[[MEGATHREAD]]: Dance of The Clairvoyants [NEW SINGLE] - Opinions, first impressions, reviews...

Lifted

Im not saying this is definititively the best song theyve done since then, but its the most impressive single ive heard them put out since 98. At this point in time, i have no expectations of being impressed by a pearl jam album. After hearing this song, i have high expectations for this album. Wow wow wow. Thats my initial reaction.

igotid_8

I keep hearing Nine Inch Nails.

CantKeepmedown

Daron Oshay said:

I can’t understand how people would not live this song. 

You've spent more than a few days on this forum, right?      People knew they were going to hate this song when they got denied GA tickets last week.  

facepollution

igotid_8 said:

I keep hearing Nine Inch Nails.

Interesting, any songs in particular?

Gern Blansten

According to Stone on Sirius....this started as Matt's electronic drum beat.  Stone added a bass line to it, then Jeff added the keyboards.  Mike put guitar on top of it and Ed added lyrics.  Matt then decided to do live drums with a digital hi-hat added.

It's different....but they were just screwing around here.  I'm excited for the new album.

RP112579

https://twitter.com/SIRIUSXM/status/1220014196542398465?s=19 

CosmoCramer

They should be proud of it, plain and simple.

PJ-Cubs

Better than Let the Records Play
Worse than Given to Fly

I need a few more listens to develop a stronger opinion.  I did not love it on first listen but that may be because it is so different than what they have done in the past. 

Tremorman

I hear some Peter Gabriel here.  The vocals grabbed me on first listen, music is starting to grow on me.  The chorus kind of deflates the momentum a bit that Ed built in the verse but overall I'm excited for the return of some weird PJ!

mr.mac

CantKeepmedown said:

Daron Oshay said:

I can’t understand how people would not live this song. 

You've spent more than a few days on this forum, right?      People knew they were going to hate this song when they got denied GA tickets last week.  

Truer words have never been spoken. 

I dig the song (I also got tickets last week). 

bacchanal

i like it!   very talking heads ish!

mcgruff10

JPPJ84 said:

mcgruff10 said:

inmyohiotree said:

OLE has been dethroned 

Lol.  You are is still the winner. 

So do you like this one? Curious

Not my cup of tea.  @JPPJ84
I don't feel like the song really goes anywhere.  I was waiting for that mccready or gossard shred and it never apperared.  The pattern of the son kind of reminds me of swallowed whole.

jcmitchell28

TN49724 said:

Gern Blansten said:

TN49724 said:

WEBN in Cincinnati premiered the song this morning - stopped the song about 30 seconds in and finished it off w a mix of Cannonball and Talking Heads. 

Next song they played, Yellowledbetter. 

Yikes.

that's what they call a sick burn

First time I'd ever heard a city's major rock radio station stop a premiere song 30 seconds in (while talking through the first part ripping it up).  Take a phone call from a listener destroying the song.  Then play Yellowledbetter right after. 

That's brutal - especially in drive time after all this PR work the PJ team did.  That's rough.

Radio?  What’s that?  The days of radio defining popular music is in the distant past. I would say they may be doing this to cater to their aging audience. 

My daughter is 16 and she’s blown away by it. Now granted she’s a PJ fan. Her first show was Fenway night 1 2016. But she’s going to expose her friends to it. 

My personal theory is that if you like an artist (musical or otherwise) buckle up and take the ride. They are still a group of artists that want to stretch themselves and create. That’s what I hear on this first single and I dig it. 

tbergs

igotid_8 said:

I keep hearing Nine Inch Nails.

Got that too. Echoplex from The Slip came to mind.

3days

I get the Talking Heads, David Bowie comparisons, but I'm also hearing Queen on this one. 

JR86440

PJ-Cubs said:

Better than Let the Records Play
Worse than Given to Fly

I need a few more listens to develop a stronger opinion.  I did not love it on first listen but that may be because it is so different than what they have done in the past. 

At this point in their careers, I don't expect them to write another Given to Fly, RVM, Corduroy etc.. This song is cool and that works for me

Kat

I can see the venue dancing and having fun.

PJ-Cubs

JR86440 said:

PJ-Cubs said:

Better than Let the Records Play
Worse than Given to Fly

I need a few more listens to develop a stronger opinion.  I did not love it on first listen but that may be because it is so different than what they have done in the past. 

At this point in their careers, I don't expect them to write another Given to Fly, RVM, Corduroy etc.. This song is cool and that works for me

Do you mean that you don't expect them to write something as good as those songs or do you mean that you do not expect them to write that type of song again?

JPPJ84

mcgruff10 said:

JPPJ84 said:

mcgruff10 said:

inmyohiotree said:

OLE has been dethroned 

Lol.  You are is still the winner. 

So do you like this one? Curious

Not my cup of tea.  @JPPJ84
I don't feel like the song really goes anywhere.  I was waiting for that mccready or gossard shred and it never apperared.  The pattern of the son kind of reminds me of swallowed whole.

Fair enough. Tastes are different and so they should be. I’m really happy with it

GuitarEnthusiast

JR86440 said:

This song is cool and that works for me

Well said! I didn't really know what to expect. I like it. I think it's got a cool vibe to it. I am pondering the different influences and it definitely gets me curious to hear the rest of the record. Can't wait!

Chr1spy

Digging the shit out of this and agree with everyone referencing Talking Heads.  I get a DFA/The Rapture/LCD Soundsystem vibe off it as well, with the "keep on keepin on" drum loop styled beat.  That crowd is pretty explicitly inspired by Talking Heads as well. Will be interesting to hear how this evovles in live performance.

Related : Would love to hear a James Murphy remix stretch this out another five minutes and really dig deep into that groove.

igotid_8 said:

I keep hearing Nine Inch Nails.

I get some of that as well, especially that  "Only/Discipline/Echoplex" vein. 

luismota123

Better than most Songs on "Lost Dogs"

cp3iverson

Kat said:

I can see the venue dancing and having fun.

Can definitely see that.   Hope the other guys handle the background vox on the outro live.  That ending is amazing. 

Dadwallan

Love it!, very Talking Heads, which is no bad thing, can’t wait to hear more!!

JustaPJFan

I'll probably share an unpopular opinion here . . . but to me this song is way better than anything the band put out the last couple of years. I would even go as far that for me it's better and more special then anything on Backspacer and Lightningbolt. Sounds new and fresh with Ed's vocals and lyrics being as good as ever. I didn't expect it to be THIS good. Really love it and I hope the rest of the album keeps this sound going and builds further upon it because I truly like this direction.

parintachin73

Love it. Something new. Haven't felt like they went in this kind of new direction since You Are or Sleight of Hand. 

Spags

What initially hits is how different it is to previous Pearl Jam tracks, mainly because this 80s new wave sound is so prevalent. Sure they've had plenty of influences in their music over the years, but they've absorbed them into their main sound. This is more like Pearl Jam fitting into a genre, a bit like Gremmie Out Of Control (surf rock) or perhaps Sleeping By Myself (country). It doesn't sound like an 80s track by accident, the instruments used and Ed's delivery are deliberate. I'd argue that it's not influenced by the likes of Talking Heads, Bowie, etc (all the bands that have been thrown around since it dropped), but intentionally evokes them. But why and what is the point being made here?

Expecting perfection, Leaves a lot to ignore
When the past is the present, And the future's no more
When every tomorrow, Is the same as before

So we have nostalgia (to the sounds of the 80s), being used to emphasize the cyclical nature of human life. We're back. And you may ask yourself, well how did I get here? We're still dealing with the same questions, same problems, same as it ever was. The song feels like it's treading similar ground to Do The Evolution, but rather than rallying against the notion that we are evolving takes a more measured approach to the situation. Imperceptibly big, As big as the ocean, And equally hard to control. 

I love the marriage of mysticism and the 80s sound on this song, putting the synthetic together with talk of clairvoyants and spirits, the superficial with the supernatural. It speaks to a lost understanding of wonder, while exposing what we do with it as small, tragic and limiting. 

We’re stuck in our boxes, Window’s open no more

Collecting up the forget-me-nots, Not recalling what they’re for

I also like the journey that the Ed/the positive person goes on, feels like they're rising up and their perspective switches from the mortal to the ethereal, the more distance they get the more scathing towards humanity they become, the more damning as they lose their own sense of self. 

I know the girls want to dance, Away their circumstance

I know the boys want to grow, Their dicks and fix and file things 

No doubt I'll have a completely different reading on this song as time goes on though.

HughFreakingDillon

luismota123 said:

Better than most Songs on "Lost Dogs"

insane

PJammer4life

As some have said I hear a Killers Hot Fuss vibe.

thebends9

My favorite take thus far...