Red Mosquito

Strat wrote:Great album to get some exercise worh. First 8 tracks take up about 40 minutes. Great bike sprint album!

agreed. ive split it up between the fast/slow songs a couple times, and the fast songs have tons of energy.

I took a week or so off from this and dusted it off for a run this morning.

This thing is a fucking triumph.

It couldn't have fit our current moment better if they knew the pandemic was coming. An eerily perfect companion.

We've joked about the "dee-stance" thing that pops up throughout but it's actually maybe the theme of the album. Distance in the sense of a threat slowly approaching, like a climate catastrophe (or a pandemic). Off in the distance... Leviathans.

And distance in the sense of getting through each shitstorm life throws your way. As the voice once said: "Go the distance." Keeps us alive, survive.

Its is their most cohesive album in terms of lyrics or themes. Mostly their concept album seems.

it's been a couple of days since I listened to this and I already can't wait till next time, but new The 1975 has sort of temporarily occupied my time

Nothing on this album is below 3-stars for me, and most of it is at least a solid notch above that. With that said, and without committing to a stronger word than "smidge," here are some feelings after a high-volume listen in the car last night:

Dropping a smidge – Alright, Buckle Up, River Cross
Rising a smidge - Never Destination, Take the Long Way, Retrograde

This is a 6/10 album at a push. It's ok. Better than Lighting Bolt.

It needs an editor. Songs like Who Ever Said and 7 O'Clock meander and go nowhere. Buckle Up is cack. Never Destination is filler. Retrograde and Rivers Cross are overwrought. Alright is alright. Comes Then Goes comes and goes.

DOTC, Wolfmoon, Long Way and Quick Escape are excellent.

Y'all are so desperate for a good Pearl Jam album that you're putting this on a pedestal. When the dust settles and the hype goes, this will be revealed as a mid-tier album at best.

how i yearn for backspacer

mid-tier? wow that's higher than a lot of its fans have it

lecherouslittlestump wrote:It needs an editor. Songs like Who Ever Said and 7 O'Clock meander and go nowhere. Buckle Up is cack. Never Destination is filler. Retrograde and Rivers Cross are overwrought. Alright is alright. Comes Then Goes comes and goes.

Ok, Brendan.

RockPusher wrote:

lecherouslittlestump wrote:It needs an editor. Songs like Who Ever Said and 7 O'Clock meander and go nowhere. Buckle Up is cack. Never Destination is filler. Retrograde and Rivers Cross are overwrought. Alright is alright. Comes Then Goes comes and goes.

Ok, Brendan.

yeah, it's good precisely because it doesn't have an editor

I do think "Who Ever Said" would've benefited from some tightening up. It's a bit unwieldy, and I understand the "freewheeling" aspect of it is kind of cool but the problem is it doesn't really take it anywhere particularly interesting; that extended section leading up to the final stretch is just vamping on the same four chords from the rest of the song with varying intensity, while Ed spouts off a bunch of words on a single-note melody. I always feel a little restless during that part because it's so goddamn long and I really do like the rest of the song. It's why I barely ever want to go back to it.

I kind of love that middle bit, way more than what bookends it

The nit picking of Who Ever Said and Seven O’Clock is the epitome of RM cringeworthy. These are two of the best songs PJ has written in at least 20 years. “But that middle part loses my attention because it’s over 20 seconds long!” Take some Ritalin and stfu. Backspacer is calling your name, you don’t deserve better than that.

Ms Harmless wrote:

RockPusher wrote:

lecherouslittlestump wrote:It needs an editor. Songs like Who Ever Said and 7 O'Clock meander and go nowhere. Buckle Up is cack. Never Destination is filler. Retrograde and Rivers Cross are overwrought. Alright is alright. Comes Then Goes comes and goes.

Ok, Brendan.

yeah, it's good precisely because it doesn't have an editor

Exactly. Finally they haven’t erased all the interesting parts to every song in an effort to “trim the fat” aka write shitty, boring, soulless songs.

PHATJ wrote:The nit picking of Who Ever Said and Seven O’Clock is the epitome of RM cringeworthy. These are two of the best songs PJ has written in at least 20 years. “But that middle part loses my attention because it’s over 20 seconds long!” Take some Ritalin and stfu. Backspacer is calling your name, you don’t deserve better than that.

Oh no, how awful, critical discussion of specific musical and songwriting elements

theplatypus wrote:

PHATJ wrote:The nit picking of Who Ever Said and Seven O’Clock is the epitome of RM cringeworthy. These are two of the best songs PJ has written in at least 20 years. “But that middle part loses my attention because it’s over 20 seconds long!” Take some Ritalin and stfu. Backspacer is calling your name, you don’t deserve better than that.

Oh no, how awful, critical discussion of specific musical and songwriting elements

It is awful. Unbearably so.

Too bad dude I've barely talked about this album and you're not gonna shout me down for having a less-than-glowing thing to say about one part of one song.

theplatypus wrote:Too bad dude I've barely talked about this album and you're not gonna shout me down for having a less-than-glowing thing to say about one part of one song.

Say whatever you want. I can still call your opinion asinine.

You're a weird guy, Josh.