Red Mosquito

Got really nostalgic for 2006 today. I followed the tour from San Diego up to the end at The Gorge. 10 shows I think? All of the non-GA shows I had 10c seats in the first 15 rows. Shows were all great if not life-changing. What a time. This album will always hold a very special place. I still need to find that non-brickwalled version after all these years.

the way Ed's voice is doubled up on two octaves for "big man stands behind an open door" is really cool

I had a Severed Hand renaissance a few months ago after thinking it was pretty meh for a decade or so. It's very good.

swan wrote:Got really nostalgic for 2006 today. I followed the tour from San Diego up to the end at The Gorge. 10 shows I think? All of the non-GA shows I had 10c seats in the first 15 rows. Shows were all great if not life-changing. What a time. This album will always hold a very special place. I still need to find that non-brickwalled version after all these years.

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sweeper wrote:I'm a little surprised people like Severed Hand so much. The guitar lead at the beginning is the ultimate "wow, this song is going to be awesome" moment but then it completely goes away for me once Ed starts singing. I've always thought this is one of their bigger missed opportunities for a song that should have been so much better than it is.

I agree completely.
Why did they not build the song around that intro riff is beyond me.
Utterly disappointing.

It's a 3.5 star song that could have easily been 4 or 5 stars. Still not bad though.

There’s nothing I dislike on this album but Life Wasted is the only song I ever crave. It’s an elite PJ song for me. I really liked Army Reserve at first but haven’t cared about it for years now. Gone, Unemployable and Inside Job all deserve both the love and hate they receive. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who praises Parachutes or Come Back. Let it Ride, Cold Confession and Only Cloud in the Sky are better that 90% of what made the album.

It’s better than Lightning Bolt but that’s it.

I'd never heard Only Cloud in the Sky. Just listened. That maybe could've turned into something great.

Jaeti wrote:I'd never heard Only Cloud in the Sky. Just listened. That maybe could've turned into something great.

It had the potential to become one of their best songs. There are more demos that leaked from those sessions. I remember getting them off a Dropbox link on here years ago. “2x4” is another good one.

I'm listening to this now

honestly, the "why let the sad song play?" bridge is still gorgeous, fight me

Come Back is the sleeper classic for me. Over the years it has become my favourite PJ 'ballad', yet it didnt really do anything for me when the album first came out. Absolutely slays me. The lyrics and his delivery are just beautiful.

so much of the stuff I couldn't stand when I first heard the album are fine to good / great now; maybe I'm just in the right place to appreciate it now

I hated the shots at humour and "fun" here (most of which actually work well), because I wanted another Riot Act

I dismissed "Parachutes" as just a Beatles ripoff, and while clearly inspired by them, it's better than that early assessment

there are hints of Riot Act; the Severed Hand bridge could have been on Riot Act, it's weird in a good way

my ex basically convinced me "Big Wave" was bad, it is not

I think this album is Riot Act's brighter mirror image; it feels more appropriate to PJ's career as a whole than it did then

this album has some nice Matt moments too (as well as a few that, for the first time, got me yelling at my computer asking "what are you doing?")

Big Wave just finished, let's see about the rest...

guys, "Gone" is better than any of you bitches ever gave it credit for, it's lovely; one of my favourite PJ pre-choruses ever

I guess "Come Back" doesn't hit unless you're missing someone

whew

yeah I really like this album on this day in 2023

Gone IS underrated.

Yeah the chorus on Gone is really nice. I forgot how great the ending of the song is with Ed referencing “nothing is everything” from Let’s See Action.

The bridge on Life Wasted is good too. The whole song is. Top 5 Pearl Jam song for me.

Ms Harmless wrote:the way Ed's voice is doubled up on two octaves for "big man stands behind an open door" is really cool

Legit one of my favorite parts of the entire album.

I think that's Matt's backing vocals, not a double Ed

Or maybe I'm just thinking of the live versions