreciations for cropduster and Get Right, and a renewed appreciation for Ghost. So Binaural is in the basement, and doesn't look to be climbing out any time soon.


So here is what's really surprising. Looking at the 6 tracks, and being conservative, I'd give Lightning bolt a 3.83. That's a fairly conservative estimate, and we still haven't heard what I am expecting to be 3 of the strongest tracks on the record. So it is entirely possibly that this record could actually knock Backspacer out of my 4 spot. This record could very well be my favorite pearl jam album since Vitalogy. Even if, say, 3 of the songs are average and 3 are good, but nothing is great, it'll still be better than everything but Backspacer.

Don't let me down, second half of the record!

[wilkins]

And to Stip's point, some of us have been here a long time and a fan even longer and our tastes have changed in general and/or not changed with the bands' tastes/output, so it's fan dependent. I don't think anyone is less of a person for posting about their fandom or disdain. No Code and Binaural might be my favourite albums and my favourite touring year is the 00's, so that sums up my perspective, I like the kinky shit.

That being said, I just interrupted AF to play Getaway, still love that groove, and really like the song.

[Fuzzcharger]

Okay team, lets get serious for a second.

Isn't this the whole problem with the Pearl Jam online fanbase?

[stip]

Isn't it weird that there are some outstandingly disappointed people alongside some people pretty happy with the new stuff?

Can you explain what's weird about it?

I've just never been here to witness the build-up to an album which is causing people to actually "jump ship". People are literally leaving their fandom because of how apparently awful this stuff is and I'm not feeling it. Maybe if I was honest with myself I would be but I'm being as honest as I can.

Dude these songs are fucking amazing. Don't even listen to them. I knew no matter what Pearl Jam released this place would have a lot of people here knocking it. It's their shtick.

I don't know. I'd love to be able to just shrug it off as "shtick" but I know this place fairly well now and there are people I like a lot who are just hideously disappointed and bored of PJ, not just for musical reasons, and honestly I don't blame them. So I look to myself and think maybe I'm just duped.

you're not. you're talking to people who don't care that much about pearl jam as a going concern but still like posting on a pearl jam board. Of course odds are high they're not going to like it. And the fact that they are no longer interested in pearl jam doesn't mean there's nothing interesting there.

[stip]

Okay team, lets get serious for a second.

Isn't this the whole problem with the Pearl Jam online fanbase?

knock it off. I'm doing math

[harmless]

Okay team, lets get serious for a second. I just went back and looked at my pearl jam rankings chart I made ages ago for some thing we were doing two iterations of the board ago (pre backspacer). My current album rankings would look like this (the number is the average score of the songs on that album from 1-5).



Vitalogy: 4.6 (my favorite record of all time. I'm too hard on things)
Ten: 4. 36
Vs: 4.08
Backspacer: 3.87
Yield: 3.58
S/T: 3.47
No Code:3.35
Riot Act: 3.33
Binaural: 3.19

So here's what i learned. Backspacer is actually pretty far ahead of Yield and S/T (I thought they were closer). That album has just aged so well for me. S/T has gone down a bit in my esteem, and Yield has a pretty solid on it. No Code used to be on the bottom for me, so it's moved up a bit. And Riot Act has improved quite a bit too, based on new appreciations for cropduster and Get Right, and a renewed appreciation for Ghost. So Binaural is in the basement, and doesn't look to be climbing out any time soon.


So here is what's really surprising. Looking at the 6 tracks, and being conservative, I'd give Lightning bolt a 3.83. That's a fairly conservative estimate, and we still haven't heard what I am expecting to be 3 of the strongest tracks on the record. So it is entirely possibly that this record could actually knock Backspacer out of my 4 spot. This record could very well be my favorite pearl jam album since Vitalogy. Even if, say, 3 of the songs are average and 3 are good, but nothing is great, it'll still be better than everything but Backspacer.

Don't let me down, second half of the record!

I would be so proud if Lightning Bolt knocked Backspacer off the 4 spot.