Red Mosquito

So, with the production, I had another question.

Do you remember when Ed inducted Neil into the HOF and he was talking about the analog sound vs. the digital? I think he was talking about putting out records, still, and how important that was.

So, pearl jam still puts out records, as they seem to feel that "sound" is still important.

But, why would they allow Dark Matter (the album) to be recorded in this compressed manner? Is it to stay with current trends? Is it cheaper to record this way? Do they just not care as much about how it sounds in the end?

I like the clip.
But honestly don't hear Daughter at all in this song. Further proof that those folks at the UK listening party were bombed out of their skulls on tequila and really dropped the ball as far as describing what they actually heard that night.

Coach wrote:So, with the production, I had another question.

Do you remember when Ed inducted Neil into the HOF and he was talking about the analog sound vs. the digital? I think he was talking about putting out records, still, and how important that was.

So, pearl jam still puts out records, as they seem to feel that "sound" is still important.

But, why would they allow Dark Matter (the album) to be recorded in this compressed manner? Is it to stay with current trends? Is it cheaper to record this way? Do they just not care as much about how it sounds in the end?

I had the same thought with Earthlings. Before that it was the East Coast leg of the 2006 tour. How could the best live band on the planet have Mike so low in the mix and sounding the way he did?!

E.H. Ruddock wrote:

oneway23 wrote:

Strat wrote:I've been miserable the last month with some health issues.

Im gonna turn the page here and im gonna take team Rockpusher and DJWMWJMDJWMJWJDMDM.

LETS GO!

Hope everything is OK and that you're currently feeling well...
Perhaps a leak in the next few days to brighten your spirits!

He'll be fine

Of that, I have no doubt

the SOLAT podcast interviewed one of the bootleg engineers last year, and the timing was so tight on some of the bootlegs that I doubt they could give each boot the time for that kind of QC.

tragabigzanda wrote:

oneway23 wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:there won't be

Damn you straight to H-E-double hockey sticks, Trag.

Had a rough one on RM yesterday...I'm trying on a new look today.
Gonna be optimistic until proven otherwise.....At which point I'll then unfurl pure venom.

Sorry dawg. It's what's so disappointing with all this: That even if they can pull together a few compelling compositions -- and Wreckage seems to suggest they can -- there's just not going to be any staying power for anyone who appreciates things like nuance or humanity in their recordings.

It’s not even this. I think the Vitalogy-Riot Act era PJ was the band at its best even if they gave up some mass accessibility to achieve it. Far more influential than commercially successful. For better or worse, something changed with their self titled album and to varying degrees it seemed they were attempting to capture what people thought Pearl Jam was on subsequent releases after that. Gigaton, while not my favorite album, had more of a sense that the band was returning to its true north per se. It suffered from latter stage word salad and overly breathy Eddie in spots, but it felt like they had found themselves again.

So far everything from DM to me feels like it’s back to a facsimile approach to finding that PJ formula. If the middle records I consider their creative apex are anything, they were authentic. Inauthentic PJ isn’t exciting to me. I hope I’m wrong about this album but this seems to be shaping up as a band and producer making a record of what they think PJ should sound like.

Took a few listens but I'm pretty sure this is my favorite of the songs/clips that have been released so far...not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing lol.

mattyv1908 wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:

oneway23 wrote:

tragabigzanda wrote:there won't be

Damn you straight to H-E-double hockey sticks, Trag.

Had a rough one on RM yesterday...I'm trying on a new look today.
Gonna be optimistic until proven otherwise.....At which point I'll then unfurl pure venom.

Sorry dawg. It's what's so disappointing with all this: That even if they can pull together a few compelling compositions -- and Wreckage seems to suggest they can -- there's just not going to be any staying power for anyone who appreciates things like nuance or humanity in their recordings.

It’s not even this. I think the Vitalogy-Riot Act era PJ was the band at its best even if they gave up some mass accessibility to achieve it. Far more influential than commercially successful. For better or worse, something changed with their self titled album and to varying degrees it seemed they were attempting to capture what people thought Pearl Jam was on subsequent releases after that. Gigaton, while not my favorite album, had more of a sense that the band was returning to its true north per se. It suffered from latter stage word salad and overly breathy Eddie in spots, but it felt like they had found themselves again.

So far everything from DM to me feels like it’s back to a facsimile approach to finding that PJ formula. If the middle records I consider their creative apex are anything, they were authentic. Inauthentic PJ isn’t exciting to me. I hope I’m wrong about this album but this seems to be shaping up as a band and producer making a record of what they think PJ should sound like.

for better or worse, it is what PJ sound like

allegations of authenticity always feel like a backwards read of preference into process and denigrates their agency as artists. What makes this 'inauthentic', which is not the same thing as bad or bland

I can't wait to hear the rest of this song though

Even an album like REM's collapse into now, which was maybe the first REM album that felt like it was retreading old ideas, never felt like it wasn't the record REM wanted to make, or that they were chasing anything other than their muse. There were just fewer new ideas, but still a bunch of killer songs.

Even if some new things remind us of the old, Pearl Jam hasn't really repeated themselves much within the broad parameters of their brand of rock music. Even if something feels like it is chasing Animal, it's not like there are 30 versions of animal and animal adjacent songs out there already. There is room for a variation on a theme thirty years later

Maybe you don't like the songs, and that's obviously fine. But the larger meta narrative about WHY someone may not like a song is baggage that people carry into a conversation

I'm interested to see how they stretch this thing out to 5:00...hopefully it's not like Comes Then Goes which is a really good 3:30 song that unfortunately lasts 6:00...

stip wrote:allegations of authenticity always feel like a backwards read of preference into process and denigrates their agency as artists. What makes this 'inauthentic', which is not the same thing as bad or bland

I think the band finds this authentic, and their "edgier" stuff less so; that's admittedly hard for some people to take (which I understand as I've felt it), so they take the somewhat comforting position that it's a dishonest attempt to re/capture something they see as less mature, as if Pearl Jam could just have an epiphany and snap out of it; that position makes the taste of the changes less bitter because at least they have this certainty to depend on

stip wrote:Even an album like REM's collapse into now, which was maybe the first REM album that felt like it was retreading old ideas, never felt like it wasn't the record REM wanted to make, or that they were chasing anything other than their muse. There were just fewer new ideas, but still a bunch of killer songs.

Even if some new things remind us of the old, Pearl Jam hasn't really repeated themselves much within the broad parameters of their brand of rock music. Even if something feels like it is chasing Animal, it's not like there are 30 versions of animal and animal adjacent songs out there already. There is room for a variation on a theme thirty years later

Maybe you don't like the songs, and that's obviously fine. But the larger meta narrative about WHY someone may not like a song is baggage that people carry into a conversation

I think it’s a fair criticism to point out that Eddie at this point has become a caricature of everything he used to abhor. As the person who wrestled creative control of the band into more of his vision, it’s safe to assume the directions the band has taken have his fingerprints all over them. It’s antithetical to the ethos that was ingrained in this band’s earlier work.

As an example of complete juxtaposition, I think Painted Shield’s records have been some of the most creative and refreshing albums of the last several years with Stone at the helm of it all. The fact that numerous songs/riffs/ideas that found their way onto Painted Shield Albums were originally intended as PJ songs rejected by Eddie is a travesty.

We can argue over the subjectivity in the word authentic, but Pearl Jam the band has morphed into Pearl Jam the brand.

tragabigzanda wrote:And I for one have never once tried to denigrate their agency, only their choices. Very different things.

that is true

mattyv1908 wrote:

stip wrote:Even an album like REM's collapse into now, which was maybe the first REM album that felt like it was retreading old ideas, never felt like it wasn't the record REM wanted to make, or that they were chasing anything other than their muse. There were just fewer new ideas, but still a bunch of killer songs.

Even if some new things remind us of the old, Pearl Jam hasn't really repeated themselves much within the broad parameters of their brand of rock music. Even if something feels like it is chasing Animal, it's not like there are 30 versions of animal and animal adjacent songs out there already. There is room for a variation on a theme thirty years later

Maybe you don't like the songs, and that's obviously fine. But the larger meta narrative about WHY someone may not like a song is baggage that people carry into a conversation

I think it’s a fair criticism to point out that Eddie at this point has become a caricature of everything he used to abhor. As the person who wrestled creative control of the band into more of his vision, it’s safe to assume the directions the band has taken have his fingerprints all over them. It’s antithetical to the ethos that was ingrained in this band’s earlier work.

As an example of complete juxtaposition, I think Painted Shield’s records have been some of the most creative and refreshing albums of the last several years with Stone at the helm of it all. The fact that numerous songs/riffs/ideas that found their way onto Painted Shield Albums were originally intended as PJ songs rejected by Eddie is a travesty.

We can argue over the subjectivity in the word authentic, but Pearl Jam the band has morphed into Pearl Jam the brand.

when did this happen?