Red Mosquito

dimejinky99 wrote:

Walker Bait wrote:

dimejinky99 wrote:I just learned after ST that its better not to build up too much and expect too much, if anything. I was pretty devastated when I realised I hated ST upon release. And for the same reason. How could my favourite band let me down so badly?
I never wanted to feel that way again, so now I'm like 'let pj be pj, it'll sound like it sounds like, no matter what I want'.

It's like your girlfriend or boyfriend. Don't expect anything and you won't be disappointed

Ewwww I felt like that with Band of Horses latest. I was so devistated. Luckily I've never felt that with Pearl Jam and I hope I never do but I've adopted you're same mentality because of the BoH debacle.

Yeah, the last BOH left me cold too. Great live band though.
Bands are gonna do their own thing, follow their muse or whatever. A Great band makes themselves happy and if we all get it, all to the good. If we don't? We can get fucked.
Look at Neil Young. Always did his own thing.

Yeah supposedly thenext BOH album is supposed to be more traditional BOH and kinda dark according to an interview with Ben. He said they were going for a stripped down classic rock feel but that he was already writing more BOH feeling stuff. Here hoping. And as far as PJ go...as long as they are being true to themselves then I'm happy. Doesn't mean I'll love it all but I'm sure I'll love most of it.

I would really be pretty content with an album I felt like listening to at least weekly till Christmas (assuming it comes out mid-October). I don't love S/T by any means, but it at least stayed in regular rotation till August of that year. Backspacer was out of my regular rotation after like a week, and when I'd go back to it I'd still feel indifferent to it. Even though S/T doesn't feel like a particularly rewarding listen these days, it at least was on consistently enough for a long enough period of time to develop a certain nostalgia factor. Backspacer doesn't even remind me of anything when I hear it. While there's enough other music out there that if album X faded fast for me like Backspacer did it ultimately wouldn't upset me too greatly (there are actually several albums this fall I'm very excited for), I also think it would be really fucking great to have a Pearl Jam album that I could really "live in" for at least a few months, if that makes sense.

Some have accused PJ of sitting down and contriving. 'Lets make a hit single'. I've never felt that. Who knows? You're right though, as long as they're true to themselves it'll be fine.

I've always wondered about each members real feelings towards each record. Stones remarks about Vitalogy(?) inspired that. Itd be cool to know what their favourite/least favourite ones are. We never will though. And that's probably a good thing.

Lament wrote:I would really be pretty content with an album I felt like listening to at least weekly till Christmas (assuming it comes out mid-October). I don't love S/T by any means, but it at least stayed in regular rotation till August of that year. Backspacer was out of my regular rotation after like a week, and when I'd go back to it I'd still feel indifferent to it. Even though S/T doesn't feel like a particularly rewarding listen these days, it at least was on consistently enough for a long enough period of time to develop a certain nostalgia factor. Backspacer doesn't even remind me of anything when I hear it. While there's enough other music out there that if album X faded fast for me like Backspacer did it ultimately wouldn't upset me too greatly (there are actually several albums this fall I'm very excited for), I also think it would be really fucking great to have a Pearl Jam album that I could really "live in" for at least a few months, if that makes sense.

Makes total sense.
Also chimes with the idea that what's going on in your own life around the time you get a record can play a part too. I'm always associating music with events or things happening.
For good or bad reasons

dimejinky99 wrote:

Lament wrote:I would really be pretty content with an album I felt like listening to at least weekly till Christmas (assuming it comes out mid-October). I don't love S/T by any means, but it at least stayed in regular rotation till August of that year. Backspacer was out of my regular rotation after like a week, and when I'd go back to it I'd still feel indifferent to it. Even though S/T doesn't feel like a particularly rewarding listen these days, it at least was on consistently enough for a long enough period of time to develop a certain nostalgia factor. Backspacer doesn't even remind me of anything when I hear it. While there's enough other music out there that if album X faded fast for me like Backspacer did it ultimately wouldn't upset me too greatly (there are actually several albums this fall I'm very excited for), I also think it would be really fucking great to have a Pearl Jam album that I could really "live in" for at least a few months, if that makes sense.

Makes total sense.
Also chimes with the idea that what's going on in your own life around the time you get a record can play a part too. I'm always associating music with events or things happening.
For good or bad reasons

I'm the same way. I associate music with everything. Especially pearl jam. I can listen to any of their albums and it will immediately transport me back to a certain time and place in my life. Some good some bad but the music always makes the good better and the bad endurable. They've helped light the way through some of my darkest days. And I'm positive this next album will have a place just as important in my life.

dimejinky99 wrote:Also chimes with the idea that what's going on in your own life around the time you get a record can play a part too. I'm always associating music with events or things happening.
For good or bad reasons

Yeah. I'm down on Backspacer (like a lot of other people), but there's a certain part of me that sees other fans out there who are discerning (and not just blind-worshippers) who really enjoyed it, and it gives me a certain level of hope. Like I said, S/T is far from great to me, but it did speak enough to where I was at the time to make sense and fit in with my life, whereas there was nothing on Backspacer that spoke to me at all. I'm really hoping even a small uptick in quality combined with themes that speak to me a bit more will be enough to make for a decent enough record. I worry I may be past the point in my life where an album can define a whole period and stay in my player for well over a year like pretty much all of the pre-S/T albums did, so I'm not banking on this one pulling that feat off.

It is a tall order but remember, you're older too. Music used to be my life and I absorbed Anything and everything. That stopped and now I like what I like and fu k the rest. One or two bands a year come along and I love em.

Not saying its the same for you, but as we get older we become a bit wistful about our youth and the passions we had at that time. I'd say Pj fall squarely into that for us all. And that's why they're always on the back foot when it comes to new music.
It has to at least live up to our youthful idea(l) of them and what they mean to us.
Which is impossible really

dimejinky99 wrote:It is a tall order but remember, you're older too. Music used to be my life and I absorbed Anything and everything. That stopped and now I like what I like and fu k the rest. One or two bands a year come along and I love em.

Not saying its the same for you, but as we get older we become a bit wistful about our youth and the passions we had at that time. I'd say Pj fall squarely into that for us all. And that's why they're always on the back foot when it comes to new music.
It has to at least live up to our youthful idea(l) of them and what they mean to us.
Which is impossible really

Improbable maybe but not impossible. At least I dont think so. I think they've still got it in them and I think we are still open to it. But only time will tell I guess.

dimejinky99 wrote:It is a tall order but remember, you're older too. Music used to be my life and I absorbed Anything and everything. That stopped and now I like what I like and fu k the rest. One or two bands a year come along and I love em.

Not saying its the same for you, but as we get older we become a bit wistful about our youth and the passions we had at that time. I'd say Pj fall squarely into that for us all. And that's why they're always on the back foot when it comes to new music.
It has to at least live up to our youthful idea(l) of them and what they mean to us.
Which is impossible really

A really good point. A lot of the other acts I like on the same level as Pearl Jam and who my passions for date back to when music was EVERYTHING to me (PJ Harvey, Manic Street Preachers, U2, Bruce Springsteen, REM, etc.) have all made records that really had huge impacts on me well past my "CONSUME MUSIC AT ALL COSTS" days. I'd really love for Pearl Jam to make a record like that, and I genuinely think they are very capable of doing so. It's just a matter of whether or not they do, and they seem to be working at a slow enough pace that there might not be a lot of chances for them to do so after album X.

I mean, in the grand scheme of things life obviously goes on pretty normally if the new album sucks, and we'll all be fine. But it'd be pretty fucking awesome if it were really above-average.

Remember where you are. It's gonna get slaughtered here no matter what haha

dimejinky99 wrote:Remember where you are. It's gonna get slaughtered here no matter what haha

Oh you know it! Lol and with that i'll see you tomorrow guys. Should be an exciting day. hopefully I can sleep, the anticipation is killing me. Lol

I guess one fear I have is that they'll give us something 'objectively' decent, maybe something I would've enjoyed from PJ at one point, just not now. I mean, if they go all dark and heavy, is it going to speak to this point in my adult life?

Who am I kidding, of course it is.

Well if you didn't like the pop sheen of the last one, we can only hope this one is a dark stormy affair with the odd break in the clouds

dimejinky99 wrote:Well if you didn't like the pop sheen of the last one, we can only hope this one is a dark stormy affair with the odd break in the clouds

I sort of did like the pop sheen, and I think it suited the material. But I also thought it influenced the way they wrote the songs; some of the lyrics were a bit juvenile, occasionally terrible. So I guess that if they go pop sheen on this album, they better go all The Cure on the lyrics, because I want a bit more depth and profundity, yanno? Having said that, yeah, a dark album with a couple of lighter moments might be a good thing.

Lament wrote:

dimejinky99 wrote:I'm with you.
Just hope this isn't phantom menace syndrome and we're building this expectation up past the album. Which we are, undoubtedly.

What do you consider to be a realistic personal expectation for the new album? I would imagine it's different for everyone.

Realistic expectation? No matter what I'll probably be listening to this album almost daily for a few weeks. After that if I can get 4 songs I love and 4 songs I like, with only a few songs I don't care for I'll be happy. That's basically been every album since Vitalogy. I want a few cannonical songs and a record that, if I decide to listen to from start to finish, I'll mostly enjoy.

stip wrote:

Lament wrote:

dimejinky99 wrote:I'm with you.
Just hope this isn't phantom menace syndrome and we're building this expectation up past the album. Which we are, undoubtedly.

What do you consider to be a realistic personal expectation for the new album? I would imagine it's different for everyone.

Realistic expectation? No matter what I'll probably be listening to this album almost daily for a few weeks. After that if I can get 4 songs I love and 4 songs I like, with only a few songs I don't care for I'll be happy. That's basically been every album since Vitalogy. I want a few cannonical songs and a record that, if I decide to listen to from start to finish, I'll mostly enjoy.

This is a good approach.

I'm not interested in anything that wouldn't be great from start to finish.

as a caveat, cuz others have remarked on it before, I am extremely difficult to please with music. I'm not saying that my tastes are better, more sophisticated, etc. It's just hard for me to latch onto songs. I couldn't think of a perfect album in the perfect album thread. So 4-5 songs I love and an overall start to finish listen is pretty huge for me, and pearl jam has always delivered that.

I just realised that if they call this thing 'X', there's going to be a shade of Malcolm X about it as well, given the alleged anti-fascism theme.