It’s so freaking nice to finally have a….

mcgruff10

dreamweaver said:

Best album since MFC joined.

Agreed.  Best album since yield.  

Abe Froman

BF25394 said:

Abe Froman said:

BF25394 said:

whoyouare72 said:

new Pearl Jam album that I want to listen to over and over and over again!!!

Seriously this thing is so fucking good!

It’s been 15 years since I have listened to A new PJ album over and over!

I cannot wait for Fall tour!!!!

Maybe if you went back and listened to Lightning Bolt or Gigaton over and over, you would discover that you like them more than you think you do.

I’ve listened to them plenty of times in short periods. About half of Gigaton I think is great. LB is by far PJs weakest album. Although I love Pendulum!!

Dark Matter blows these records away. 

I was directing the post to whoyouare72, who said he had not listened to a new Pearl Jam album over and over in 15 years (i.e., since Backspacer). I understand that there are people like you who either don't like or have mixed feelings about these records after giving them some time. I just don't understand why people would give them short shrift from the jump. (I mean, I understand it in a sense-- Pearl Jam fans are older now, they have jobs, they have family responsibilities, they waste enormous amounts of time on the internet that they didn't in 1993-- but I don't understand it in the sense that, for me, as a card-carrying member of the Pearl Jam fan club, a new Pearl Jam album is a major event that always precipitates daily listening to that album for months on end. That has always been a joy for me, not a chore.)

👍🏽👍🏽 gotcha. And BTW I do like both albums. I am just not moved the same way as I am with most of the other albums. 

Abe Froman

mcgruff10 said:

dreamweaver said:

Best album since MFC joined.

Agreed.  Best album since yield.  

Hard to argue with this post. 

igotid88

I was listening to Gigaton for the last 4 years

brianlux

Abe Froman said:

mcgruff10 said:

dreamweaver said:

Best album since MFC joined.

Agreed.  Best album since yield.  

Hard to argue with this post. 

Yes, very hard Abe because, how does anyone know what "best" is?  I know  a lot of fans find DM to be better than anything since Yield, and I'm glad for them- I truly am.  I just hesitate to ever say "best" about almost any album by anybody.  I can see saying "favorite", but "best" is too hard to ... well, like you say, to argue about or prove.  My favorites are still Yield, No Code and Riot Act.  Are any of those their best?  I don't have a clue!

Anyway, I'm glad so many fans are excited about DM.  Happiness over music is always good.  Good for the soul, good for the world, maybe (probably) even good for the universe.  Hard to beat that.

bootlegger10

igotid88 said:

I was listening to Gigaton for the last 4 years

How did you not skip Never Destination and Take the Long Way? 

Lifted

PJNB said:

BF25394 said:

whoyouare72 said:

new Pearl Jam album that I want to listen to over and over and over again!!!

Seriously this thing is so fucking good!

It’s been 15 years since I have listened to A new PJ album over and over!

I cannot wait for Fall tour!!!!

Maybe if you went back and listened to Lightning Bolt or Gigaton over and over, you would discover that you like them more than you think you do.

I actually did that the other day and I actually enjoyed them less than I thought I did. 

I think DM being so good actually makes it more noticeable how weak some of the songs on those albums actually were.  

Feel the same way. I already knew I hated lightning bolt (for a pj album at least)...but I liked Gigaton a good bit, and find it significantly less impressive now that the band has revealed what they are still capable of with Dark Matter.

igotid88

bootlegger10 said:

igotid88 said:

I was listening to Gigaton for the last 4 years

How did you not skip Never Destination and Take the Long Way? 

Cause they are good

cp3iverson

I like every album.  Post-Yield my first album play throughs are usually like "hmm this is cool."  "I like this.  This song is different"   "that's a good song"  "that could be a hit".     

My first DM listen was in the theater.  Every song was so good that we were laughing and shaking our heads by the half way mark.  It's all opinions but to me this blows everything they've done since 1999 out of the water.  Every song is so well crafted and they're really going for it.  It's hard not to notice a difference between really good and amazing.  

PJNB

If I had to listen to LB or Gigaton over and over I would dislike them even more. The songs I dislike would not grow on me instead I would hate them even more bringing the whole albums down with it. 

whoyouare72

By over and over and over, I mean that I enjoy it and love it enough to listen to it over and over and over.
Lightning Bolt and Gigaton are just OK. I mean obviously being a fan since the first album and being in the fan club since 98, I definitely tried to give them a chance but never got to the “fall in love” point with either of those albums.

bootlegger10

BF25394 said:

PJNB said:

BF25394 said:

whoyouare72 said:

new Pearl Jam album that I want to listen to over and over and over again!!!

Seriously this thing is so fucking good!

It’s been 15 years since I have listened to A new PJ album over and over!

I cannot wait for Fall tour!!!!

Maybe if you went back and listened to Lightning Bolt or Gigaton over and over, you would discover that you like them more than you think you do.

I actually did that the other day and I actually enjoyed them less than I thought I did. 

I think DM being so good actually makes it more noticeable how weak some of the songs on those albums actually were.  

You listened to them over and over the other day? I'm talking about sustained listening over a period of time.

For what it's worth, Dark Matter has a Metacritic score of 81. Gigaton has a score of 80.

This PJ board has never been so unified on a topic as the consensus that Dark Matter is one of the greats in the catalog.  Metacritic …meh.

mcgruff10

Dare I say that something special is actually growing on me.  And I was completely wrong on running, that song is killer.  

bootlegger10

mcgruff10 said:

Dare I say that something special is actually growing on me.  And I was completely wrong on running, that song is killer.  

This is called growth.  You Are is next.  Learn it on guitar.  A fun one to play.

whoyouare72

mcgruff10 said:

Dare I say that something special is actually growing on me.  And I was completely wrong on running, that song is killer.  

Same!

whoyouare72

Scared of Fear is definitely about Chris Cornell and their Seattle scene

mcgruff10

bootlegger10 said:

mcgruff10 said:

Dare I say that something special is actually growing on me.  And I was completely wrong on running, that song is killer.  

This is called growth.  You Are is next.  Learn it on guitar.  A fun one to play.

Let’s not get crazy here!

MikeDigs

mcgruff10 said:

Dare I say that something special is actually growing on me.  And I was completely wrong on running, that song is killer.  

Want to try something truly daring?  Next time in your car, start the album on Something Special, and crank the volume up to Corduroy level loud.  I did that a few weeks back and it's exhilarating.  Kind of felt punk since people act like it's "cool" to dislike the track.  Nah.  Go against the grain, rebel, crank it up    The bass guitar sounds really good here and Jeff plays an awesome riff.  This track grooves.

Also, I think Got to Give sounds amazing after this, then comes Setting Sun and you have a cool 3 song set.

tschav

Dark Matter is the perfect “shake off the Gigaton/pandemic sadness” album. Being less tied to political perspectives and more reflective on them is a nice breather - even though I love Gigaton a lot more than others seem to.