Red Mosquito

There's a lot of tempo changes on this one.

Wendy Carlos's Twin wrote:Man, I must be way out of touch. I'm not hearing what you guys are hearing. I can't make excuses for any of these songs. They range from mediocre to horrible. Easily their worst album ever for me.

I don't get how you could like Backspacer and hate this. They are very much in the same vein.

tommymctom wrote:

IlluminEddie wrote:Future Days is a great tune.

Get out.

Nah, I'm in. It's a good tune.

You prolly think it's about his wife... think again

Here's my first take review of the album I posted up on official PJ forum. I've not bothered to proofread it, so apologies in advance:

I'm in the group of people who think there is some brilliant stuff and some dreadful stuff on this album. What I love on this album I REALLY love. What I hate on this album, I REALLY hate. Unfortunately, there are songs on this album I am completely digging and then there's a chunk of "cheez" thrown right into the middle of it. This album is better than Backspacer no matter how you slice it.

Getaway - I am quite satisfied with this song. It's not my favorite album opener ever, but it doesn't have to be for me to think it's great. Hearing Jeff's bass sound on this song made me smile and I love it when I hear his contributions come alive. I don't hear any of Brendan O'Brien's cheez on this song and that's perfect. I love the build in this song, but wish they had pushed it just a tad further as their opener. No real complaints about this song as I think it works.

Mind Your Manners - I don't think it is getting its proper accolades as we all hear the album in its entirety due to it being familiar. I love this song, but do wish it was a little grittier in the production area. This is some pretty vibrant and alive Pearl Jam. I welcome the return to some lyrics that are rather overtly confrontational. I think that this song holds up pretty well in the pantheon of punkier Pearl Jam songs. Once again, I don't hear any O'Brien cheez on this song, which leaves me a bit confused when he pours that shit on thick elsewhere on the album. This has to be a fun song live.

My Father's Son - This was a surprise. I found myself jamming along pleasantly on my first listen and then it breaks into a wtf moment as it transforms abruptly into island music. I still don't understand that and think the song suffers horribly because of it. If it did not have that wtf moment, I would say that the opening salvo of the first three songs were brilliant. I still think that even despite the island music moment, the first three hold up as a really strong trilogy of songs to start the album off. This song is challenging me and that island music moment is a mystery to me that I feel like I need more time with to hopefully unravel.

Sirens - The transition to this from My Father's Son is pretty brutal. I wasn't in the camp that flat out hated this song on first listen, but this is where Brendan O'Brien's infection really seems to begin on the album to me. I know that people will assume that I simply don't like slow Pearl Jam or something, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. I still find myself rather indifferent to this song, but I'm already not wanting to hear it again. I'm happy to skip it as I listen to the album already. I think Ed's singing on it is quite excellent. I just don't feel like the music is all that compelling or enjoyable. I know it will float some people's boat, but this isn't the version of Pearl Jam that turns my crank. I don't think Mike's echoing solo works all that well on this song either. It's ok, but not his finest moment. This is one of the increasingly numerous songs that seem like there is a foreign band member present. I've learned that his name is Brendan O'Brien and I am growing to resent him. I think that this song has a chance of working out live and can see an audience taking the ending to some interesting places.

Lightning Bolt - This one is infected with Brendan O'Brien's cheez additions. There's a good song buried in there, but it could use some lyrical revision and less of the phantom band member's presence (O'Brien). From the Dr. Who sounds to xylophones (or whatever the fuck they are) and twinkling pianos, there's way too much in this song that doesn't originate from Pearl Jam and rather comes from an overzealous producer. Need proof? Revisit the first three songs to see who the band members actually are and compare it to this song and the odd sound effects that litter it. Rather than filling voids in the song with his wankery, O'Brien needed to encourage the band to fill it (if it was even necessary) on their own. The build up of this song is good, the fade sucks and kills all that was built up.

Infallible - To me, it strikes me a bit as a more polished Tremor Christ (that doesn't mean better). I don't think the lyrics are as good as the aforementioned song, but at the same time it isn't as jarring. On it's own, I don't imagine this song will feel all that great, but in the context of the album it works alright for me. I know it will not be the song I go back to often from this album, but there's certainly worse offerings. This song went into light territory instead of into darker shadows where I think it would have likely had more success. I also think that darker territory musically would have suited the lyrics better. I would have liked to even seen it just stay in more funky territory rather than drift toward the more polished and poppy areas it approaches before coming back to a close with it's funky sound.

Pendulum - This one hooked me and felt like it belonged on a really great album... which this one strives to be, but stumbles before reaching. This was the first song I felt I had to go back and put on repeat to listen to. There's a lot of very interesting things going on with this song. I don't understand what happens to Eddie's voice as he sings the extended "goooooooooooooo" and I'd say it is a production problem that I don't notice elsewhere on the album. I find this song to be a better song than similar efforts I'm reminded of like Strangest Tribe. I've seen others stating that they wish this one was longer, and so do I. It's a song I can get lost in and represents a mellow side of Pearl Jam I totally fall in love with. Again, I don't hear jarring and cheezy additions from O'Brien on this cut.

Swallowed Whole - I can't help but hear a mashup of Into the Wild and REM on this song. I also hear way too many foreign additions to this song that I can only assume come from O'Brien once again. Overall, I like the song well enough but I think this album has better songs on it. There's also a bit of it that conjures a western movie to my mind (or at least a bad Bon Jovi video) and I don't think that sits well with the lyrics at all. Part of what bothers me about this song is that they have a song called Down already that makes liberal use of that particular word.

Let The Records Play - I start it and I start bobbing and jamming. It conjures an image of a bow-legged cowboy full of swagger coming onto the scene for me. And then suddenly the music shifts and Tom Hanks during his Bosom Buddies days runs out, kicks the cowboy in the nuts and puts a blonde wig on him and the two begin dancing together for a moment as the song transforms into a dreadful chorus that could be ripped straight from a sitcom. And then we're sucked right back into a song with all it's swagger. This back and forth continues way too much throughout this schizophrenic song. Swagger, to sitcom, to clapping, to spitting in the spittoon... all in one song. It's... fascinating in a train wreck sort of way. This song had tons of potential, but in the end I feel violated. This song ends up being a pretty good summary of how I'm feeling about the overall album so far. There's half I love and half I can't stand and all too often it occurs in the same song.

Sleeping By Myself - A mistake. As a song on its own, it's not the worst thing I've ever heard. On this album, it is horribly out of place. I view it as totally unnecessary and it seems like the choice of a producer with way too much authority in song selection. It reaches a point in the song that I feel like I'm watching a commerical that wants me to buy Christmas gifts. This is one of my primary wtf moments on this album. What a fucking cheezy ending.

Yellow Moon - This is interesting slow Pearl Jam to me. It's not my favorite and it conjures images of Eat, Pray, Love to my mind. I'd go so far as to say that this song belongs on this album and fits in with other songs like Pendulum. Its home seems like this album, unlike Future Days and Sleeping By Myself. The tail end of this album begins to drag due to the sequence of ending songs and the blistering start that it had. For this reason, I think that Yellow Moon may end up not getting the recognition it might otherwise be deserving, but I know that it is way too early to leap to any conclusion. I would have liked to see a little less lyrical repetition in this song and some more lyrical landscape covered. I'm strangely okay with the additions to this song that likely didn't originate with the band.

Future Days - This is fucking terrible. The beginning piano is atrocious and dripping with O'Brien's cheez just as it did during its live debut. I could see this song working with something like Neil's organ and even the honky violin or viola backing that is has, but there's been too much added to this song in an attempt to make it something it simply isn't. This is a sorry closing for this particular album and likely isn't a strong enough song to close out any Pearl Jam album. I could see this one being a hit in the same vein that Just Breathe garnered some success, but I think it's dreadful. A fluttering Eddie and the O'Brien's song closing out this album that contains some distinctly Pearl Jam music and literally having the final notes of the album played by somebody who isn't even in the band... it's a crime. Fuck that nonsense.

Getaway. 4.25
Mind Your Manners. 3.75
My Father's Son. 4
Sirens. 3.5
Lightning Bolt. 3.25
Infallible. 4
Pendulum. 4.75
Swallowed Whole. 3.25
Let The Records Play. 3
Sleeping By Myself. 3.25
Yellow Moon. 4
Future Days. 2.5

Biggest Surprise: That Sleeping By Myself is not a disaster. The arrangement is nice and it's catchy. Who knew.

Biggest Enigma: Future Days. Boring, over-produced, pointless dreck or lovely, sentimental ballad? Currently, I hate it so much.

Guilty Pleasure: Let The Records Play. It's being pilloried from all corners but I kind of like it for absolutely no good reason. It's fun is about the best defense I can muster. I'd take this song over Supersonic and Speed of Sound any day of the week.

MFS and Pendulum are the standout tracks for me on this album. Pretty happy overall with the album, so far. I wasn't expecting a game changer.

Getaway. 4
Mind Your Manners. 4
My Father's Son. 4.5
Sirens. 3.5
Lightning Bolt. 2.5
Infallible. 4
Pendulum. 4.5
Swallowed Whole. 3.5
Let The Records Play. 2
Sleeping By Myself. 3.5
Yellow Moon. 4
Future Days. 1


Pretty solid. A lot better than I expected, that's for sure.

Wendy Carlos's Twin wrote:Easily their worst album ever for me.

For me too, so far.

tommymctom wrote: I don't get how you could like Backspacer and hate this. They are very much in the same vein.

Easy. Backspacer has better songs.

And it isn't saying much that I "like" Backspacer. I still think it's their second worst album. Actually third worst now.

So Jeff's the MVP of this record right?

evenslow wrote:So Jeff's the MVP of this record right?

Which songs did he write? Pendulum and MFS?

I've only heard a few songs, a few of which are terrible, and I already am 95 percent sure this can't be as bad as BAckspacer was.......can it?

So far Getaway is pretty neat. MYM is good, MFS is okay, Sirens is now giving me a Scorpions 'Winds of Change' vibe.

I don't get the LTRP hate. Really?

tommymctom wrote:

verb_to_trust wrote:I'm very troubled by how much Stip likes Yellow Moon. Hopefully it is just an R.E.M. thing and not because it just sucks.

It's a good song and it should have been the closer. Future Days is a real turd.

FD > YM

Reading all the opinions I completely disagree with..... I have to post my own (after only one listen).

This album kills backspacer.

Infallible is great.... pendulum is great... not a big fan of when MFS slows down, before picking back up (other than that its great)....Yellow Moon is great.

SBM and Future Days are better than I thought they would be.

Keeping it short cause I have work in the morning..... It's no Vitalogy, but it's my favorite since Yield

spike wrote:

tommymctom wrote:

verb_to_trust wrote:I'm very troubled by how much Stip likes Yellow Moon. Hopefully it is just an R.E.M. thing and not because it just sucks.

It's a good song and it should have been the closer. Future Days is a real turd.

FD > YM

YM>FD

Sleeping By Myself was so fucking bad I wanted to be sick. I want BO'B's head on a stake.

tommymctom wrote:Getaway. 4
Mind Your Manners. 4
My Father's Son. 4.5
Sirens. 3.5
Lightning Bolt. 2.5
Infallible. 4
Pendulum. 4.5
Swallowed Whole. 3.5
Let The Records Play. 2
Sleeping By Myself. 3.5
Yellow Moon. 4
Future Days. 1


Pretty solid. A lot better than I expected, that's for sure.

these are out of 10, right?

KurtLeon wrote:I don't get the LTRP hate. Really?

The chorus kills this one for me. Reminds me a lot of MiTS - Dirty, awesome verses and bland, poppy chorus.