Red Mosquito

Jorge wrote:I think it was either Kevin Davis or Epilogue who said "Comes Then Goes" reminds them of the Colin Meloy acoustic ballads like "June Hymn" and "January Hymn" and I definitely hear it; I like those songs quite a bit, there's a grace and an effortlessness about them. But something about "Comes Then Goes" feels weighty, laborious and awkward to my ear, and I think it comes down to the lyrics and the length

I kind of like lengthy, folk song-like, hymn-like songs with lots of verses; CTG definitely isn't as good as the best of them ("Hallelujah" for example) but I think it's pleasing enough to my ear that I enjoy the horse and cart-ride for its duration

Jorge wrote:I think it was either Kevin Davis or Epilogue who said "Comes Then Goes" reminds them of the Colin Meloy acoustic ballads like "June Hymn" and "January Hymn" and I definitely hear it; I like those songs quite a bit, there's a grace and an effortlessness about them. But something about "Comes Then Goes" feels weighty, laborious and awkward to my ear, and I think it comes down to the lyrics and the length

If it was a Colin meloy reference it was 100% epilogue

Taken in isolation I think CTG is fine. I've really warmed to it. But as part of the Gigaton tracklisting
..ugh, it just ruins the flow of the album and drags an already slow second half of the album into the doldrums. Just doesnt work as an album track for me.

I completely get that; personally I feel much more "in the doldrums" with the second half of Binaural; for some reason I find Gigaton's three possible endings charming, it's like being in a bumper car and grinding to a jarring hault

igotworms wrote:Taken in isolation I think CTG is fine. I've really warmed to it. But as part of the Gigaton tracklisting
..ugh, it just ruins the flow of the album and drags an already slow second half of the album into the doldrums. Just doesnt work as an album track for me.

it is a very slow conclusion. Buckle Up -> CTG -> Retrograde -> River Cross is a pretty slow ending.

CTG might have been better as a stand alone release, though given how private Eddie is about it I wonder if they/he wanted to avoid that

something I love about PJ's best albums is that however otherwise commercial they feel, they've always got to throw in something jarring and complicated about the listening experience, something slightly self-sabotaging, or it wouldn't be Pearl Jam

bodysnatcher wrote:

Jorge wrote:I think it was either Kevin Davis or Epilogue who said "Comes Then Goes" reminds them of the Colin Meloy acoustic ballads like "June Hymn" and "January Hymn" and I definitely hear it; I like those songs quite a bit, there's a grace and an effortlessness about them. But something about "Comes Then Goes" feels weighty, laborious and awkward to my ear, and I think it comes down to the lyrics and the length

If it was a Colin meloy reference it was 100% epilogue

Normally, yes. But I'm certain this was a KD observation. Just one more reason why we don't deserve KD.

Ms Harmless wrote:something I love about PJ's best albums is that however otherwise commercial they feel, they've always got to throw in something jarring and complicated about the listening experience, something slightly self-sabotaging, or it wouldn't be Pearl Jam

I guess I feel like in their worst albums, they're still doing this but not on purpose

Jorge wrote:I think it was either Kevin Davis or Epilogue who said "Comes Then Goes" reminds them of the Colin Meloy acoustic ballads like "June Hymn" and "January Hymn"

Oh, wow. I will never not hear it now.

But something about "Comes Then Goes" feels weighty, laborious and awkward to my ear, and I think it comes down to the lyrics and the length

Personally, I like all of the verses…but I feel like the chorus either needed to do something more interesting with itself, or to pull back quite a bit and provide a moment of empty, reflective space between the lengthy passages.

I feel like we haven't roasted Harmless enough for the phone speakers thing.

Most of your music listening? Truly horrifying.

it's what stops the song from being in that true upper echelon for me. Especially because you'd need the chorus to break up the drone of the verses.

Ello Sailor wrote:I feel like we haven't roasted Harmless enough for the phone speakers thing.

Most of your music listening? Truly horrifying.

Do you know how much posting I had to do to move us past this?

it was a lot

stip wrote:it was a lot

I hope AB Norman sees your request for that Dark Matter filter!

stip wrote:

Ello Sailor wrote:I feel like we haven't roasted Harmless enough for the phone speakers thing.

Most of your music listening? Truly horrifying.

Do you know how much posting I had to do to move us past this?

I'll move on when Jorge sends her another set of headphones. He has to have at least a dozen pairs lying around.

Do the right thing, Jorge.

Ello Sailor wrote:

stip wrote:

Ello Sailor wrote:I feel like we haven't roasted Harmless enough for the phone speakers thing.

Most of your music listening? Truly horrifying.

Do you know how much posting I had to do to move us past this?

I'll move on when Jorge sends her another set of headphones. He has to have at least a dozen pairs lying around.

he already did, I lost them escaping an abusive relationship with none of my belongings

literally all of you have the power to move on from taking the piss out of me, I fucking know you do

[comes out of retirement] Leave Harmless alone, you fuckers [goes back into retirement]

Jorge wrote:I think it was either Kevin Davis or Epilogue who said "Comes Then Goes" reminds them of the Colin Meloy acoustic ballads like "June Hymn" and "January Hymn" and I definitely hear it; I like those songs quite a bit, there's a grace and an effortlessness about them. But something about "Comes Then Goes" feels weighty, laborious and awkward to my ear, and I think it comes down to the lyrics and the length

The guitar-playing too -- there are a few parts where he bangs around in a way that feels really leaden, like he's imaginging a full band behind him that isn't there. The Decemberists tunes have a weightlessness to them that this song doesn't, and Meloy's voice has a natural whimsy that lends itself to this sort of thing. Eddie's voice naturally just feels a lot heavier.

That said, I don't often think of "Comes Then Goes" as being among my favorites on Gigaton but I just played it and really enjoyed it -- it wouldn't suffer from a little editing but overall I liked it quite a bit.