Lightning Bolt: The Official Album Thread

[harmless]

I seriously don't get the dislike of LTRP here. I understand it's mostly just the chorus that people don't like, but what specifically is it about the chorus that people don't like? I'm by no means arguing the merits of anyone's opinion or taste. I'm just wondering what it is specifically that makes the chorus a deal breaker.

I'm going to say again that I really really like this album. Tracks 1-3 are blistering rock songs. These songs all rival any of their counterparts in the catalog Getaway I compare with Ghosts or any other mid tempo rocker. MYM is on par with songs like Save You. MFS is one of their best rock songs, period.

Sirens is still a beautiful ballad. The lyrics are beautiful and Stone and Matt really shine on this one (along with Ed' vocals).

Lightning Bolt isn't holding up as well for me over time, but I'd still consider it a 3.5 or 4 star song. It's catchy and fun and is a really well written tune.

Infallible is fucking awful on the album, but the underlying song is very very good. Live is where this song shows it's true colors. This could have been an all time great PJ song if it was produced differently.

Pendulum seems to be universally loved. I don't love it though. It's the type of song I should love but it just doesn't work for me. I still give it a solid 4 stars and I expect it to click one day and be a 5 star.

SBM is as good or better than I could have imagined. I really only imagined one way they could have pulled it off, and they did just that. Totally met my expectations.

Swallowed Whole is right with MFS as the records best 2 songs and 2 songs that belong in the conversation of Pearl Jam's best songs. I really don't need to elaborate on why this song is awesome (except someone needs to explain to me the "phantom drums" that they hear at the beginning.)

LTRP is fun, has some wicked guitar licks, and really has some nice lyrics. The chorus neither adds or subtracts from the song. There definitely was room to turn the song into something more special, but it's a totally good song as is.

Yellow Moon = Meh. Maybe it will click one day but there's really nothing going on that makes me think it has much of a chance. I can't pick out anything I hate about the song and I also can't pick out a single thing that I love about it. It's just there and serves no purpose.

Future Days can suck an aids dick and die.

So you really, really love the album and can't understand people disliking LTRP, but you dislike 2 or 3 others?

What does me disliking a few songs have to do with me being curious about why some dislike LTRP? It's a very specific thing that I'm interested in. Also I said I DO understand that it's mostly the chorus that some people don't like. I was really wondering what specifically about the chorus is grating or not working. Come on, Harmy. My post wasn't that crazy.

And damnit man, YOU were the one I was hoping could answer that "phantom drums" question. Can you explain that part to me? I hear some type of weird clanky bangy noises in the distance in the first 10 seconds or so of SW. Is that the phantom drums or am I just hearing things at this point?

Don't worry, it was first thing in the morning and I was cranky. You name one or two songs that I like as terrible, and then don't get why others don't like LTRP... there's no accounting for taste, eh?

And yep, those are the phantom drums. There's a faint hi-hat and snare drum being played underneath the music from 0:07 to around 0:13, when Ed comes in, and the phantom drums disappear. The faint hi-hat is in there from 0:00, but it's the snare that bothers me. Matt comes in properly at 0:27. I'm guessing it's a mistake in the recording; Matt played an introduction, they decided they didn't want it, but they turned it down instead of cutting it.

[harmless]

I don't get whether you like the album or not either! What the fuck do you mean with Infallible is awful? yellow Moon is meh? Those are like two of the more 'liked' songs on the album yet you defend LTRP (which is a plodder at best) then bring the hate for obviously better tracks!
Oh btw how could Pendulum not 'click' and be 4 stars man? You need to revisit your mini review and evaluate it again..me thinks.

This was my reaction. Like what you like, of course, but most people would consider LTRP one of the weaker songs, and others to be stronger. Regardless of any of that, I don't know why you'd have that many weaker tracks but still conclude it was a great album.

[HardTI]

I seriously don't get the dislike of LTRP here. I understand it's mostly just the chorus that people don't like, but what specifically is it about the chorus that people don't like? I'm by no means arguing the merits of anyone's opinion or taste. I'm just wondering what it is specifically that makes the chorus a deal breaker.

I'm going to say again that I really really like this album. Tracks 1-3 are blistering rock songs. These songs all rival any of their counterparts in the catalog Getaway I compare with Ghosts or any other mid tempo rocker. MYM is on par with songs like Save You. MFS is one of their best rock songs, period.

Sirens is still a beautiful ballad. The lyrics are beautiful and Stone and Matt really shine on this one (along with Ed' vocals).

Lightning Bolt isn't holding up as well for me over time, but I'd still consider it a 3.5 or 4 star song. It's catchy and fun and is a really well written tune.

Infallible is fucking awful on the album, but the underlying song is very very good. Live is where this song shows it's true colors. This could have been an all time great PJ song if it was produced differently.

Pendulum seems to be universally loved. I don't love it though. It's the type of song I should love but it just doesn't work for me. I still give it a solid 4 stars and I expect it to click one day and be a 5 star.

SBM is as good or better than I could have imagined. I really only imagined one way they could have pulled it off, and they did just that. Totally met my expectations.

Swallowed Whole is right with MFS as the records best 2 songs and 2 songs that belong in the conversation of Pearl Jam's best songs. I really don't need to elaborate on why this song is awesome (except someone needs to explain to me the "phantom drums" that they hear at the beginning.)

LTRP is fun, has some wicked guitar licks, and really has some nice lyrics. The chorus neither adds or subtracts from the song. There definitely was room to turn the song into something more special, but it's a totally good song as is.

Yellow Moon = Meh. Maybe it will click one day but there's really nothing going on that makes me think it has much of a chance. I can't pick out anything I hate about the song and I also can't pick out a single thing that I love about it. It's just there and serves no purpose.

Future Days can suck an aids dick and die.

So you really, really love the album and can't understand people disliking LTRP, but you dislike 2 or 3 others?

What does me disliking a few songs have to do with me being curious about why some dislike LTRP? It's a very specific thing that I'm interested in. Also I said I DO understand that it's mostly the chorus that some people don't like. I was really wondering what specifically about the chorus is grating or not working. Come on, Harmy. My post wasn't that crazy.

And damnit man, YOU were the one I was hoping could answer that "phantom drums" question. Can you explain that part to me? I hear some type of weird clanky bangy noises in the distance in the first 10 seconds or so of SW. Is that the phantom drums or am I just hearing things at this point?

Don't worry, it was first thing in the morning and I was cranky. You name one or two songs that I like as terrible, and then don't get why others don't like LTRP... there's no accounting for taste, eh?

And yep, those are the phantom drums. There's a faint hi-hat and snare drum being played underneath the music from 0:07 to around 0:13, when Ed comes in, and the phantom drums disappear. The faint hi-hat is in there from 0:00, but it's the snare that bothers me. Matt comes in properly at 0:27. I'm guessing it's a mistake in the recording; Matt played an introduction, they decided they didn't want it, but they turned it down instead of cutting it.

I totally get the taste thing so I really never want my posts to sound like I'm calling people out or being dismissive of their opinions. Typically I'm just trying to learn what people like and don't like and then find out why. I was just really interested to hear if there were specific things about the chorus other than the composition itself that bothered some. I really like to dissect music and if I can get someone else's perspective that sometimes helps me understand or appreciate songs in different ways.

Thanks for the explanation too. I used to be very into recording/mixing and I couldn't figure out exactly how this sound got on there. I couldn't tell if it was just someone's mic picking up the drums that were then deleted or what.

[HardTI]

I don't get whether you like the album or not either! What the fuck do you mean with Infallible is awful? yellow Moon is meh? Those are like two of the more 'liked' songs on the album yet you defend LTRP (which is a plodder at best) then bring the hate for obviously better tracks!
Oh btw how could Pendulum not 'click' and be 4 stars man? You need to revisit your mini review and evaluate it again..me thinks.

This was my reaction. Like what you like, of course, but most people would consider LTRP one of the weaker songs, and others to be stronger. Regardless of any of that, I don't know why you'd have that many weaker tracks but still conclude it was a great album.

Maybe I just didn't word things well guys, but I really only had a problem with 3 tracks I think and pretty much adore the rest. Even the tracks I mentioned that I had some issues with, Infallible in particular, I think you guys are really focusing on the one negative part and totally glossing over me saying that I think the song itself is really really strong. I actually praised Infallible more than I shitted on it. FD, I'll be honest, I was kind of being playful there since it's the easiest song to shit on. I don't really hate FD. It's also a song I'll skip more often than not though.

Yellow Moon I'm just meh over so that one is totally a personal taste thing. I still thought my review read much more positive than negative so that's the only part I'm kind of confused over.

[harmless]

I seriously don't get the dislike of LTRP here. I understand it's mostly just the chorus that people don't like, but what specifically is it about the chorus that people don't like? I'm by no means arguing the merits of anyone's opinion or taste. I'm just wondering what it is specifically that makes the chorus a deal breaker.

I'm going to say again that I really really like this album. Tracks 1-3 are blistering rock songs. These songs all rival any of their counterparts in the catalog Getaway I compare with Ghosts or any other mid tempo rocker. MYM is on par with songs like Save You. MFS is one of their best rock songs, period.

Sirens is still a beautiful ballad. The lyrics are beautiful and Stone and Matt really shine on this one (along with Ed' vocals).

Lightning Bolt isn't holding up as well for me over time, but I'd still consider it a 3.5 or 4 star song. It's catchy and fun and is a really well written tune.

Infallible is fucking awful on the album, but the underlying song is very very good. Live is where this song shows it's true colors. This could have been an all time great PJ song if it was produced differently.

Pendulum seems to be universally loved. I don't love it though. It's the type of song I should love but it just doesn't work for me. I still give it a solid 4 stars and I expect it to click one day and be a 5 star.

SBM is as good or better than I could have imagined. I really only imagined one way they could have pulled it off, and they did just that. Totally met my expectations.

Swallowed Whole is right with MFS as the records best 2 songs and 2 songs that belong in the conversation of Pearl Jam's best songs. I really don't need to elaborate on why this song is awesome (except someone needs to explain to me the "phantom drums" that they hear at the beginning.)

LTRP is fun, has some wicked guitar licks, and really has some nice lyrics. The chorus neither adds or subtracts from the song. There definitely was room to turn the song into something more special, but it's a totally good song as is.

Yellow Moon = Meh. Maybe it will click one day but there's really nothing going on that makes me think it has much of a chance. I can't pick out anything I hate about the song and I also can't pick out a single thing that I love about it. It's just there and serves no purpose.

Future Days can suck an aids dick and die.

So you really, really love the album and can't understand people disliking LTRP, but you dislike 2 or 3 others?

What does me disliking a few songs have to do with me being curious about why some dislike LTRP? It's a very specific thing that I'm interested in. Also I said I DO understand that it's mostly the chorus that some people don't like. I was really wondering what specifically about the chorus is grating or not working. Come on, Harmy. My post wasn't that crazy.

And damnit man, YOU were the one I was hoping could answer that "phantom drums" question. Can you explain that part to me? I hear some type of weird clanky bangy noises in the distance in the first 10 seconds or so of SW. Is that the phantom drums or am I just hearing things at this point?

Don't worry, it was first thing in the morning and I was cranky. You name one or two songs that I like as terrible, and then don't get why others don't like LTRP... there's no accounting for taste, eh?

And yep, those are the phantom drums. There's a faint hi-hat and snare drum being played underneath the music from 0:07 to around 0:13, when Ed comes in, and the phantom drums disappear. The faint hi-hat is in there from 0:00, but it's the snare that bothers me. Matt comes in properly at 0:27. I'm guessing it's a mistake in the recording; Matt played an introduction, they decided they didn't want it, but they turned it down instead of cutting it.

I totally get the taste thing so I really never want my posts to sound like I'm calling people out or being dismissive of their opinions. Typically I'm just trying to learn what people like and don't like and then find out why. I was just really interested to hear if there were specific things about the chorus other than the composition itself that bothered some. I really like to dissect music and if I can get someone else's perspective that sometimes helps me understand or appreciate songs in different ways.

Thanks for the explanation too. I used to be very into recording/mixing and I couldn't figure out exactly how this sound got on there. I couldn't tell if it was just someone's mic picking up the drums that were then deleted or what.

Yeah, it could've been that; a mic accidentally picking them up. I don't know. It's vaguely in time with the music (slightly ahead of the beat though, which makes it worse) so that makes me wonder if it was originally intended to be there.

I don't hate LTRP as passionately as some people do. My reason for finding it very frustrating, though, is that I can imagine it being much better if they'd picked one of two directions it goes in, rather than using them both. The song sounds confused.

Direction 1) Take the original riff, which is produced to shiny-fuck on the album, and make a *dirty*, slow, bluesy-groove with it. I have the Lightning Bolt Halloween T-shirt, on which there is a skeleton playing guitar, suggesting that they could've even made this song a little scary, given it a psychobilly vibe. Maybe there could've been a mwa ha ha ha Haunted House laugh / cackle, and a tire screech or something. Just something to give some character.

Or direction 2) Take the chorus, and make a camp glam-rock show-tune, reminiscent of "Jeepers Creepers", or something that T. Rex would've created. If they'd gone that route, they could've still taken the original verse riff, it just would've required a more minimal instrumentation (with a handclap) and a much less shiny production. The guitars on this song have none of the bite that I'm sure Stone intended them to have, and Stone has mentioned T. Rex in interviews, so I'm pretty sure that Option 2 is where he would've taken the song if he had produced it himself.

In any case, Ed took all the camp out of it by singing it. This should've been sung by Stone. It should be this album's "Mankind'. That's why I think that LTRP, while not completely terrible, is a missed opportunity.

[HardTI]

Oh man this song is begging for Stone to sing over it! So if Stone sang the song and the chorus remained as is, would it be an improvement for you? I know for me it would be.

[HardTI]

Guys!
Stone's hair on the main page is magnificent...

[harmless]

Oh man this song is begging for Stone to sing over it! So if Stone sang the song and the chorus remained as is, would it be an improvement for you? I know for me it would be.

Yes, that would probably be enough, if everything else was ignored.

[ABNorman]

My current playlist for this album is:

Getaway
MFS
Sirens
Lightning Bolt
Pendulum
Sleeping By Myself
Future Days

With Infallible & MYM getting the nod sometimes.

[stupidmop]

https://twitter.com/RJBiscotti

LOL. This is a thing.

[stip]

I seriously don't get the dislike of LTRP here. I understand it's mostly just the chorus that people don't like, but what specifically is it about the chorus that people don't like? I'm by no means arguing the merits of anyone's opinion or taste. I'm just wondering what it is specifically that makes the chorus a deal breaker.

I'm going to say again that I really really like this album. Tracks 1-3 are blistering rock songs. These songs all rival any of their counterparts in the catalog Getaway I compare with Ghosts or any other mid tempo rocker. MYM is on par with songs like Save You. MFS is one of their best rock songs, period.

Sirens is still a beautiful ballad. The lyrics are beautiful and Stone and Matt really shine on this one (along with Ed' vocals).

Lightning Bolt isn't holding up as well for me over time, but I'd still consider it a 3.5 or 4 star song. It's catchy and fun and is a really well written tune.

Infallible is fucking awful on the album, but the underlying song is very very good. Live is where this song shows it's true colors. This could have been an all time great PJ song if it was produced differently.

Pendulum seems to be universally loved. I don't love it though. It's the type of song I should love but it just doesn't work for me. I still give it a solid 4 stars and I expect it to click one day and be a 5 star.

SBM is as good or better than I could have imagined. I really only imagined one way they could have pulled it off, and they did just that. Totally met my expectations.

Swallowed Whole is right with MFS as the records best 2 songs and 2 songs that belong in the conversation of Pearl Jam's best songs. I really don't need to elaborate on why this song is awesome (except someone needs to explain to me the "phantom drums" that they hear at the beginning.)

LTRP is fun, has some wicked guitar licks, and really has some nice lyrics. The chorus neither adds or subtracts from the song. There definitely was room to turn the song into something more special, but it's a totally good song as is.

Yellow Moon = Meh. Maybe it will click one day but there's really nothing going on that makes me think it has much of a chance. I can't pick out anything I hate about the song and I also can't pick out a single thing that I love about it. It's just there and serves no purpose.

Future Days can suck an aids dick and die.

given advances in medicine I'm not sure an aids dick is quite the death sentence it once was.

[stip]

although I haven't listened to this album in a few days I suspect I will really enjoy it the next time I hear it.

[McParadigm]

I seriously don't get the dislike of LTRP here....Future Days can suck an aids dick and die.

This is one of the greatest bits of commentary this thread has yet produced.

[evenslow]

I seriously don't get the dislike of LTRP here....Future Days can suck an aids dick and die.

This is one of the greatest bits of commentary this thread has yet produced.

Pretty sure he lifted that line of criticism from Jon Caramanica.

[evenslow]

Did someone from RM write the review in the Hollywood Reporter?

Vedder reminisced at the start of the first encore that Pearl Jam had actually played the Sports Arena before, back in 1991 when the band supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Nirvana. He thanked each of the Chili Peppers by name, and their one-time drummer Jack Irons, who not only went on to do time with Pearl Jam, but was instrumental in the band's formation from the ashes of Mother Love Bone by passing Vedder a demo tape of the instrumentalists looking for a new singer.

[Mine]

Did someone from RM write the review in the Hollywood Reporter?

Vedder reminisced at the start of the first encore that Pearl Jam had actually played the Sports Arena before, back in 1991 when the band supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Nirvana. He thanked each of the Chili Peppers by name, and their one-time drummer Jack Irons, who not only went on to do time with Pearl Jam, but was instrumental in the band's formation from the ashes of Mother Love Bone by passing Vedder a demo tape of the instrumentalists looking for a new singer.

You thing it's a joke here exclusively?

[harmless]

Did someone from RM write the review in the Hollywood Reporter?

Vedder reminisced at the start of the first encore that Pearl Jam had actually played the Sports Arena before, back in 1991 when the band supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Nirvana. He thanked each of the Chili Peppers by name, and their one-time drummer Jack Irons, who not only went on to do time with Pearl Jam, but was instrumental in the band's formation from the ashes of Mother Love Bone by passing Vedder a demo tape of the instrumentalists looking for a new singer.

You thing it's a joke here exclusively?

I don't think it's a meme used here exclusively, but most people aren't joking about it.

[Mine]

Did someone from RM write the review in the Hollywood Reporter?

Vedder reminisced at the start of the first encore that Pearl Jam had actually played the Sports Arena before, back in 1991 when the band supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers with Nirvana. He thanked each of the Chili Peppers by name, and their one-time drummer Jack Irons, who not only went on to do time with Pearl Jam, but was instrumental in the band's formation from the ashes of Mother Love Bone by passing Vedder a demo tape of the instrumentalists looking for a new singer.

You thing it's a joke here exclusively?

I don't think it's a meme used here exclusively, but most people aren't joking about it.

i have no idea to be honest.

[HardTI]

I seriously don't get the dislike of LTRP here....Future Days can suck an aids dick and die.

This is one of the greatest bits of commentary this thread has yet produced.

Pretty sure he lifted that line of criticism from Jon Caramanica.

I know not who this Jon Carmanica is. Did he suck an aids dick too?

[VinylGuy]

Listened after a while and it got better. Im pretty much in love with this album.

But yeah, Future Days still suck.