Red Mosquito

sweeper wrote:Have to navigate the ads in this one. It also mentions that Wreckage could/should be a huge radio hit.

https://rockcellarmagazine.com/pearl-ja ... ie-vedder/

Thanks! This was a pretty good review, except they skipped over the first two tracks.

I am compiling these links in the first two posts of the Dark Matter album thread. If there are any that I missed can you repost and I'll gather them up

That’s because the bulk of Dark Matter is quality, vintage Pearl Jam, devoid of that nagging feeling of a veteran band straining to reclaim its glory days. Rather, these are quintessentially strong songs full of the life, spirit and confidence that the band has shown for decades.

I like that

I know the industry of music criticism is in a precarious spot right now, but the reviews this cycle have been particularly bad. You can feel them trying to stitch together whatever hits they got on Google about the album into coherent thoughts in the reviews.

digster wrote:I know the industry of music criticism is in a precarious spot right now, but the reviews this cycle have been particularly bad. You can feel them trying to stitch together whatever hits they got on Google about the album into coherent thoughts in the reviews.

Most of em so far have sounded like AI-derived reviews that someone forgot to edit before putting them out

oneway23 wrote:

digster wrote:I know the industry of music criticism is in a precarious spot right now, but the reviews this cycle have been particularly bad. You can feel them trying to stitch together whatever hits they got on Google about the album into coherent thoughts in the reviews.

Most of em so far have sounded like AI-derived reviews that someone forgot to edit before putting them out

true

stip wrote:

That’s because the bulk of Dark Matter is quality, vintage Pearl Jam, devoid of that nagging feeling of a veteran band straining to reclaim its glory days. Rather, these are quintessentially strong songs full of the life, spirit and confidence that the band has shown for decades.

I like that

yep

oneway23 wrote:

digster wrote:I know the industry of music criticism is in a precarious spot right now, but the reviews this cycle have been particularly bad. You can feel them trying to stitch together whatever hits they got on Google about the album into coherent thoughts in the reviews.

Most of em so far have sounded like AI-derived reviews that someone forgot to edit before putting them out

i do not read much music criticism and am embarrassed to admit this didnt occur to me (AI reviews). this seemed like an area youd have no trouble getting people to write for free

stip wrote:

oneway23 wrote:

digster wrote:I know the industry of music criticism is in a precarious spot right now, but the reviews this cycle have been particularly bad. You can feel them trying to stitch together whatever hits they got on Google about the album into coherent thoughts in the reviews.

Most of em so far have sounded like AI-derived reviews that someone forgot to edit before putting them out

i do not read much music criticism and am embarrassed to admit this didnt occur to me (AI reviews). this seemed like an area youd have no trouble getting people to write for free

As per my usual board schtick, I said it somewhat facetiously and with tongue planted firmly in cheek, but, also...kind of not.
It's astonishing how many shops are pumping out AI-based content these days.

A couple more pretty poorly written ones. Have these been shared yet?it’s funny how they have such different opinions about some of the songs.

https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/ ... rk-matter/

https://www.scenepointblank.com/reviews ... rk-matter/

Fattie_Vedder wrote:A couple more pretty poorly written ones. Have these been shared yet?it’s funny how they have such different opinions about some of the songs.

https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/ ... rk-matter/

https://www.scenepointblank.com/reviews ... rk-matter/

The Riff Magazine one wasn't posted before. Thanks!

I also found another review (4/5):

https://www.overdrive.ie/album-review-p ... rk-matter/

Release_Me wrote:

Fattie_Vedder wrote:A couple more pretty poorly written ones. Have these been shared yet?it’s funny how they have such different opinions about some of the songs.

https://riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/ ... rk-matter/

https://www.scenepointblank.com/reviews ... rk-matter/

The Riff Magazine one wasn't posted before. Thanks!

I also found another review (4/5):

https://www.overdrive.ie/album-review-p ... rk-matter/

Thanks for all of these! Awesome to read!

Watt encouraged Pearl Jam to be the guitar rock band it’s always been, which goes with song hooks like cheese with macaroni. He’s also done a great job of encouraging the band to play its instruments with some joy, as the producer managed to pull everyone up in the mix so you can feel the songs, not just hear them. They really sound like they were all on the same page.

Reviews are nice, but what we really need now is a leak.

Even Gigaton didn't leak this late. I remember hearing it a full week before release date. And the promotion is so frustrating that we don't know when the next 30 seconds clip will arrive.

Release_Me wrote:Reviews are nice, but what we really need now is a leak.

Even Gigaton didn't leak this late. I remember hearing it a full week before release date. And the promotion is so frustrating that we don't know when the next 30 seconds clip will arrive.

Yeah, I am really done with looking at websites that look like this. How did I get here?

I kind of made a joke yesterday about AI-based reviews, but, when you have gigantic websites like CNET getting caught using AI to write articles, turning the site into a clickbait content farm, all while having their staff openly lie about it, and you have massive news organizations such as CNN routinely publishing articles with incorrect punctuation and embarrassing grammar, is it any wonder that these one-person blog operations have such awful writing?

The Internet has heralded a steady decline in the quality of written content and a huge explosion in quantity. Most content now is a rush to be the first to provide coverage rather than anything meaningful. The Internet has meant the democratisation of information but with the expectation it is free. No paid-for content means the degradation of thoughtful writing as an occupation and the near collapse of legacy media - and while a lot of traditional media stinks, at least there was a modicum of accountability there compared with the wild west of bedroom bloggers who don't care about factual accuracy and the surge in bad actors that are deliberately trying to mislead due to a specific agenda. It's a catastrophic state of affairs. Anyway, yeah these reviews are shit.

You're right, worms. I can't argue with anything you've said there. I feel like the notion of accountability, in particular, is a really salient point.
There used to be, at the very least, multiple layers of verification and fact-checking involved.

Anyway, right...bring on the leak

oneway23 wrote:You're right, worms. I can't argue with anything you've said here

But do you feel the need to argue?

Val wrote:

oneway23 wrote:You're right, worms. I can't argue with anything you've said here

But do you feel the need to argue?

Have yet to finish the morning coffee while watching Newcastle v. Tottenham, so, no...not particularly...at least not yet. You know I'll be up for it a bit later, though!

song hooks like cheese with macaroni.

WTF