Uk listening party for Dark Matter

lastexitlondon · March 22

With quality drinks.. wine . Whiskey . No expense spared. Plus of course Ed's tequila and cold* corona from his ice bucket

CROJAM95 · March 22

Apollo in ‘22 had the open bar, in all my glory

Abe Froman · March 22

Love the stories from tonight and love how excited EV sounds about the record. I also hope it’s true they don’t give a fuck if people love it or hate it because they love what they made. That (to me) is a good sign! (whether I dig the new record or not. I liked Dark Matter and don’t have an opinion on Running yet as I’ve only heard it once through my phone on the beach)

I can’t wait to listen to the album in its entirety like I’ve done with all of PJs records. Headphones, a bourbon and the album. Love it or hate or anything in between…Lets fucking go! New PJ still being made to judge by all of us crazy fans makes me happy

lastexitlondon · March 22

100%

lastexitlondon · March 22

I love dark matter the song more and more it was great very loud everyone sang along.

Peasant Tents · March 22

Wonderful stories. Thanks to everyone for sharing.

What a spectacular thing to do ! Pure class.

Bring on the album and tour!

lastexitlondon · March 22

Enjoy the shows everyone. Ed seems in good form and very proud.

marumaruko · March 22

I think when we hear "back to old PJ" we need to stop thinking of how VS and Ten sounded like, but what is probably referred to is the recording process, the rawer energy and all that. No artist wants to copy their earlier records after all. So a bit expectation management would be good.

CloudDog23 · March 22

My feeling of the album was there was a lot of songs in the Even Flow, Animal, Last Exit, Do The Evolution style, and not much in the Given To Fly, Jeremy, Better Man, Unthought Unknown style. So more straight 4/4 verse, chorus, verse with not many twists along the way.

The lyrics on Waiting For Stevie hit me hard

The song about ones kids growing up was lovely

I think song 2 is about Chris Cornell.

lastexitlondon · March 22

The first song got me immediately. The lyrics hit hard for me

BlueLedbetter · March 22

lastexitlondon said:

The first song got me immediately. The lyrics hit hard for me

CloudDog23 said:

My feeling of the album was there was a lot of songs in the Even Flow, Animal, Last Exit, Do The Evolution style, and not much in the Given To Fly, Jeremy, Better Man, Unthought Unknown style. So more straight 4/4 verse, chorus, verse with not many twists along the way.

The lyrics on Waiting For Stevie hit me hard

The song about ones kids growing up was lovely

I think song 2 is about Chris Cornell.

First song was great, in fact the first 4 or 5 were all pretty rocking

Waiting for Stevie wasn't what I expected I thought it was a ballad for some reason

Thought there was a given to fly type song later on got to give maybe?

Most of the album sounded heavy but that may just have been because it was played really loud and the floor was vibrating 😀

lastexitlondon · March 22

Yeah it was so over loud it was a touch inaudible. Thats only because some clowns kept saying " louder" which was no need and stupid

lastexitlondon · March 22

I agree first ones up to dark matter. I liked

stones · March 22

lastexitlondon said:

kmcmanus said:

lastexitlondon said:

My personal opinion is most people won't like half this album. And i didn't hear anything that was like old pj. Just my take

Most people won’t like half of it is a bold, bold assumption.
although I suppose assuming Pearl Jam
fans will not like something Pearl Jam does is kinda a sucker bet.

Its just my opinion of what I heard and what the people around me said and someone asked my opinion and that is what i felt hearing it , lots of words have been banded around about how it will sound and what it compares to , so thats my view based on the music and how pj fans grade everything and are expecting due to the expectations. Half the album is the harder that we were told but half is soft. If you like soft then you may like 100% .
I could be wrong and i hope everyone loves all of it.
As Ed says he doesn't give a fuck if anyone likes it . So it matters not really

I think I agree with this. I feel like the production of the record is going to be a bit much for a lot of people. I don’t think subtlety is in the Andrew Watt playbook and even in a venue with a proper sound system Ed’s vocals were buried. On the flip side, there’s a ton of energy on this record and it’s going to get rowdy when they play it live!

stones · March 22

Thought I’d share my thoughts I sent to some PJ friends on the way home after the event last night… I admit now that I’ve slept on it that my memory of the specific songs is a bit hazy…

So I have to separate slightly my thoughts on the listening experience and my thoughts on the new album.

You’ll be more interested in the album so I’ll say for sure it’s the hardest they’ve done for years. I think the new single “Running” is the hardest and punkiest they’ve been since Brain of J… The album starts off hard, Scared Of Fear has a little in common with Animal and it keeps coming and doesn’t relent until “Won’t tell” which has an almost country sound?

React, Respond is very much a kindred spirit to Superblood Wolfmoon.

The second half of the album feels more diverse and more like a traditional PJ album. Something Special is a song that could be on most PJ albums since Vitalogy…

The experience was great. Ed was there as expected and he was in emotional form. Especially when he dedicated “Something Special” to his daughter Olivia (who was also there).

But he was literally 3 feet away from us and was loving the album himself. He was having an emotional and slightly weird time…

I loved it. He fist bumped me and I’ll never ever get a more intimate PJ experience. Everyone there was in rapture and I must admit it does make me very biased about my thoughts on the new album.

Now the negative…

Remember I love it… but… I’m not so sure I love the Andrew Watt production. It’s very much like a wall of sound and felt a bit “in your face” and lacking a bit of the PJ subtlety…

Couldn’t hear Ed’s voice on many of the songs, not so sure if it was the sound system or the mix…

But for sure Matt and Mike are turned up loud and it’s a wall of sound assault on the senses.

Also of interest… free bar! We did not take our responsibilities lightly. I mean how often are the band/record company getting the drinks in?!

lastexitlondon · March 22

Agreed on watt. Its very earthlings production

BrainofBGA · March 22

I’ve loved hearing these thoughts, opinions and recollections. Wish they do an Aussie one of these. Maybe get Ed on Zoom while the albums played. Melbourne too please!

CloudDog23 · March 22

stones said:

Now the negative…
Remember I love it… but… I’m not so sure I love the Andrew Watt production. It’s very much like a wall of sound and felt a bit “in your face” and lacking a bit of the PJ subtlety…
Couldn’t hear Ed’s voice on many of the songs, not so sure if it was the sound system or the mix…
But for sure Matt and Mike are turned up loud and it’s a wall of sound assault on the senses.

I'm hoping it was the pure volume it was played at, as I thought the same, though I liked the facts the vocals were not front and centre, which is a production trait that I'm not a fan of, because it feels more pop than alternative rock

Drums were loud, very loud, but cymbals could not really be heard, which could indicate that the sound system was blasting out the low and middle ranges, and not so much high, which could reflect what we both experienced. I stood right in front of the sound desk, to ensure the best sound

Clairejayne5 · March 22

It was a surreal and unforgettable night - standing within reach of the man himself, sharing laughs, tequila, beer, awesome music. Made some new connections along the way - Nick with the half pint of tequlia, and John the guy I talked to after the party who is a Albert Hall on Sunday??

stones · March 22

CloudDog23 said:

stones said:

Now the negative…
Remember I love it… but… I’m not so sure I love the Andrew Watt production. It’s very much like a wall of sound and felt a bit “in your face” and lacking a bit of the PJ subtlety…
Couldn’t hear Ed’s voice on many of the songs, not so sure if it was the sound system or the mix…
But for sure Matt and Mike are turned up loud and it’s a wall of sound assault on the senses.

I'm hoping it was the pure volume it was played at, as I thought the same, though I liked the facts the vocals were not front and centre, which is a production trait that I'm not a fan of, because it feels more pop than alternative rock
Drums were loud, very loud, but cymbals could not really be heard, which could indicate that the sound system was blasting out the low and middle ranges, and not so much high, which could reflect what we both experienced. I stood right in front of the sound desk, to ensure the best sound

Yeah I was next to the stage but I really hope it was the sound system as there didn't seem to be any space between the various instruments apart from during the solos. That said, first time I listened to Dark Matter at home on a smart speaker it sounded similarly crowded and it wasn't until I could play it on decent headphones or my good speakers that I was able to hear some of the more nuanced layers (and Eds vocals clearly).

Sirens4 · March 22

Curious to know how the slower songs were to those who went? was there ballads, mid tempo songs? thanks for your reviews

lastexitlondon · March 22

I would say mid tempo

Sirens4 · March 22

lastexitlondon said:

I would say mid tempo

how was the last song ? Setting sun

stones · March 22

There aren't many (any) really slow ballads or anything like say River Cross or Just Breathe.

Sirens4 · March 22

stones said:

There aren't many (any) really slow ballads or anything like say River Cross or Just Breathe.

Thanks

BlueLedbetter · March 22

Sirens4 said:

Curious to know how the slower songs were to those who went? was there ballads, mid tempo songs? thanks for your reviews

No real ballads something special was probably the slowest/least rocking but not a ballad

Kwieneke · March 22

im definitely more nervous about the mix now reading all of this

Force Of Nature · March 22

Were there any riff driven songs or mainly heavy chord songs?

CROJAM95 · March 22

The last track, Setting Sun

Is it worthy of a PJ last track ( Throw out River Cross/Future Days/ The End) as to me those are clearly weaker than previous ones

lastexitlondon · March 22

CROJAM95 said:

The last track, Setting Sun

Is it worthy of a PJ last track ( Throw out River Cross/Future Days/ The End) as to me those are clearly weaker than previous ones

I would say no but im coming across negative but its my view only

Uk listening party for Dark Matter

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