Red Mosquito

Birds in Hell wrote:

LetMeSleep wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:The music of Inside Job isn't bad.

And I mean, really, who cares about lyrics? They're just words.

hahaha too obvious.

It sounds flippant but I do genuinely mean it.

Lyrics rank somewhere below production choices, snare drum sounds and guitar tone in the things I care about in a song. Unless they're unavoidably terrible to the point where I can't help but notice them (which, admittedly, Inside Job is getting pretty close to) I really don't care that much. They're a pretty minor part of a song to me.

I'm the same way, lyrics seldom make any impact on me at all, but inside job crosses that rare threshold into shittown.

Perhaps Herzberg's two factor / motivation theory is of help here. Lyrics in music are a hygiene factor; bad lyrics destroy a song no matter how good the music. I'd use a personal example of Alter Bridge - I actually enjoy the music and the singer can sing but the lyrics are generally awful.

And as a counterfactual; Pearl Jam with bad lyrics is just Creed.

Just got in and trying to follow along but totally lost...

Anyways, spent the evening trying to tell friends about how awesome this week was and the whole PJTrackReveal thing and I just got a bunch of "Oh, that's cool", blank stares, "Dude, you love Pearl Jam way too much", etc. etc. etc.

Well, basically my only conclusion is that my friends fuckin' suck... and you guys are awesome! Thanks for sharing this week with me fellas! (and ladies too! no need to discount the better half... if any of you actually exist in RM world?)


p.s. and no, I have no interest in speculating for the next 45 days about what each song might sound like... so later dudes, I'll check back in on 10/15.... over and out (lightning bowldts..... )

Birds in Hell wrote:

stip wrote:Songs can just be wordless vocalizations.

This is all vocals are, for the most part, just with a few extra bits thrown in. It's just noises.

I find more mood and depth of meaning in choices of melody, chord progression, etc.

So you throw your hat in the ring of a band that has spent most of its career on previously tested progressions and "remember those other bands?" melodies? Whatever floats your boat.

I won't argue the idea that lyrics aren't going to be important to everybody...however, I can't help but feel the need to note that nobody has ever felt compelled to initiate this exact conversation while talking about a really great song. It always seems to come up when a middle aged special ed attempt at "deeper wisdom" shitstorm like Inside Job is on the plate.

bluestate wrote:p.s. and no, I have no interest in speculating for the next 45 days about what each song might sound like... so later dudes, I'll check back in on 10/15.... over and out (lightning bowldts..... )

Before then we'll get:
Letterman or Conan
Second single
German listening party with Voldermort
EPK
Lightning Bowldt merch

Imagine all the expressions of disappointment you will miss.

bluestate wrote:
Well, basically my only conclusion is that my friends fuckin' suck... and you guys are awesome!

Aaaaaaaw... We can be your friends too, kido!
Attention everybody! Group hug!

Blenheim August wrote: German listening party with Voldermort

bluestate wrote:Just got in and trying to follow along but totally lost...

Anyways, spent the evening trying to tell friends about how awesome this week was and the whole PJTrackReveal thing and I just got a bunch of "Oh, that's cool", blank stares, "Dude, you love Pearl Jam way too much", etc. etc. etc.

Well, basically my only conclusion is that my friends fuckin' suck... and you guys are awesome! Thanks for sharing this week with me fellas! (and ladies too! no need to discount the better half... if any of you actually exist in RM world?)


p.s. and no, I have no interest in speculating for the next 45 days about what each song might sound like... so later dudes, I'll check back in on 10/15.... over and out (lightning bowldts..... )

I think your friends are kinda right though. It's just a fucking tracklist after all.

McParadigm wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:

stip wrote:Songs can just be wordless vocalizations.

This is all vocals are, for the most part, just with a few extra bits thrown in. It's just noises.

I find more mood and depth of meaning in choices of melody, chord progression, etc.

So you throw your hat in the ring of a band that has spent most of its career on previously tested progressions and "remember those other bands?" melodies? Whatever floats your boat.

I won't argue the idea that lyrics aren't going to be important to everybody...however, I can't help but feel the need to note that nobody has ever felt compelled to initiate this exact conversation while talking about a really great song. It always seems to come up when a middle aged special ed attempt at "deeper wisdom" shitstorm like Inside Job is on the plate.

Let's initiate this conversation while talking about a really great song. I give you Evenflow. Inside Job lyrics were not Ed, by the way.

Personally, Ed's lyrics and vocals are what makes this band great. His voice, especially back in the day, made songs like Evenflow sound great. I can't imagine that song working with any other singer. The band would have lost me after Vitalogy if it weren't for Ed. I'm in it for his voice and lyrics, mainly. The music is always an accompaniment to Ed. No Code-Riot Act was especially frustrating for me because the music, which I never thought was that awesome in the first place, started to overshadow Ed who's main contribution became the lyrics rather than his actual singing. He caged himself as a singer is what I felt. From S/T onwards, I like the albums better because Ed is giving it some actual effort. I'm back to actually liking the band rather than appreciating them.

Before people start to go insane over this 'heresy', please note that it is just my opinion.

Blenheim Augustine wrote:And as a counterfactual; Pearl Jam with bad lyrics is just Creed.

Yeah, not so much.

Musically, PJ are not that unique as a band. Very proficient musicians, nonetheless. However, I think Ed's vocal melodies are unique. They are an integral part of the Pearl Jam sound and what gives the band their X-factor. I think he also generally does a great job of conveying emotion with his lyrics. Personally, his lyrics always resonate with me. What I feel is that PJ would have been just a good rock band if it weren't for Ed. He makes them great. He is the biggest piece of the puzzle.

I'm not downplaying Ed's role in the band at all; it's more that I think his most important contribution to the band's sound is the timbre of his voice and his sense of phrasing, not his lyrics.

Birds in Hell wrote:

Blenheim Augustine wrote:And as a counterfactual; Pearl Jam with bad lyrics is just Creed.

Yeah, not so much.

Ok - I was being a bit unfair to Creed's lyrical content.

Release_Me wrote:Musically, PJ are not that unique as a band. Very proficient musicians, nonetheless. However, I think Ed's vocal melodies are unique. They are an integral part of the Pearl Jam sound and what gives the band their X-factor. I think he also generally does a great job of conveying emotion with his lyrics. Personally, his lyrics always resonate with me. What I feel is that PJ would have been just a good rock band if it weren't for Ed. He makes them great. He is the biggest piece of the puzzle.

It occurred to me once that PJ is in essence just another rock band who are able to stand out thanks to Ed and Mike.

Release_Me wrote:

McParadigm wrote:

Birds in Hell wrote:

stip wrote:Songs can just be wordless vocalizations.

This is all vocals are, for the most part, just with a few extra bits thrown in. It's just noises.

I find more mood and depth of meaning in choices of melody, chord progression, etc.

So you throw your hat in the ring of a band that has spent most of its career on previously tested progressions and "remember those other bands?" melodies? Whatever floats your boat.

I won't argue the idea that lyrics aren't going to be important to everybody...however, I can't help but feel the need to note that nobody has ever felt compelled to initiate this exact conversation while talking about a really great song. It always seems to come up when a middle aged special ed attempt at "deeper wisdom" shitstorm like Inside Job is on the plate.

Let's initiate this conversation while talking about a really great song. I give you Evenflow. Inside Job lyrics were not Ed, by the way.

Personally, Ed's lyrics and vocals are what makes this band great. His voice, especially back in the day, made songs like Evenflow sound great. I can't imagine that song working with any other singer. The band would have lost me after Vitalogy if it weren't for Ed. I'm in it for his voice and lyrics, mainly. The music is always an accompaniment to Ed. No Code-Riot Act was especially frustrating for me because the music, which I never thought was that awesome in the first place, started to overshadow Ed who's main contribution became the lyrics rather than his actual singing. He caged himself as a singer is what I felt. From S/T onwards, I like the albums better because Ed is giving it some actual effort. I'm back to actually liking the band rather than appreciating them.

Before people start to go insane over this 'heresy', please note that it is just my opinion.

Ed's vocals are one of the reasons why I prefer the No Code-Riot Act era. I think he sounds terrible on s/t and backspacer. Which might or might not be the production's fault but it doesn't matter anyway.

The only album in that era where Ed's vocals stand out to me is Yield. That's why I like it the best among those albums. I preferred Ed's vocals on S/T and Backspacer to anything from the middle period. Aside form certain songs, his singing in the middle period was quite lifeless to my ears. He rarely, if ever, sounds bad because he has a great tone but he didn't go for much in this period. There was nothing memorable about his singing, in general, from those years for me.

Birds in Hell wrote:I'm not downplaying Ed's role in the band at all; it's more that I think his most important contribution to the band's sound is the timbre of his voice and his sense of phrasing, not his lyrics.

Fair enough. I happen to like his lyrics a lot. But I too like the delivery of the lyrics and what he does with his voice more than anything else.

Ed's voice suits his writing really well, and it was years before I really understood that many pearl jam songs that I thought had brilliant lyrics had brilliant lyrics because of how Ed sang them. What he was saying mattered, but what he was saying was elevated by how he said them

stip wrote:Ed's voice suits his writing really well, and it was years before I really understood that many pearl jam songs that I thought had brilliant lyrics had brilliant lyrics because of how Ed sang them. What he was saying mattered, but what he was saying was elevated by how he said them

The sum of his talents is bigger then any of them alone. In my opinion this is what actually matters in how a song turns out. Great lyrics get lost on music that don't fit them and esoteric chord progressions/key changes/time signatures do more harm then good if they're there just for the sake of it.