Lightning Bolt first reviews

buck502000 wrote:

Are you the same as you were in 91'?

I wasn't born in 91'....... :? :roll:

Getaway - A good choice as opening track. Heavy and soft in beautiful balance. Lovely bassline too. Some very contemporary touches to it. Matt Cameron pounds on through it in sweet fashion.

Mind Your Manners - Cracking song that I've liked since it first appeared. Ups the tempo from Getaway and has a nod to the Dead Kennedys in that riff. Another good choice to be at the start of the album.

My Father's Son - The opening instantly reminded me of 'Dusty' by Soundgarden. Pounding bassline and a deep groove, before opening up. Nice bridge, very Matt.

Sirens - I really like this song. Slows things down nicely and one I am very much looking forward to hearing live. Atmospheric and builds. Possibly my favourite on the album.

Lightning Bolt - Upbeat and a celebratory song. Ebbs and flows well and sounds a progression from Unthought Known.

Infallible - Has a Riot Act kind of vibe to it in places. I'd heard a lot of positive things about this one before listening to the album myself, and it's good. A mid-pace song for the middle section of the album though.

Pendulum - One of the Pink Floyd inspired numbers I'm thinking. I think this would have made more sense later on in the album.

Swallowed Whole - REM flavour to it. Has a classic PJ tail off and build up in the middle.

Let The Records Play - Opens with a vintage sounding riff and bounds along nicely. Bluesy rock number that will hopefully come into its own live.

Sleeping By Myself - Hasn't gone down too well with a lot of fans, in a similar way to Halfway There on King Animal. And it's got an Ed solo vibe to it just like that song has a Cornell solo sound. I prefer this though and don't mind it at all. This album's Just Breathe, perhaps.

Yellow Moon - Would have been a nice album closer, but it's in the right sort of position on there. I reckon it could work as a slow builder to open a set one day.

Future Days - I suspect this one will be one of those that takes a little while to grow on me. Another that suits being towards the end of the album.

thefixer9 wrote:

buck502000 wrote:

Are you the same as you were in 91'?

I wasn't born in 91'....... :? :roll:

This has to be the best thing I have read, ever! hahah

Think this may finally be pearl Jams "zooropa".
Although stylalisticaly they have nothing in common, from the perspective of expectations, and what every one thought U2 was (including the band themselves) and what the band actually put out instead... Zooropa was album 8 for U2, and they clearly seemed to grasp that they just COULD NOT (not didn't WANT to, but COULDN'T) put out another early period sound clone album. So they didn't. It was just a new direction.
Whatever hints we got on st and backspacer. This is it. Good stuff, sounds SO different. Like some, I have noticed an overwhelming number of stylistic changes WITHIN songs that is almost nauseatingly quick at times, disorienting. Other than that, I'm at least, excited to relisten again.

buck502000 wrote:

Are you the same as you were in 91'?

Weeelllllll...

I was twenty-two then, and I'm twenty-three now, so, yeah, pretty much.

Anyway:

The whole album, to me, has a '70s feel to it, whereas Backspacer had an '80s feel to it. And I don't mean that as if it's a bad thing. It's unexpected and interesting, to me, and I'm enjoying the album much more than I thought I would. I will be interested in hearing how the songs sound live.

buck502000 wrote:

[

That's what I was thinking until the kid showed up.

So much laughing this morning!

CranMalReign wrote:

slightofjeff wrote:

CranMalReign wrote:

Oh God...

"Adult contemporary" is the phrase I use over and over and over again when lambasting Sirens (which, after a half dozen tries, I still haven't heard the whole thing).

This makes me very very sad.

Also, I have not listened yet.

Just listen to it first. I will say, if all you want to do is headbang and rock out, you've probably been listening to the wrong band for about 10 years now. This album will probably not be for you, beyond Mind Your Manners.

"Sirens" is shitty Michael Bolton cliché crap, musically speaking. I can see some of the love for the lyrics, but those opening drums are the musical version of smiling business people stock photos. Just listening to it makes me feel like a soccer mom.

*HOWEVER*, this in no way means all I want to do is head bang and rock out. Why do people jump to that conclusion? Just because I don't like a particular slower song, people jump on the "if all you want is head banging" angle. Pearl Jam has done some masterful "ballads" and slower songs... Indifference, All or None, Off He Goes, Thin Air... even Just Breathe has its merits. These are some of my absolute favorite PJ songs... so no, head banging and rocking out are not all I want to do.

Musically, Sirens is pure saccharine, and if there's more of the same on the album, I'm going to be sickly disappointed.

I don't mind Sirens and don't agree with your take on it, but you're dead on about people jumping to conclusions around here. If you don't like something PJ does they automatically assume that you want the band to sound like they did 20 years ago or that you can't deal with the band maturing. I find that incredibly annoying.

Very very disappointing, I'd go as far to say thank fuck for the stream as I will not be buying it. I think it's middle of the road old man radio rock. No balls no bite. It's almost country, I battled through it as each song played I was slowly losing all faith I really think from this display they've had it in regards to writing new music. I have no interest in hearing songs about how great it is to have a family and be in love thats bon jovi/u2/coldplay territory.