Red Mosquito

hlniv wrote:

harmless wrote:

hlniv wrote:

Juvenal wrote:Future Days and Let The Records Play are still wank.

ftfy

I'm still confused about how you could say SBM 'doesn't belong', and yet FD and LTRP are also really bad. Isn't the jury out about which of these songs 'doesn't belong', especially if SBM is the best one?

I will try to eliminate your confusion with a more thorough explanation-

Both Future Days and Let The Records Play were honest attempts by the band to create something in the course of an album. That cannot be said for SBM.

LTRP was born from a little stone riff (and a good one at that), and a conscious decision was made to blues the shit out of it. Fine, there are moments in the song where I think they achieve the connection between blues and the truest of PJ rock, but it's fleeting. The intro lick, the bridge, the opportunity for a scorching Mike solo (re: Worcester 1 played behind his head). Taken as a whole, the tune just never achieves its goals, ends up just being PJ plays the blues. There is a total lack of creative application during the verses and chorus. It fits on the album, as I can't imagine it being any where else except here or on the cutting room floor. It's just that it's not very good. Something can fit, but not be very good. That is the case with LTRP. I might skip it, but it certainly feels like a part of the album.

Future Days is a potentially beautiful song. Beauty in the vein of a number of well done slow ballads this band has put out. I understand the goal with the tune, the feeling that it is intended to convey and how it creates closure to the album. Hell, that's the whole point of the damn piano bookends. In this case, however, poor instrumental choices doom the song. Even without the crap piano intro/outro, Ed's guitar is flat, the bridge throws way too much at you sonically for such a stripped tune, everything just sucks the beauty right out of the melody. Again, this song feels like part of the album, it certainly has a place that makes sense, but ultimately just underachieves.

Sleeping By Myself is the total opposite. I really do like it. But it feels like a bright blue sapphire in a sea of gold and silver. It doesn't belong. It stands out in just about every performance, percussion, vocals/harmonies, even the guitars have a unique feel compared to every other song on the album. At many levels, it really feels like a different artist, even. Parachutes on S/T was different, yes, it was an outlier in terms of melody and structure. But, it fit within that album, because there was a record around it that felt connected to it. Not with SBM, it feels to me to be quite disconnected. It would be perfect as a xmas single or b-side, and it would be one of the good ones, sought out for rare setlist appearances, etc.. There's a reason it hasn't been played on tour yet, it just doesn't mesh with most of the rest of the catalog, including the album on which it exists.

As far as the "jury being out", I'd say my opinions have pretty well been formed on this album at this point, and I bet that's the case for most everyone who reads this. The only thing that could significantly alter what i think about this record or individual tracks on the record now would be a prolonged (many months or years) period of it sitting on a shelf and having no listens whatsoever.

To summarize:

SBM : good song, bad decision = doesn't fit
LTRP : good concept, poor execution = fits but fails
FD : good songwriting/melody, horrible instrumentation/production = fits but fails

Lament wrote:There was a really nice moment where I pulled off of I-65 and into downtown Nashville during some rain and Sleeping By Myself started playing. If the song forever reminds me of that moment, I could see myself enjoying it if it pops on from time to time.

darth_vedder wrote:
Love me some Woodford, good stuff. I've been on a Rye and Scotch kick lately.

Here is the vine clip:
https://vine.co/v/b2Px66xx6Tl

evenslow wrote: how are we supposed to say your username in our head hlniv?

Lament wrote:I played this in its entirety while driving through Kentucky and Tennessee tonight. I'm really pretty indifferent to it. I found myself getting into the first three songs. I still enjoy Mind Your Manners more than I thought I would this far down the road. My Father's Son is definitely one of my favorite five or six post-Riot Act songs. Once Sirens started, I just wanted to get to Swallowed Whole. Even during Infallible and Pendulum, I found myself wanting to skip ahead. Pendulum would've made a cool closer though. Swallowed Whole is just awesome, and I'm sure I'll continue to play it several times a week for quite a while. It's my favorite post-RA song at this point, and I feel like when everything settles, it'll still sit in one of the higher echelons of the catalog for me. There was a really nice moment where I pulled off of I-65 and into downtown Nashville during some rain and Sleeping By Myself started playing. If the song forever reminds me of that moment, I could see myself enjoying it if it pops on from time to time. Future Days is still my least favorite Pearl Jam song ever. The piano at the beginning and end is actually the best part of it.

It would surprise me if I play this from start to finish again anytime soon. I forced myself to do it one more time tonight, and it still just seems stunningly average to me.

Lament wrote:I played this in its entirety while driving through Kentucky and Tennessee tonight. I'm really pretty indifferent to it. I found myself getting into the first three songs. I still enjoy Mind Your Manners more than I thought I would this far down the road. My Father's Son is definitely one of my favorite five or six post-Riot Act songs. Once Sirens started, I just wanted to get to Swallowed Whole. Even during Infallible and Pendulum, I found myself wanting to skip ahead. Pendulum would've made a cool closer though. Swallowed Whole is just awesome, and I'm sure I'll continue to play it several times a week for quite a while. It's my favorite post-RA song at this point, and I feel like when everything settles, it'll still sit in one of the higher echelons of the catalog for me. There was a really nice moment where I pulled off of I-65 and into downtown Nashville during some rain and Sleeping By Myself started playing. If the song forever reminds me of that moment, I could see myself enjoying it if it pops on from time to time. Future Days is still my least favorite Pearl Jam song ever. The piano at the beginning and end is actually the best part of it.

It would surprise me if I play this from start to finish again anytime soon. I forced myself to do it one more time tonight, and it still just seems stunningly average to me.

hlniv wrote:

evenslow wrote: how are we supposed to say your username in our head hlniv?

Good question. My username planning wasn't not ideal.

Heelenivee

evenslow wrote:

hlniv wrote:

evenslow wrote: how are we supposed to say your username in our head hlniv?

Good question. My username planning wasn't not ideal.

Heelenivee

I just said it aloud and my family thought I had a stroke.

BurtReynolds wrote:

evenslow wrote:

hlniv wrote:

evenslow wrote: how are we supposed to say your username in our head hlniv?

Good question. My username planning wasn't not ideal.

Heelenivee

I just said it aloud and my family thought I had a stroke.

i say Hellniv.

hlniv wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:

evenslow wrote:

hlniv wrote:

evenslow wrote: how are we supposed to say your username in our head hlniv?

Good question. My username planning wasn't not ideal.

Heelenivee

I just said it aloud and my family thought I had a stroke.

i say Hellniv.

I approve this pronunciation

BurtReynolds wrote:Gave it a listen for the first time in about a month.

getaway: pretty cool
...then I kinda faded out for a minute...
Sirens: got my attention, and I mean that in the worst way possible.
Lightning Bolt: I loathe this song.
...then another song happened...
Pendulum: is nice
then some other songs happened...
Couldn't finish. Stopped around SBM to go watch Magnum P.I. reruns with my dog.

Dr. Van Nostrand wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Gave it a listen for the first time in about a month.

getaway: pretty cool
...then I kinda faded out for a minute...
Sirens: got my attention, and I mean that in the worst way possible.
Lightning Bolt: I loathe this song.
...then another song happened...
Pendulum: is nice
then some other songs happened...
Couldn't finish. Stopped around SBM to go watch Magnum P.I. reruns with my dog.

how did your dog like the album

BurtReynolds wrote:

Dr. Van Nostrand wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Gave it a listen for the first time in about a month.

getaway: pretty cool
...then I kinda faded out for a minute...
Sirens: got my attention, and I mean that in the worst way possible.
Lightning Bolt: I loathe this song.
...then another song happened...
Pendulum: is nice
then some other songs happened...
Couldn't finish. Stopped around SBM to go watch Magnum P.I. reruns with my dog.

how did your dog like the album

He NEVER leaves my side when I'm home, but last night he got up and walked to the living room when I put LB on. Maybe he's just a big fan of Tom Selleck.