Dark Matter: Official Album Thread

[evenslow]

Ok I'm LAL to the album thanks to PM'ing THEplatypus. (Everyone should do it, he really comes through)

1. Scared of Fear - I like it but didn't levitate like I thought it would based on the early reviews.
2. React, Respond - This is more my speed. Belongs in the all-timer 2-slot with God's Dice.
3. Wreckage - This thing rules. I honestly don't hear Tom Petty much at all. This is just a really good song that the full band has not done in this way ever.
4. Dark Matter - this is fine. I honestly don't get why this was the single. It's not bad but I think they could pick a lot of others. Whatever. The pre-chorus is the shit.
5. Won't Tell - I legit don't know what to compare this to. I'm stumped. They haven't really done this before. I like it though. Good track 5.
6. Upper Hand - Starts like a real hootenanny. I don't know what to say about his. And that's great. Vedder is 5,000 miles away and we are kinda doing an anthem? I can't remember the last time they even attempted something like this. Kinda like Yellow Ledbetter by 60 year olds, and that's a compliment.
7. Waiting for Stevie - how is this not the first single? It conjures up what every generic dipshit loves about Pearl Jam. Just take the obvious choice for once! I actually think Upper Hand is a better song. But man, as an aside, I can see where they do a whole career of songs like this. They just live in Singles-land forever. It's absolutley to their credit that they said fuck all that shit. Everyrone gives Ed shit, but he was undeniably the one that refused to do this shit again and again and instead gave us Vitalogy and No Code (and Jack Irons). God bless him.
8. Running - this song has really grown on me and it's placed absolutely perfectly here. So fun! Bridge of the album??
9. Something Special - I like how it starts loose but why would you put this on a fucking proper album why didn't the rest of the band jump in front of the car for this? I mean, I guess it's fine but what are we doing here? If we're doing the whole Watt does Vs. thing, do we think something approaching this lands on fucking Vs.?? Drop it in before Leash? NOOOOOOO. It's the first track I want to skip.
10. Got to Give - I don't have an immediate feeling but I really like that most of these songs don't sound like a "lodgical extenstion of" anything. It might be the first PJ album ever that's not a total reaction to what came before. I'm into that. That said, this song is generic as shit on first listen. Kinda sounds like nothing.
11. Setting Sun - whoever said Christmas Time nailed it. Surprised Wott had the ability to do the production right on this one.

[unLEASHed]

If anyone call tell me where I can easily do a free upload of a 48 min sound file from an Android phone I'll put this up for anyone still needing it. My recording sounds decent at a high volume. A little talking but I think most would still like the quality.

google drive

Maybe this will work: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Zydks ... sp=sharing

Working fine! Thanks!

You're welcome. How's the sound quality compared to others that have been shared? I find that if you pump up the bass a little, dial back the treble and turn it up pretty high, it's very listenable.

Its more far away, but i can hear his voice and understand the lyrics better (cleaner). someone should mix the two!

[AllNiteThing]

If anyone call tell me where I can easily do a free upload of a 48 min sound file from an Android phone I'll put this up for anyone still needing it. My recording sounds decent at a high volume. A little talking but I think most would still like the quality.

google drive

Maybe this will work: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Zydks ... sp=sharing

Awesome…great companion to compare with the other leak. Thank you so much!

[RockPusher]

If anyone call tell me where I can easily do a free upload of a 48 min sound file from an Android phone I'll put this up for anyone still needing it. My recording sounds decent at a high volume. A little talking but I think most would still like the quality.

google drive

Maybe this will work: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Zydks ... sp=sharing

Awesome…great companion to compare with the other leak. Thank you so much!

[evenslow]

trag you are literally one of my favorite posters here and i value your opinion but I believe you've taken things to a new degree here and whatever. It doesn't affect my view of the new record but I'd be lying if I said the negativity wasn't annoying.

[Homeboyd]

It conjures up what every generic dipshit loves about Pearl Jam.

I've read an unhealthy amount of posts about this leak and this is by far the most poignant and funny comment...

[Val]

who was it who called that drum fill on WFS? I said it wasn't great and I was wrong, now that I can hear it a little better

Me me me me me meeeeee

[WaitingForBluey]

Nice review evenslow, agree with a lot of that

[AllNiteThing]

If anyone call tell me where I can easily do a free upload of a 48 min sound file from an Android phone I'll put this up for anyone still needing it. My recording sounds decent at a high volume. A little talking but I think most would still like the quality.

google drive

Maybe this will work: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Zydks ... sp=sharing

Working fine! Thanks!

You're welcome. How's the sound quality compared to others that have been shared? I find that if you pump up the bass a little, dial back the treble and turn it up pretty high, it's very listenable.

Yours is noticeably but slightly better in quality. You have some chatty talkers in a few places while the other has a louder (but somehow less annoying) baby in spots. Yours does sound better cranked on a stereo.

[Birds in Hell]

Trag i love when you come in with criticism about various aspects of production, song writing, song selection, vocal ticks, business practices....
But to come in and shit on someone whos just enjoying a pseudo leak today.... just says more about you that you are just being a dick on the internet to be a dick. Which isnt who you are.....

its lame.

Love you.

Well it obviously is who I am since I’m doing it

Seriously though…We all bring our biases and preconceived notions. Most seem to start from a position of “it’s pearl jam so I’ll probably love it.” I think it’s limiting, and it also enables the commercial relationship the band has formed with their audience in which they can coast in six weeks a year…

Come to think of it, maybe they were trying to warn us with Army Reserve.

To your first point, isn’t that just fandom? Most of the time the new listener luster wears off and those biases and preconceived notion’s are challenged more. For many, these first impressions and experiences will be the high water mark, and that’s ok. Swinging for the opposite fence out of the gates is perfectly valid but I don’t see how it is less limiting, or even superior, as you seem to be projecting it to be.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this board today.The handwritten reports, shitty leaks and engaging conversation has enriched this release, regardless of how the music will eventually hold up. No one here should feel less than for enjoying it and being excited.

Nice post, and I appreciate your taking me seriously and not just calling me a troll or some such…

I agree no one should feel “less than.” But these guys only have a couple albums left probably, and (without actually hearing the leaks) I assume they will continue to squander the creative freedoms they built for themselves by the rinse-repeat approach that so many seem to be salivating for.

We already have a Foo Fighters.

I'm new around here but I've been around long enough to appreciate your technical critique of the recording process and how that translates into the sound of a studio album ... it's a topic that interests me greatly but which I know very little about. I assume that your technical expertise influences, or maybe even controls, how much enjoyment you're able to get out of these new songs. that's the burden you bear for your technical intelligence. but I don't understand the bolded, above. characterizing an album you haven't heard as the product of squandered creative freedoms, is bizarre to me. you're just imputing your feelings, which are undoubtedly and unavoidably tethered to the emotional connection you have to their earlier work from 30 years ago, when you, the band, the world, were entirely different, onto the band as a collective, and onto the individual band members. what's left is the fairly obvious conclusion, which I'm sure you recognize, that your opinion has literally nothing to do with anything, let alone the perspective from which the album was written/recording, etc. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the album could both be a triumphant album, for a lot of reasons, and also constitute squandered creative freedoms from your perspective. beyond this, making such a statement belies your other sentiment about people rushing to judgment regarding how good the album may be based on an iPhone recording ... which feels hypocritical. you're just doing the inverse, aren't you?

I’m not sure I’m going to ever feel comfortable with Wotman sitting in the room with the band, playing guitar and co-writing the songs; add one song written by Josh K and it really doesn’t feel like the cohesive, band-driven effort they’re pushing in interviews.

Wotman writing the main riff of Waiting for Stevie just feels like the band engaging in a form of Pearl Jam pastiche, it’s very weird.

It’s as though they don’t have a clear idea of their own band identity and are happy to outsource that part to someone else.

Even if the songs turned out great, it feels a little hollow.

I don't understand how I could possibly care about any of that. That feels so superficial. It's like when the preppy girl in high school tells you she's interested in listening to the Misfits and you cringe and dump her instead.

I don’t think it’s anything like that but I do appreciate that many won’t be bothered by the above (or can set aside any concerns providing the songs sound good enough).

I'm going to respond to these together since they touch on similar ideas for me...

What is authenticity in art? Is it less authentic for Pearl Jam to say "We want to spend most of our time with our families, so we make records fast, and use whatever technologies and personalities that allow us to do that"? No, of course not; probably it's the most authentic for them to just do that.

I worry about things like legacy, and the downstream effects of legacy acts normalizing certain behaviors. Rock music can be incredibly powerful, and it happens that the kind of rock music I've always gravitated towards has held a decidedly "band in a room / individual personalities" bent: Jimi Hendrix, Fugazi, Minutemen, Shellac, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and on and on, bands that would immediately feel and sound different the moment you swap out one musician for another.

Like most of you, I've witnessed the introduction of various technologies (roughly in order) -- vocal harmonizers, drum triggers, samplers, ProTools drum quantization, instrument plug-ins, drum replacement software, Antares Auto-Tune, and now AI -- slowly chip away at the most human elements of recorded music. I've probably thought about these tools, and certainly used them, more than others here, but I don't actually this makes me uniquely qualified to hold Pearl Jam to a higher standard. Just use your ears.

Which gets to headsinspeakers suggestion that I am rushing to judgment to invalidate this album. I'd argue no, not really. We've heard a couple official releases, we can hear how the lack of dynamics obliterates certain aspects of the musicians' performances (because rock instruments are plectrum responsive, right? The harder they hit it, the louder it should sound); we've heard the drums that don't sound like any real drum I've ever heard in my life.

Someone posted about how there are some parts where Ed sounds like he's trying to hold notes longer than he can anymore, and I'm curious to hear how this comes across, if it sounds like he's running out of breath, or if it sound inhuman. For a great example of this, listen to Foo Fighters' Monkeywrench, during the "One last thing before I quit..." Crazy how he can pull that off without sounding like he's ever taking a breath, right?

The less human rock music becomes, the more toothless it sounds to me. And while I'm perfectly fine throwing on the latest Foo Fighters record and giving it a whirl because I hold no emotional connection to the band, it's a much taller ask for Pearl Jam, who has meant so much to me.

Monkey_Driven said at one point that he wished Pearl Jam just settled into the Wrecker song style as they aged, and I tend to agree. The moment this band starts sounding like a bunch of guys trying to act younger than their age, that's the moment they've ceased to mean anything of importance to me. They're just some dudes editing waveforms to maximize the listener's wow factor. Rarely have I been wowed by technology in rock music (there are some notable exceptions, like NIN or Radiohead). But perhaps the greatest value proposition this band ever had was the unique alchemy that came from getting their personalities to create music in the same room, and from everything I've heard and read so far, it sounds like they're increasingly willing to commodify certain formulas to maintain a commercial presence.

My prediction is that there will be 3-4 songs I'll admit are great compositions, yet I won't be able to enjoy them because the technical hallmarks -- and the underlying machinations of their commodification -- will be so readily apparent that I'll never get past them.

It would be like seeing a stunningly beautiful woman in a restaurant whom I knew had a bunch of work done. It would feel like a transaction of my knowledge to admit her beauty, and as I get older, I find myself increasingly attracted to the woman at the next table who has just let herself age gracefully, yet naturally.

I don't know if this makes any sense but it's the best I could come up with right now.

Great post, much to agree with.

[Homeboyd]

If anyone call tell me where I can easily do a free upload of a 48 min sound file from an Android phone I'll put this up for anyone still needing it. My recording sounds decent at a high volume. A little talking but I think most would still like the quality.

google drive

Maybe this will work: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Zydks ... sp=sharing

Working fine! Thanks!

You're welcome. How's the sound quality compared to others that have been shared? I find that if you pump up the bass a little, dial back the treble and turn it up pretty high, it's very listenable.

Yours is noticeably but slightly better in quality. You have some chatty talkers in a few places while the other has a louder (but somehow less annoying) baby in spots. Yours does sound better cranked on a stereo.

Baby>>>>no Baby

[scrub12]

A couple moments are giving me Gaslight Anthem vibes, which I’m totally cool with.

[WaitingForBluey]

At this point, let's just rent a room for Spenno and Trag. I'll pitch in a few bucks, any other takers?

[Jorge]

It would be like seeing a stunningly beautiful woman in a restaurant whom I knew had a bunch of work done. It would feel like a transaction of my knowledge to admit her beauty, and as I get older, I find myself increasingly attracted to the woman at the next table who has just let herself age gracefully, yet naturally.

Huh

[evenslow]

Wreckage is really good guys.

[WtOB?]

It would be like seeing a stunningly beautiful woman in a restaurant whom I knew had a bunch of work done. It would feel like a transaction of my knowledge to admit her beauty, and as I get older, I find myself increasingly attracted to the woman at the next table who has just let herself age gracefully, yet naturally.

Huh

not jorge, he likes big tits n fat lips!

[Homeboyd]

At this point, let's just rent a room for Spenno and Trag. I'll pitch in a few bucks, any other takers?

IDGAF about someone else's opinion at this point in my life BUT Spenno and Trag seem predisposed to hate the album no matter what. That to me is, umm, inauthentic, which ironically is one of the things they seem to be railing against in the first place. But, whatever, counterpoints are fun or this would be an echo chamber and nobody wants that.

[Rangi Guy]

After a few listens through - Setting Sun is the one that's hitting the hardest for me right now.

[scrub12]

Wreckage is really good guys.

It’s probably my favorite. Eddie sounds as good as he has in years on it, IMO.

[RockPusher]

At this point, let's just rent a room for Spenno and Trag. I'll pitch in a few bucks, any other takers?

IDGAF about someone else's opinion at this point in my life BUT Spenno and Trag seem predisposed to hate the album no matter what. That to me is, umm, inauthentic, which ironically is one of the things they seem to be railing against in the first place. But, whatever, counterpoints are fun or this would be an echo chamber and nobody wants that.

Yeah. I'm just glad the album is such that I love it. I'm happy AF.