Lightning Bolt first reviews

DH62179

The Juggler wrote:

MY FATHER'S SON


holy shit this fucking rocks!

Love this one!!! Love the line in Infallible too about things looking better from the otherside of the fence or something that stuck with me.

Mitch8415

SBM is fine, but I think it takes up valuable real estate. I mean, it could have been Of The Earth, for Christ's sake.

McNairn

Great record through and through.
I am really happy right now.
Also, quit the banter about "SBM". It's a great song. The lyrics are excellent. I always loved this song from the Uke album and the new version is going to settle in nicely. It has a place on the album, it isn't a misfit, it goes with the flow and it is a classic enduring song.
There are plenty of folks that feel the same way. I feel like a lot of people pre-judged the tune before they ever heard it. If you havent heard the Lighning Bolt version of Sleeping By Myself keep an open mind. There is definately something special about this song which is why it is on the record.

There are no negatives for me on this album. it is pure PJ Bliss from beginning to end.

Dr. Delight

ofthegirl99 wrote:

Half this album is fucking outstanding. Territory the band has not ventured to in some time. The other half sucks and would fit nicely as backspacer b-sides. Seriously, sleeping by myself is a joke, yellow moon is sirens broke cousin....never heard an album be so good and so shitty at the same time.

Yellow Moon is nothing like Sirens.

Do you like Lowlight? Thats what I hear when I hear YM..but darker lyrics.

Mitch8415

"Also, quit the banter about "SBM". It's a great song"

Sorry, people are gonna be disappointed. It's remake taking up space on their first album in over 4 years. I get the hate.

I don't dislike the song, but it wasn't even close to the best song on Ukulele Songs, and it's the one they chose to do over? Just an odd choice.

Oh well, not a BFD... songs 1-7 are choice on this record. The others I'm still working through. Might take a few listens.

Prince Of Dorkness

Hard to say... Listened three times now and honestly nothing has stuck with me at all. Just goes in one ear and out the other.

I'm hoping that it'll grow on me but so far, it hasn't.

The Juggler

Mitch8415 wrote:

SBM is fine, but I think it takes up valuable real estate. I mean, it could have been Of The Earth, for Christ's sake.

why couldn't they both be on it? of the earth would have fit nicely near yellow moon...

Dedvw

A couple meh.

A couple cool songs.

A couple masterpieces.

If I get one masterpiece per album I'm happy. This album has more than one.

Vitalogensia

I think the Bolt is sick nasty. Does anyone else think Sleeping By Myself sounds like a holiday single?

elvistheking44

Dr. Delight wrote:

ofthegirl99 wrote:

Half this album is fucking outstanding. Territory the band has not ventured to in some time. The other half sucks and would fit nicely as backspacer b-sides. Seriously, sleeping by myself is a joke, yellow moon is sirens broke cousin....never heard an album be so good and so shitty at the same time.

Yellow Moon is nothing like Sirens.

Do you like Lowlight? Thats what I hear when I hear YM..but darker lyrics.

I hear nothing similar to low light. It's original, just not good. This album is fucking awesome.......minus YM,LB and FD. Give me cold confession, let it ride and of the earth instead and this album is unstoppable. SBM was a huge mistake, and it needs to be pointed out over and over.

ninjadave

i agree, i think OF THE EARTH would have killed on this album.....absolute killer, definately a substitute for SBM.

overall, the album is great. it could have been spectacular with OF THE EARTH.

notradebaxx

I think it needed more thunder :oops:

toronado10

SK359828 wrote:

I think the Bolt is sick nasty. Does anyone else think Sleeping By Myself sounds like a holiday single?

Agree 100%, not a bad song just doesn't make sense to me on this album.

Soulfire42

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 happens 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'Briens 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.

igotid88

I think Yellow Moon is Acoustic #1 with lyrics. Anyone else hear it?

pjheasds8

!!

Lifted

positives: there is nothing as shitty on this album as the song 'supersonic'.

more positives: after two listens, i think every song on this album might actually be better than 2/3 of backspacer.

negatives: i don't have any yet. i'll let it marinate. there are some moments that might turn me off after repeated listens e.g. 'let the records play'. for now, i'm just really digging this album, and it feels like it's washing the bad feelings of the last album out of my head quite nicely. whether you dig the album or not, you can really hear that the band collectively put their hearts into this one. something i didn't feel from backspacer. well done. for now.

Last-12-Exit

notradebaxx wrote:

I think it needed more thunder :oops:

me too. love getaway and mym. let the record play will grow on me. love that riff. infallible is really good too.

TalkofCircles

I really didn't want to be a negative nancy, but upon my first listen...I think this is their worst effort to date and I really didn't care for S/T.

MYM, MFS, and Pendulum are fantastic...but, the rest :? I will let this one sit in the car for a solid week.

PJ_Soul

I love the whole thing except for Sleeping By Myself, which sounds fairly stupid, and completely out of place on this album. It seems crazy to me that they decided to put it on there - it's like they were high when they thought that was a good idea. But I can live with that on an otherwise fantastic album. Highlights for me are Getaway, MYM, My Father's Son, Infallible, Pendulum, and Yellow Moon. And I don't think the album sounds adult contemporary at all.

Really excited that I like this album so much, SBM aside!