Dark Matter (song)

[WaitingForBluey]

Eh, don't want to break up the party here but... isn't there anyone else with me on #TeamKindaBoring?

[Jaeti]

This is the "rock" hit people have wanted from Pearl Jam for the last 25 years. I can't believe they finally did it. Andrew Watt is probably reading this board tonight and laughing at how much we doubted him.

Not all of us. Not the Earthling fans.

[liebzz]

I am don’t mean to pour cold water on this, I love the new song, and I want the instrumental version. I may just order the digital of that though. I went to order the $11.99 single on 10C (which is a lot for two songs), and it showed $13 shipping, and my total was $27 for a single. Not happening.

[Monkey_Driven]

Eh, don't want to break up the party here but... isn't there anyone else with me on #TeamKindaBoring?

I don't find it boring, but it does seem to be missing that special sauce that defines their top, top songs.

[Bi_3]

when Ed says "best work to date" I'm really wondering if what he means is best work post-trauma of Roskilde; that sort of thing will genuinely erase your memory of anything prior *and* any inclination to creatively return to it

I'm thrilled and slightly emotional that this song makes them sound both happy *and* revitalised *and* the intricate musicians I know they can be, in a way that leaves so many of us satisfied

I've always interpreted that to mean "best experience collaboratively creating art" vs "best album", but the idea of a mental reboot after Roskilde is interesting.

[Bi_3]

Eh, don't want to break up the party here but... isn't there anyone else with me on #TeamKindaBoring?

I don't find it boring, but it does seem to be missing that special sauce that defines their top, top songs.

Not boring but not innovative or surprising in the way DotC was.

[WaitingForBluey]

I am don’t mean to pour cold water on this, I love the new song, and I want the instrumental version. I may just order the digital of that though. I went to order the $11.99 single on 10C (which is a lot for two songs), and it showed $13 shipping, and my total was $27 for a single. Not happening.

The PRAMG Strikes Back

[CopperTom]

I am don’t mean to pour cold water on this, I love the new song, and I want the instrumental version. I may just order the digital of that though. I went to order the $11.99 single on 10C (which is a lot for two songs), and it showed $13 shipping, and my total was $27 for a single. Not happening.

That pissed me off too. I just wanted the CD. I'll buy it elsewhere.

[WaitingForBluey]

Eh, don't want to break up the party here but... isn't there anyone else with me on #TeamKindaBoring?

I don't find it boring, but it does seem to be missing that special sauce that defines their top, top songs.

Not boring but not innovative or surprising in the way DotC was.

After first listen, DotC came on next. I got a little sad.

[dprival78]

Eh, don't want to break up the party here but... isn't there anyone else with me on #TeamKindaBoring?

I don't find it boring, but it does seem to be missing that special sauce that defines their top, top songs.

this is where i'm at. i will say that i'm liking it more this morning after a cup of coffee, compared to at 2am when i was angry that i was awake.

[Jaeti]

some random thoughts.

EV sounds great on this, because he is in the mix and not on top, it allows him to be aggressive within the music rather than sticking out and having to overthink every syllable. excellent work EV and wontman..

that being said;take away the cool vocal melody and it is a bit of an overblown meat and bun rocker. not a fan of the relentless pounding, or main riff that sounds like wotman interrupted stone, took his guitar and said "no, like this!"

Excerpted a couple of thoughts I think I strongly agree with.

[stip]

Eh, don't want to break up the party here but... isn't there anyone else with me on #TeamKindaBoring?

I don't think this will be an all timer like Dance was (though it took Dance a while to settle into that status). But it's a meat and potatoes song that used to be their bread and butter that many people thought they couldn't pull off anymore. And they did, in a way that doesn't feel like a retread. And it is weirdly fresh in that this is not a song they've been chasing for a few albums. It is also a 'proof of concept' single in a way that Dance wasn't. That they could come back together as a unit and write classicist pearl jam songs without it feeling forced or tired.

McParadigm said this early in the thread, but the long term prospects of a song that is not a particularly complex piece in its own right, will depend on how well it sits in the context of the rest of the record. Pearl Jam writes and sequences albums, of which the individual songs are component parts.

None of this is intended as backhanded criticism. I've logged 20+ listens already I would guess, and I am still picking up on details and excited for everything I hear.

[Ms Harmless]

I don't love Ed's high scream at 2.18, I wish he wouldn't do that all the time, but at least it's not entire choruses of that here

[Johnny Turner]

Love the song, especially the Chorus and the final part.

My first impressions of DotC was a good idea but incomplete, kind of a missed opportunity. This one, while not as innovative as the previous, has everything I need for a full song. Like there's nothing I"d think to add or change.

Still, need a live version now to make it reach another level. Also love when the drum machine comes in the first words of the verse.

[stip]

I don't love Ed's high scream at 2.18, I wish he wouldn't do that all the time, but at least it's not entire choruses of that here

The one that comes out of the bridge is a better version of it. It works well for me as punctuation.

As much as I go to bat for screechy Ed (some of my favorite songs of theirs), when Ed sings in his comfortable registrar (and when he pushes softly against its upper bounds but stays in control) I get kind of mad that he just doesn't park himself in that space all the time. When he is in his sweet spot nothing hits me quite as hard. It's a warm blanket and mountain summit and a satisfying righteousness all at once.

[Ms Harmless]

the micro off-kilter low notes sung in between the longer high ones in the chorus are some lovely ear candy

I don't find this song hugely original but I do find it to be put together with care and intricately played, and that's a feeling I get with all of my "PJ at their best"; its nice to have that feeling again

[Ms Harmless]

I don't love Ed's high scream at 2.18, I wish he wouldn't do that all the time, but at least it's not entire choruses of that here

The one that comes out of the bridge is a better version of it. It works well for me as punctuation.

As much as I go to bat for screechy Ed (some of my favorite songs of theirs), when Ed sings in his comfortable registrar (and when he pushes softly against its upper bounds but stays in control) I get kind of mad that he just doesn't park himself in that space all the time. When he is in his sweet spot nothing hits me quite as hard. It's a warm blanket and mountain summit and a satisfying righteousness all at once.

totally

[Jaeti]

Everyone sounds great. The song itself is alright, but it's elevated by the performances. They're playing the shit out of it.

[lecherouslittlestump]

I will withhold my opinion until I've heard the amateur slowed/reverb/doomer remix on YouTube

[Ms Harmless]

Dark Matter "perfectly slowed"

Dark Matter (nightcore mix)