Best song on DM?

23scidoo

Waiting For Stevie

spankyMP said:

mcgruff10 said:

lastexitlondon said:

mcgruff10 said:

northerndragon said:

mcgruff10 said:

23scidoo said:

mcgruff10 said:

BF25394 said:

schaefferlax said:

Setting Sun and Dark Matter are the best on the album, and better than anything they've put out since Avocado, including Avocado. 

So you're actually saying you think it's better than anything they've put out since Riot Act.

Since yield.  

come on Mike!!..better than Binaural, Riot Act and Avocando??..no way IMO..nice record but not great..

Plenty of skip songs on those three.  Nothing will
ever top their first five albums but I do feel Dark matter is number six.

What do skip on Binaural?????????????????
Except for maybe Evacuation sometimes. You've lost the plot dude. 

I like DM a lot but come on.

For me I skip god s dice, evacuation and sleight of hand.  I skip insignificance every other listen.  

Damn mike

Rob, don't get me started on riot act!

LOL. God's Dice and Evacuation okay, but skipping insignificance is blasphemy!

Skipping Sleight of Hand is blasphemy!!

Lerxst1992

It is terrific that fans are really loving the new album, and I think a lot of the songs are good. I am trying to see how folks can line this up with their best material from the 90s? Nine in the setlist from this album is a lot.

 What they did back in the 90s, what made them exceptional just to list two... First, Stone is a master at transitioning a song from one tempo to another or one style of music to another. Secondly, Ed was amazing at singing like his life depended on it. Mike has some terrific solos here, but they are played over the main riff or a very similar to the main riff. I am not sure that’s the type of songwriting style that I loved so much 30+ years ago. Good tunes for sure, just not elite for me

I believe there’s a lot of excellent playing on DM, and Ed’s voice does sound good, but if someone could point  to a phenomenal DM transition of tempo that lines up with their 90s work, or at singing like nothing else in the world matters like he does on say alive, I’m just trying to see how the songs on this album reaches that elite tier they hit so often in the early days, that seems to be a very common sentiment on the forum. BTW love the title track. Very much appreciated.

Pap

Won't Tell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlZEpRm6xRs

BF25394

Got to Give

Lerxst1992 said:

It is terrific that fans are really loving the new album, and I think a lot of the songs are good. I am trying to see how folks can line this up with their best material from the 90s? Nine in the setlist from this album is a lot.

 What they did back in the 90s, what made them exceptional just to list two... First, Stone is a master at transitioning a song from one tempo to another or one style of music to another. Secondly, Ed was amazing at singing like his life depended on it. Mike has some terrific solos here, but they are played over the main riff or a very similar to the main riff. I am not sure that’s the type of songwriting style that I loved so much 30+ years ago. Good tunes for sure, just not elite for me

I believe there’s a lot of excellent playing on DM, and Ed’s voice does sound good, but if someone could point  to a phenomenal DM transition of tempo that lines up with their 90s work, or at singing like nothing else in the world matters like he does on say alive, I’m just trying to see how the songs on this album reaches that elite tier they hit so often in the early days, that seems to be a very common sentiment on the forum. BTW love the title track. Very much appreciated.

I don't know what to tell you. The songs are great. The songs have always been great, on every album. I point to the consistent Metacritic scores for the recent albums: Dark Matter (81), Gigaton (80), Lightning Bolt (73), Backspacer (79). Maybe it's you, i.e., maybe you're just not in the same headspace you were 30 years ago to be able to enjoy the new music.

It's a common sentiment on the forum, perhaps, but I think there is a sociological aspect to that and, again, I point to those aggregate reviews by music writers. Music writers are people who have never gotten out of the habit of listening to new music. They seek it out; indeed, they make their living from it. And they don't write a review without giving an album quite a bit of attention. The average rock fan-- and I'm not saying this is you-- is a middle-aged person with a lot more going on in their lives than there was 30 years ago when they were 17 or 18 and could immerse themselves in a record in a way that most of them just don't anymore because of job and family obligations, not to mention the metastasization of the internet since 1994 and the way it and smartphones cannibalize people's time. A middle-aged person in 1994 who had been listening to rock music for 30 years had fewer things dividing their attention from it than a middle-aged person in 2024.

Signed, a middle-aged person who never got out of the habit of playing the shit out of new albums from favorite artists.

JimFletcherPearlJam

Scared of Fear

BF25394, I agree wholeheartedly. I'm still really proud to be associated with Pearl Jam in any way whatsoever, including with respect to their more recent albums. 

mrvish66

I am so obsessed with DM at the moment. It has been on repeat since it came out. I haven't been so obsessed with a PJ album since Vitalogy! Fucking love this album. So hard to pick a favourite, but if I had to pick one up "Won't tell" is mine for the moment.

BrainofBGA

Waiting For Stevie

At the moment it’s React Respond. Saw some footage of one of the Vancouver shows and Stone is riffing this mother fucker! 

kramerica4

Upper Hand

mrvish66 said:

I am so obsessed with DM at the moment. It has been on repeat since it came out. I haven't been so obsessed with a PJ album since Vitalogy! Fucking love this album. So hard to pick a favourite, but if I had to pick one up "Won't tell" is mine for the moment.

I feel nearly the same way.
Although I would replace Vitalogy with Yield and Won't Tell with Upper Hand.

tbergs

Finally got the CD as a gift from my wife the other day after exclusively streaming it the last month. Playing it today in the house turned up on my Onkyo system setup with a sub and a few speakers sounds phenomenal. The sounds are deep and rich. Love the bass and drum through the sub. Had to turn the bass way down on my receiver and it's still powerful as fuck. Backing guitars and solos just rip through the speakers. Fantastic! The mix on Setting Sun is perfection.

patkelly12

Won't Tell

I have listened to whole album 4-5 times now. "Won't Tell" is awesome.

BF25394

Got to Give

Having listened to the album about 30 times now, I finally feel like I can offer a considered opinion on this, so I voted for "Got to Give" and was somewhat surprised to see that it's at only 2 percent. Runners-up: "Won't Tell"; "Wreckage"; "Scared of Fear" and "Dark Matter."

MikeDigs

React, Respond

BF25394 said:

Having listened to the album about 30 times now, I finally feel like I can offer a considered opinion on this, so I voted for "Got to Give" and was somewhat surprised to see that it's at only 2 percent. Runners-up: "Won't Tell"; "Wreckage"; "Scared of Fear" and "Dark Matter."

Most people voted soon after release day, and early on, "Got To Give" was a big sleeper track.  I think mainly because "Setting Sun" hooked many early, so people would skip right to that one.  You did the proper thing and let the whole album sink in before choosing.  For me, even after about 40 spins, my favorite track remained the same as it did on the very first listen.  "React / Respond".  Then it's a 10 song tie for my second favorite.

I agree, "Got To Give" is a really stellar track in all aspects, and I really hope that they play this song in LA.

northerndragon

Wreckage

After listening to the album more times than I can count during hours of driving to and from shows and seeing it all live, my original vote still stands.
That said Got to Give and Running have moved up into the #2 & #4 spot respectively. 
Wreckage 
Got to Give 
Dark Matter
Running
Scared of Fear
The middles 
React/Respond - once I heard it called "such a dad thing to say" song it just hasn't gotten it's mojo back. 
Setting Sun - still hear and start singing My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen everytime it's played. Graphics are cool at the shows though and at least it's not YL.
Something Special

AJ12904

.

Daner90

Upper Hand

After listening to the album multiple times, I just need a picture of this woman reaching up on the upper shelf with her dressing down and nothing else...

Pap

Won't Tell

Daner90 said:

After listening to the album multiple times, I just need a picture of this woman reaching up on the upper shelf with her dressing down and nothing else...

I won't tell

BF25394

Got to Give

Daner90 said:

After listening to the album multiple times, I just need a picture of this woman reaching up on the upper shelf with her dressing down and nothing else...

"Dressing down"? Is that a Freudian slip? Do you want her to berate you as part of this fantasy?

cp3iverson

Waited a month and I still can't pick a favorite song.  I like all PJ albums but this album was so good upon first listen that we were actually laughing in the movie theater and shaking our heads because each tune was so good.   

Opinion of course but this blows away anything post-Yield.  So well crafted all the way around.  

RiotZact

Won't Tell

I waited a long time to pick but it has to be Won’t Tell. If you described each song to me it would probably sound like one of my least favorites, extremely poppy chorus, one of the few songs without a Mike solo. But it’s just so damn good and I can’t get it out of my head. Hearing it in Vancouver was such a great experience. Can’t wait to catch it again in the Fall. 

KN219077

Upper Hand

Upper Hand and Setting Sun are top tier PJ in my book.