Four years on from their last outing and nearly 25 years after forming in Seattle, the grunge survivors deliver their 10th album – and it is a work of contrasts. Openers “Getaway" and “Mind Your Manners" are gutsy, full-blooded blasts, but these soon give way to several soft, contemplative ballads.
The plaintive “Sirens" will divide fans; and, for many, Eddie Vedder’s musings on life in “Future Days" will come uncomfortably close to the sentimental. But the likes of “My Father’s Son" and “Swallowed Whole" are potent reminders that no one nails “classic rock" better than these guys.
An intriguing mix overall and further proof that Pearl Jam play by their own rules – a fact that real fans would never want to change.
Star Rating: 3.00 stars
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
"My friend Ian MacKaye [from the band Fugazi] says it really well: There's so many ways to navigate this open field. We're fortunate to have an open field, and the reason we have it is as much because we've had support from people who have listened over the years. So we try to navigate that responsibly, but keeping them in mind pretty much at all times. Figuring out the balance of the relationships. It's a really interesting, mostly positive relationship. If that continues, and we continue -- if that grows and we grow -- at some point the healthiest thing might be to not play. Or maybe even just ... sabbatical is a great word, I think. I can't wait to use it someday."
And in the Billboard interview I read earlier today he was talking about them having tons of music inside them right now and the thinks they could be getting prolific. He talks about surging forward with the band and going on sabbatical. :think: I like the first thing better than the second! It is disturbing that he quoted Ian Mackaye, the guy whose band has been on "hiatus" for 15 years or whatever it's been! Don't quote that guy too often Eddie!
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
2000/05/29 Wembley Arena, London, UK 2006/04/20 The Astoria, London, UK 2006/08/29 Gelredome, Arnhem, Netherlands 2007/06/18 Wembley Arena, London, UK 2009/08/18 O2 Arena, London, UK 2010/06/25 Hyde Park, London, UK 2012/06/20 MEN Arena, Manchester, UK 2012/07/30 Hammersmith Odeon, UK (Eddie Vedder solo show) 2013/02/10 O2 Academy Islington, UK (Brad) 2013/09/19 O2 Academy Brixton, UK (Soundgarden) 2014/07/08 first direct Arena, Leeds, UK 2014/07/11 MK Bowl, Milton Keynes, UK 2017/06/06 Hammersmith Odeon, UK (Eddie Vedder solo show) 2018/07/17 O2 Arena, London, UK 2022/07/08 Hyde Park, London, UK 2022/07/09 Hyde Park, London, UK 2024/06/25 Co-op Live, Manchester, UK
Still flying the flag for independence of thought and movement while stoically avoiding getting bogged down in the music-biz bullshit that so plainly jars with their earnest motives, Pearl Jam have always been admirable, even when their music has fallen some way short of exciting. Pleasingly, Lightning Bolt finds the Seattle quintet in a more bullish and spiky mood than usual, as exemplified by the furious, spittle-spraying punk rush of Mind Your Manners. On the similarly urgent My Father's Son, they pull off the neat trick of sounding like Fugazi and UFO at the same time, as Eddie Vedder delivers one of his most intense performances to date. There are still gentle moments here, of course: the plaintive shuffle of Sirens and the wonderfully fragile Pendulum striking the sweetest chords.
Elsewhere, the title track nimbly evokes the surging spirit of Pearl Jam's mid-90s creative zenith, replete with a euphoric frisson of Springsteen-esque bombast, while Let the Records Play lives up to its name with an infectious, blues-flecked groove. A few ponderous moments aside, this is a sturdy return to great form. Dom Lawson
2000/05/29 Wembley Arena, London, UK 2006/04/20 The Astoria, London, UK 2006/08/29 Gelredome, Arnhem, Netherlands 2007/06/18 Wembley Arena, London, UK 2009/08/18 O2 Arena, London, UK 2010/06/25 Hyde Park, London, UK 2012/06/20 MEN Arena, Manchester, UK 2012/07/30 Hammersmith Odeon, UK (Eddie Vedder solo show) 2013/02/10 O2 Academy Islington, UK (Brad) 2013/09/19 O2 Academy Brixton, UK (Soundgarden) 2014/07/08 first direct Arena, Leeds, UK 2014/07/11 MK Bowl, Milton Keynes, UK 2017/06/06 Hammersmith Odeon, UK (Eddie Vedder solo show) 2018/07/17 O2 Arena, London, UK 2022/07/08 Hyde Park, London, UK 2022/07/09 Hyde Park, London, UK 2024/06/25 Co-op Live, Manchester, UK
Still flying the flag for independence of thought and movement while stoically avoiding getting bogged down in the music-biz bullshit that so plainly jars with their earnest motives, Pearl Jam have always been admirable, even when their music has fallen some way short of exciting. Pleasingly, Lightning Bolt finds the Seattle quintet in a more bullish and spiky mood than usual, as exemplified by the furious, spittle-spraying punk rush of Mind Your Manners. On the similarly urgent My Father's Son, they pull off the neat trick of sounding like Fugazi and UFO at the same time, as Eddie Vedder delivers one of his most intense performances to date. There are still gentle moments here, of course: the plaintive shuffle of Sirens and the wonderfully fragile Pendulum striking the sweetest chords.
Elsewhere, the title track nimbly evokes the surging spirit of Pearl Jam's mid-90s creative zenith, replete with a euphoric frisson of Springsteen-esque bombast, while Let the Records Play lives up to its name with an infectious, blues-flecked groove. A few ponderous moments aside, this is a sturdy return to great form. Dom Lawson
Pearl Jam has never gone on hiatus, has never broken up, has never released an album that sought to brazenly embrace any temporal tastes of the day. The group has plowed a singular furrow. And because of this, the band’s members don’t appear foolish in their late 40s, unlike so many artists in their peer group who confuse chasing trends with staying relevant. Similarly, the fans who have grown with them over the years can proceed with their fandom in good faith, with the assurance that Pearl Jam steers by the star of its own integrity.
Thanks for posting all of these...enjoying reading them, but really wish I had my copy so I could start listening. (I know, I know....I could just go to itunes and listen, but with my favorite bands, I always treat a new album release a little like Christmas morning...yeah, it's great opening all the presents, but once you do, it's over and you're waiting for next Christmas...and there's really nothing like that first spin through a new album...)
Album Reviews: Pearl Jam, Scotty McCreery, The Head and the Heart, Gavin DeGraw, Cass McCombs, Diane Birch, Gary Numan
Billboard Staff
614 words
11 October 2013
Billboard.biz
BILBIZ
English
Copyright 2013, Nielsen Business Media. All rights reserved.
ROCK
Pearl Jam
"Lightning Bolt"
Producer: Brendan O'Brien
Label: Monkeywrench/Republic
Release Date: Oct. 15
It's been four years since Pearl Jam's last studio album, but the band's inspired new effort proves to be more than worth the wait since 2009's "Backspacer," with 12 tunes exploring bad faith, the intricacies of deep commitment, mortality and the state of the planet -- managing to groove, thrash and soar along the way. Opening with two rock-solid takes on sanctimony, the Eddie Vedder-penned "Getaway" lights a fuse into the furious "Mind Your Manners," which features music by guitarist Mike McCready. The magical pairing of the building "Infallible" and ominous "Pendulum," both collaborations among Vedder, bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard, also leaps out as a highlight -- examining humanity's hubris and its transience. In great form throughout, Vedder's unmistakable baritone is at its most gorgeous on poignant ballad "Sirens." -Jessica K. Letkemann
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Pearl Jam fights for relevance, resonance Flashes of vitality on 'Lightning Bolt'
Greg Kot
By Greg Kot, Tribune critic
431 words
14 October 2013
Chicago Tribune
TRIB
Chicagoland Final
1
English
Copyright 2013, Chicago Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
'Lightning Bolt'
Pearl Jam
*** (out of 4) \
On Pearl Jam's first studio album since 2009, complacency is the enemy. Now into its third decade, the Seattle quintet could easily slip into a heritage-band midlife with a backlog of hits that could sustain them for decades on lucrative tours. But Pearl Jam still wants to make vital music, and about half the time on its 10th studio album, "Lightning Bolt" (Monkeywrench/Republic), it succeeds.
Three brisk, blood-pumping rockers pick up where the band's previous album, "Backspacer," left off. "Getaway" and "Mind Your Manners" scrap and howl. "My Father's Son" could have fit alongside the domestic psychodramas on the band's debut, "Ten."
Things falter when the band's love of '70s classic rock turns musty. On the melodramatic power ballad "Sirens," Eddie Vedder pushes his voice into its upper range and Mike McCready's guitar solo channels Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. The blues stomp "Let the Records Play" evokes a bar band staggering toward last call. And "Sleeping by Myself" is a bittersweet but lightweight tune recycled from Vedder's solo ukulele record.
Inspiration returns on the title track, which rides Matt Cameron's roller-coaster drumming and richly layered guitars and keyboards. Longtime producer Brendan O'Brien adds subtle touches that enhance "Infallible," which blends keyboards and guitars into sonic accent marks that give the song unexpected bounce. Similarly, "Pendulum" swings on a percussive, wordless vocal that turns into an unexpected hook while complementing the ghostly atmosphere. Nearly as successful is the haunted "Yellow Moon," and guitars tumble and tangle on the propulsive "Swallowed Whole."
Vedder sets the tone, even when his earnestness spills over into greeting-card mysticism: "Whispered songs inside the wind ... feel the planet humming." Mostly, he comes across as a concerned citizen fretting over the planet's ecological decline, a skeptic grappling with a loss of faith, a middle-aged father confronting mortality.
These are big subjects, and Pearl Jam's natural tendency is to turn them into larger-than-life songs that inevitably will be compared to its superior '90s work. "Pendulum" suggests a subtler, more promising way forward. A few more tunes like that, and the golden-oldies circuit won't swallow the band anytime soon.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
There comes a point in a band's career -- say, 22 years after its mega-selling debut -- when the metric by which a new album's success or failure is measured isn't the quality of the material, exactly, so much as the degree to which that band can stave off its own exhaustion. On album number 10, Pearl Jam has plenty of spark left, opening with the determined "Getaway" and the punkish fire of "Mind Your Manners" before the smart change of pace of the anthemic "Sirens." A few songs recall the dense eclecticism of "Vitalogy," while others echo the Who's solidity of purpose; with its stringy guitar lines, back-and-forth tension-driving riff, and a terrific, song-catapulting solo, "Swallowed Whole" (a modern gloss on "Pure and Easy") touches a lot of wires together and crackles. "Lightning Bolt" occasionally stumbles, as on the maudlin overreach of "Future Days" and the "Hey, Soul Sister"/"Goodbye Stranger" hybrid "Sleeping by Myself." But Pearl Jam's not just still alive, it's kicking.
(Out Tuesday)MARC HIRSH
ESSENTIAL "Swallowed Whole"
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Macca may be ubiquitous, but he's not overly prolific -- this is his first album of pop originals in six years. And like his last few, New toes the line between nostalgic and novel. Sir Paul supplies the former with melodic pop-rock that mines his past; producers Mark Ronson, Ethan Johns, Paul Epworth and Giles Martin bring the latter with contemporary sonics. What's wrong with that?
Pearl Jam
* * * 1/2
Lightning Bolt
There are two kinds of PJ albums: Good and great. The Seattle stalwarts' 10th is one of the former. Darker and more personal than 2009's joyfully punky Backspacer, it toggles between tensely muscular arena-rockers and majestic ebb-and-flow ballads as Eddie ponders faith and family, morality and mortality, and the electrifying singularity of love. Up to standards -- but fairly standard.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Pearl Jam's 'Lightning Bolt' is an immaculate conception
Jeff Miers
By Jeff Miers, The Buffalo News, N.Y.
McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
1081 words
13 October 2013
The Buffalo News (MCT)
KRTBF
English
Distributed by McClatchy - Tribune Information Services.
Oct. 13--Rock (or pop, or whatever you need to call it) is supposed to be a young person's game, we've been told from time immemorial. In reality, however, rock is only a young person's game for those who lack the vision and fortitude to see the form's possibilities through to maturity. "Lightning Bolt," Pearl Jam's 10th studio album (out Tuesday), is an intensely passionate, immaculately crafted testament to this truism.
The fact that we're still discussing Pearl Jam some 23 years since the release of the band's debut album, and more than 20 since Seattle's rich independent/alternative music scene was narrowed down to the unfortunate buzz word "grunge" -- indeed, the very fact that Pearl Jam played a sold-out show at Buffalo's First Niagara Center on Saturday night -- speaks to the band's enduring resonance. Pearl Jam has never gone on hiatus, has never broken up, has never released an album that sought to brazenly embrace any temporal tastes of the day. The group has plowed a singular furrow. And because of this, the band's members don't appear foolish in their late 40s, unlike so many artists in their peer group who confuse chasing trends with staying relevant. Similarly, the fans who have grown with them over the years can proceed with their fandom in good faith, with the assurance that Pearl Jam steers by the star of its own integrity.
Quick, think of five other bands you can say that same thing about. OK, now narrow that down to five bands from the early '90s who are still touring and releasing new music. Yup, it's just as I suspected. Pearl Jam is close to alone out there.
"Lightning Bolt" is a special collection, even by Pearl Jam's consistently high standards. It's notable for many things -- its fat-free, 10-songs-in-50-minutes concision; its musical diversity; the strength of the individual performances and the even greater strength of the ensemble interplay; its attention to sonic detail and nuance.
Beyond all of this, however, is the power of the thematic material, as represented by Eddie Vedder's lyrics. It is indeed a rare thing in contemporary popular music to come upon a collection of songs united by the themes of compassion, empathy, the willingness to forgive and the desire to be forgiven, and the manner in which these ideas might play upon interpersonal, social and political relationships. "Lightning Bolt" is that rare collection.
"Lightning Bolt's" release in the midst of a partisan-driven government shutdown feels poetically just. Take the epic piece "Infallible," for example. This is a song tailor-made for the crumbling of the country's self-image, along with its image in the eyes of the rest of the world. A theme song for what often feels like an end-of-days era, "Infallible" laments our personal and collective inability to get out of our own way. "Of everything that's possible in the hearts and minds of men/somehow it is the biggest things that keep on slipping through our hands," sings Vedder, bolstered by one of the album's many indelible building block-style melodic constructions. And then he drops the clincher: "By thinking we're infallible, we are tempting fate instead/Time we best begin, here at the ending." Melody, harmony, rhythm and lyric unite here to startling effect.
There are knotty, challenging punk-based scorchers populating the album -- opener "Getaway" is power-pop and angular punk rolled into one; "My Father's Son" proceeds with violent volition on the strength of bassist Jeff Ament's prog-ish riff, while Vedder tells a heart-rending tale of destructive paternal inheritance; the title track bounces around the room with pogo-ing post-punk/pop intensity.
That said, the emotional centerpiece of "Lightning Bolt" is clearly "Sirens," a ballad based upon a chord progression supplied by guitarist Mike McCready. It's an elegaic tune that builds slowly toward an emotional apex, as acoustic and electric guitars, piano and the Ament/Matt Cameron rhythm section conspire to frame Vedder's lyric and lithesome melody.
And what a lyric it is. Vedder begins with the image that gives the song its title, ("Hear the sirens/Hear the circus so profound/Hear the sirens/More and more in this here town") and then proceeds into what amounts to a prayer centered around the fear of loss and the inevitability of death that the sound of the sirens has stirred within him. This is a song that could not have been written by anyone who has never been a parent or part of a long-term love relationship that involves children. "It's a fragile thing, this life we lead/If I think too much, I can get overwhelmed by the grace/by which we live our lives with death over our shoulders," Vedder sings in a keening tenor that underscores the vulnerability of the lyric. And then, just as the tune hits its harmonic peak, the singer delivers these lines, one assumes to a child, or a lover, or both: "Want you to know that, should I go, I've always loved you/Held you high above, too."
Aside from Bruce Springsteen, there are not many other writers making powerful rock songs out of such sentiments. This is soul-stirring, masterful stuff, and it throbs with compassion and empathy without ever stooping to the maudlin. The mature Vedder, as represented by "Sirens," has entered the pantheon of artists such as Springsteen, U2 and a precious few others.
To say that "Lightning Bolt" is one of Pearl Jam's finest albums is a bit of an empty statement, since the group has never released a dud. Far better to suggest that this new album can more than justifiably share shelf space with some of the best of the best among the band's catalog, albums like "Yield," "Riot Act," "No Code" and "Backspacer."
Among its generation of bands, Pearl Jam has aged with the most vitality, dignity, grace and integrity of all the rest combined.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
LABEL . Having gotten their most drastic reinventions out of the way early and mid career, Seattle warhorses Pearl Jam seemed to retreat to the garage after hitting the creative reset button their back-to-basics self-titled offering in 2006 and its 2009 followup, Backspacer.
On their excellent 10th album, there is certainly no indication that the quintet has regained their appetite for the sonic experimentation trotted out for 1996's underrated No Code and 2000's uncompromising Bianural. But there is a sense that Lightning Bolt takes advantage of the band's 25 years of experience recording albums. These 12 songs seem to be studio-built beasts, particularly the soaring ballads that often feature poppy harmonies not often heard from grunge pioneers. That is not to say that the album lacks urgency. It all kicks off with the giddy punk blast of Getaway and Mind Your Manners before hitting an early peak with the itchy groove of My Father's Son. But some of the more complex tunes - such as the five-minute-plus, politically-charged Infallible or haunting Pendulum - are layered and filled with studio tricks that showcase Pearl Jam's often underappreciated skills at subverting classic-rock traditions. Of course, the album also features all of those attributes for which the band's less-astute critics take them to task: melody, melodrama, scorching guitar solos and a weakness for numbing sincerity. But Eddie Vedder and the boys seem more open than ever about showing their sensitive sides and pop leanings. The catchy Sleeping by Myself almost sounds like Vedder's attempt at a Nashville hit and could prove to be the most divisive Pearl Jam song since they covered Last Kiss. Meanwhile, the album-ending Future Days, with its mournful violin, may be the band's most straightforward and beautiful ballad. In the end, Pearl Jam proves yet again that one-time purveyors of angsty grunge can move gracefully into middle age without losing their edge.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
The one-time grunge poster-boys have long found their way into the echelons of solid rock-elders, and Lightning Bolt comfortably follows the template of 2009’s Backspacer: a frantic opening trio (to prove there’s firepower under the bonnet) giving way to what, these days, suits them rather better — medium-tempo, medium-muscled Americana rock, given a sense of legitimacy by Eddie Vedder’s heart-on-plaid-sleeve ruminations. Rather like Springsteen in being both arena-sized and intimate, it’ll work better live. Even here, however, when the choruses on Sirens and Infallible reach for the stars, they really soar.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
"There's a $10,000 bill in it for you."
"Oh yeah? Which president's on it?"
"Uh, all of them. They're having a party. Jimmy Carter's passed out on the couch."
what album did NME listen to....4 out of 10......what bunch of douche bags
There's always going to be someone asking for some brussel sprouts when the godiva chocolate is being handed out. I gave up on pleasing everybody a long time ago.
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
Comments
Review: Pearl Jam, Lightning Bolt (Monkeywrench/Republic)
Tom Willmott
139 words
11 October 2013
10:30
Independent Online
INDOP
English
© 2013. Independent Print Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Four years on from their last outing and nearly 25 years after forming in Seattle, the grunge survivors deliver their 10th album – and it is a work of contrasts. Openers “Getaway" and “Mind Your Manners" are gutsy, full-blooded blasts, but these soon give way to several soft, contemplative ballads.
The plaintive “Sirens" will divide fans; and, for many, Eddie Vedder’s musings on life in “Future Days" will come uncomfortably close to the sentimental. But the likes of “My Father’s Son" and “Swallowed Whole" are potent reminders that no one nails “classic rock" better than these guys.
An intriguing mix overall and further proof that Pearl Jam play by their own rules – a fact that real fans would never want to change.
Star Rating: 3.00 stars
"My friend Ian MacKaye [from the band Fugazi] says it really well: There's so many ways to navigate this open field. We're fortunate to have an open field, and the reason we have it is as much because we've had support from people who have listened over the years. So we try to navigate that responsibly, but keeping them in mind pretty much at all times. Figuring out the balance of the relationships. It's a really interesting, mostly positive relationship. If that continues, and we continue -- if that grows and we grow -- at some point the healthiest thing might be to not play. Or maybe even just ... sabbatical is a great word, I think. I can't wait to use it someday."
And in the Billboard interview I read earlier today he was talking about them having tons of music inside them right now and the thinks they could be getting prolific. He talks about surging forward with the band and going on sabbatical. :think: I like the first thing better than the second! It is disturbing that he quoted Ian Mackaye, the guy whose band has been on "hiatus" for 15 years or whatever it's been! Don't quote that guy too often Eddie!
2000/05/29 Wembley Arena, London, UK
2006/04/20 The Astoria, London, UK
2006/08/29 Gelredome, Arnhem, Netherlands
2007/06/18 Wembley Arena, London, UK
2009/08/18 O2 Arena, London, UK
2010/06/25 Hyde Park, London, UK
2012/06/20 MEN Arena, Manchester, UK
2012/07/30 Hammersmith Odeon, UK (Eddie Vedder solo show)
2013/02/10 O2 Academy Islington, UK (Brad)
2013/09/19 O2 Academy Brixton, UK (Soundgarden)
2014/07/08 first direct Arena, Leeds, UK
2014/07/11 MK Bowl, Milton Keynes, UK
2017/06/06 Hammersmith Odeon, UK (Eddie Vedder solo show)
2018/07/17 O2 Arena, London, UK
2022/07/08 Hyde Park, London, UK
2022/07/09 Hyde Park, London, UK
2024/06/25 Co-op Live, Manchester, UK
I got the reviewer to change his score
https://twitter.com/Dom_Lawson/status/3 ... 4403381249
2000/05/29 Wembley Arena, London, UK
2006/04/20 The Astoria, London, UK
2006/08/29 Gelredome, Arnhem, Netherlands
2007/06/18 Wembley Arena, London, UK
2009/08/18 O2 Arena, London, UK
2010/06/25 Hyde Park, London, UK
2012/06/20 MEN Arena, Manchester, UK
2012/07/30 Hammersmith Odeon, UK (Eddie Vedder solo show)
2013/02/10 O2 Academy Islington, UK (Brad)
2013/09/19 O2 Academy Brixton, UK (Soundgarden)
2014/07/08 first direct Arena, Leeds, UK
2014/07/11 MK Bowl, Milton Keynes, UK
2017/06/06 Hammersmith Odeon, UK (Eddie Vedder solo show)
2018/07/17 O2 Arena, London, UK
2022/07/08 Hyde Park, London, UK
2022/07/09 Hyde Park, London, UK
2024/06/25 Co-op Live, Manchester, UK
http://www.buffalonews.com/gusto/disc-r ... n-20131013
It's growing up just like me.
http://www.allmusic.com/album/lightning ... 0002563197
It's growing up just like me.
Good read, I particularly liked:
Gosh darn it this is one awesome review. Very introspective. Go Buffalo!
Billboard Staff
614 words
11 October 2013
Billboard.biz
BILBIZ
English
Copyright 2013, Nielsen Business Media. All rights reserved.
ROCK
Pearl Jam
"Lightning Bolt"
Producer: Brendan O'Brien
Label: Monkeywrench/Republic
Release Date: Oct. 15
It's been four years since Pearl Jam's last studio album, but the band's inspired new effort proves to be more than worth the wait since 2009's "Backspacer," with 12 tunes exploring bad faith, the intricacies of deep commitment, mortality and the state of the planet -- managing to groove, thrash and soar along the way. Opening with two rock-solid takes on sanctimony, the Eddie Vedder-penned "Getaway" lights a fuse into the furious "Mind Your Manners," which features music by guitarist Mike McCready. The magical pairing of the building "Infallible" and ominous "Pendulum," both collaborations among Vedder, bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard, also leaps out as a highlight -- examining humanity's hubris and its transience. In great form throughout, Vedder's unmistakable baritone is at its most gorgeous on poignant ballad "Sirens." -Jessica K. Letkemann
Arts + Entertainment
Pearl Jam fights for relevance, resonance Flashes of vitality on 'Lightning Bolt'
Greg Kot
By Greg Kot, Tribune critic
431 words
14 October 2013
Chicago Tribune
TRIB
Chicagoland Final
1
English
Copyright 2013, Chicago Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
'Lightning Bolt'
Pearl Jam
*** (out of 4) \
On Pearl Jam's first studio album since 2009, complacency is the enemy. Now into its third decade, the Seattle quintet could easily slip into a heritage-band midlife with a backlog of hits that could sustain them for decades on lucrative tours. But Pearl Jam still wants to make vital music, and about half the time on its 10th studio album, "Lightning Bolt" (Monkeywrench/Republic), it succeeds.
Three brisk, blood-pumping rockers pick up where the band's previous album, "Backspacer," left off. "Getaway" and "Mind Your Manners" scrap and howl. "My Father's Son" could have fit alongside the domestic psychodramas on the band's debut, "Ten."
Things falter when the band's love of '70s classic rock turns musty. On the melodramatic power ballad "Sirens," Eddie Vedder pushes his voice into its upper range and Mike McCready's guitar solo channels Pink Floyd's David Gilmour. The blues stomp "Let the Records Play" evokes a bar band staggering toward last call. And "Sleeping by Myself" is a bittersweet but lightweight tune recycled from Vedder's solo ukulele record.
Inspiration returns on the title track, which rides Matt Cameron's roller-coaster drumming and richly layered guitars and keyboards. Longtime producer Brendan O'Brien adds subtle touches that enhance "Infallible," which blends keyboards and guitars into sonic accent marks that give the song unexpected bounce. Similarly, "Pendulum" swings on a percussive, wordless vocal that turns into an unexpected hook while complementing the ghostly atmosphere. Nearly as successful is the haunted "Yellow Moon," and guitars tumble and tangle on the propulsive "Swallowed Whole."
Vedder sets the tone, even when his earnestness spills over into greeting-card mysticism: "Whispered songs inside the wind ... feel the planet humming." Mostly, he comes across as a concerned citizen fretting over the planet's ecological decline, a skeptic grappling with a loss of faith, a middle-aged father confronting mortality.
These are big subjects, and Pearl Jam's natural tendency is to turn them into larger-than-life songs that inevitably will be compared to its superior '90s work. "Pendulum" suggests a subtler, more promising way forward. A few more tunes like that, and the golden-oldies circuit won't swallow the band anytime soon.
ALBUM REVIEW: Pearl Jam, 'Lightning Bolt'
Marc Hirsh
Marc Hirsh
By Marc Hirsh Globe Correspondent
208 words
14 October 2013
The Boston Globe
BSTNGB
G.5
English
© 2013 New York Times Company. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All Rights Reserved.
There comes a point in a band's career -- say, 22 years after its mega-selling debut -- when the metric by which a new album's success or failure is measured isn't the quality of the material, exactly, so much as the degree to which that band can stave off its own exhaustion. On album number 10, Pearl Jam has plenty of spark left, opening with the determined "Getaway" and the punkish fire of "Mind Your Manners" before the smart change of pace of the anthemic "Sirens." A few songs recall the dense eclecticism of "Vitalogy," while others echo the Who's solidity of purpose; with its stringy guitar lines, back-and-forth tension-driving riff, and a terrific, song-catapulting solo, "Swallowed Whole" (a modern gloss on "Pure and Easy") touches a lot of wires together and crackles. "Lightning Bolt" occasionally stumbles, as on the maudlin overreach of "Future Days" and the "Hey, Soul Sister"/"Goodbye Stranger" hybrid "Sleeping by Myself." But Pearl Jam's not just still alive, it's kicking.
(Out Tuesday)MARC HIRSH
ESSENTIAL "Swallowed Whole"
Hear it \ The albums to check out
DARRYL STERDAN
156 words
13 October 2013
The Ottawa Sun
OTTSUN
Final
31
English
2013 Sun Media Corporation
PAUL MCCARTNEY
* * * 1/2
NEW
Macca may be ubiquitous, but he's not overly prolific -- this is his first album of pop originals in six years. And like his last few, New toes the line between nostalgic and novel. Sir Paul supplies the former with melodic pop-rock that mines his past; producers Mark Ronson, Ethan Johns, Paul Epworth and Giles Martin bring the latter with contemporary sonics. What's wrong with that?
Pearl Jam
* * * 1/2
Lightning Bolt
There are two kinds of PJ albums: Good and great. The Seattle stalwarts' 10th is one of the former. Darker and more personal than 2009's joyfully punky Backspacer, it toggles between tensely muscular arena-rockers and majestic ebb-and-flow ballads as Eddie ponders faith and family, morality and mortality, and the electrifying singularity of love. Up to standards -- but fairly standard.
Jeff Miers
By Jeff Miers, The Buffalo News, N.Y.
McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
1081 words
13 October 2013
The Buffalo News (MCT)
KRTBF
English
Distributed by McClatchy - Tribune Information Services.
Oct. 13--Rock (or pop, or whatever you need to call it) is supposed to be a young person's game, we've been told from time immemorial. In reality, however, rock is only a young person's game for those who lack the vision and fortitude to see the form's possibilities through to maturity. "Lightning Bolt," Pearl Jam's 10th studio album (out Tuesday), is an intensely passionate, immaculately crafted testament to this truism.
The fact that we're still discussing Pearl Jam some 23 years since the release of the band's debut album, and more than 20 since Seattle's rich independent/alternative music scene was narrowed down to the unfortunate buzz word "grunge" -- indeed, the very fact that Pearl Jam played a sold-out show at Buffalo's First Niagara Center on Saturday night -- speaks to the band's enduring resonance. Pearl Jam has never gone on hiatus, has never broken up, has never released an album that sought to brazenly embrace any temporal tastes of the day. The group has plowed a singular furrow. And because of this, the band's members don't appear foolish in their late 40s, unlike so many artists in their peer group who confuse chasing trends with staying relevant. Similarly, the fans who have grown with them over the years can proceed with their fandom in good faith, with the assurance that Pearl Jam steers by the star of its own integrity.
Quick, think of five other bands you can say that same thing about. OK, now narrow that down to five bands from the early '90s who are still touring and releasing new music. Yup, it's just as I suspected. Pearl Jam is close to alone out there.
"Lightning Bolt" is a special collection, even by Pearl Jam's consistently high standards. It's notable for many things -- its fat-free, 10-songs-in-50-minutes concision; its musical diversity; the strength of the individual performances and the even greater strength of the ensemble interplay; its attention to sonic detail and nuance.
Beyond all of this, however, is the power of the thematic material, as represented by Eddie Vedder's lyrics. It is indeed a rare thing in contemporary popular music to come upon a collection of songs united by the themes of compassion, empathy, the willingness to forgive and the desire to be forgiven, and the manner in which these ideas might play upon interpersonal, social and political relationships. "Lightning Bolt" is that rare collection.
"Lightning Bolt's" release in the midst of a partisan-driven government shutdown feels poetically just. Take the epic piece "Infallible," for example. This is a song tailor-made for the crumbling of the country's self-image, along with its image in the eyes of the rest of the world. A theme song for what often feels like an end-of-days era, "Infallible" laments our personal and collective inability to get out of our own way. "Of everything that's possible in the hearts and minds of men/somehow it is the biggest things that keep on slipping through our hands," sings Vedder, bolstered by one of the album's many indelible building block-style melodic constructions. And then he drops the clincher: "By thinking we're infallible, we are tempting fate instead/Time we best begin, here at the ending." Melody, harmony, rhythm and lyric unite here to startling effect.
There are knotty, challenging punk-based scorchers populating the album -- opener "Getaway" is power-pop and angular punk rolled into one; "My Father's Son" proceeds with violent volition on the strength of bassist Jeff Ament's prog-ish riff, while Vedder tells a heart-rending tale of destructive paternal inheritance; the title track bounces around the room with pogo-ing post-punk/pop intensity.
That said, the emotional centerpiece of "Lightning Bolt" is clearly "Sirens," a ballad based upon a chord progression supplied by guitarist Mike McCready. It's an elegaic tune that builds slowly toward an emotional apex, as acoustic and electric guitars, piano and the Ament/Matt Cameron rhythm section conspire to frame Vedder's lyric and lithesome melody.
And what a lyric it is. Vedder begins with the image that gives the song its title, ("Hear the sirens/Hear the circus so profound/Hear the sirens/More and more in this here town") and then proceeds into what amounts to a prayer centered around the fear of loss and the inevitability of death that the sound of the sirens has stirred within him. This is a song that could not have been written by anyone who has never been a parent or part of a long-term love relationship that involves children. "It's a fragile thing, this life we lead/If I think too much, I can get overwhelmed by the grace/by which we live our lives with death over our shoulders," Vedder sings in a keening tenor that underscores the vulnerability of the lyric. And then, just as the tune hits its harmonic peak, the singer delivers these lines, one assumes to a child, or a lover, or both: "Want you to know that, should I go, I've always loved you/Held you high above, too."
Aside from Bruce Springsteen, there are not many other writers making powerful rock songs out of such sentiments. This is soul-stirring, masterful stuff, and it throbs with compassion and empathy without ever stooping to the maudlin. The mature Vedder, as represented by "Sirens," has entered the pantheon of artists such as Springsteen, U2 and a precious few others.
To say that "Lightning Bolt" is one of Pearl Jam's finest albums is a bit of an empty statement, since the group has never released a dud. Far better to suggest that this new album can more than justifiably share shelf space with some of the best of the best among the band's catalog, albums like "Yield," "Riot Act," "No Code" and "Backspacer."
Among its generation of bands, Pearl Jam has aged with the most vitality, dignity, grace and integrity of all the rest combined.
Now Hear This: Reviews of new albums
779 words
11 October 2013
Postmedia Breaking News
CWNS
English
Pearl Jam
Lightning Bolt
Four stars out of five
LABEL . Having gotten their most drastic reinventions out of the way early and mid career, Seattle warhorses Pearl Jam seemed to retreat to the garage after hitting the creative reset button their back-to-basics self-titled offering in 2006 and its 2009 followup, Backspacer.
On their excellent 10th album, there is certainly no indication that the quintet has regained their appetite for the sonic experimentation trotted out for 1996's underrated No Code and 2000's uncompromising Bianural. But there is a sense that Lightning Bolt takes advantage of the band's 25 years of experience recording albums. These 12 songs seem to be studio-built beasts, particularly the soaring ballads that often feature poppy harmonies not often heard from grunge pioneers. That is not to say that the album lacks urgency. It all kicks off with the giddy punk blast of Getaway and Mind Your Manners before hitting an early peak with the itchy groove of My Father's Son. But some of the more complex tunes - such as the five-minute-plus, politically-charged Infallible or haunting Pendulum - are layered and filled with studio tricks that showcase Pearl Jam's often underappreciated skills at subverting classic-rock traditions. Of course, the album also features all of those attributes for which the band's less-astute critics take them to task: melody, melodrama, scorching guitar solos and a weakness for numbing sincerity. But Eddie Vedder and the boys seem more open than ever about showing their sensitive sides and pop leanings. The catchy Sleeping by Myself almost sounds like Vedder's attempt at a Nashville hit and could prove to be the most divisive Pearl Jam song since they covered Last Kiss. Meanwhile, the album-ending Future Days, with its mournful violin, may be the band's most straightforward and beautiful ballad. In the end, Pearl Jam proves yet again that one-time purveyors of angsty grunge can move gracefully into middle age without losing their edge.
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Album Reviews
Pearl Jam: Lightning Bolt
James Jackson
James Jackson
119 words
11 October 2013
20:01
thetimes.co.uk
TIMEUK
English
© 2013 Times Newspapers Ltd. All rights reserved
Star Rating: 3 stars
The one-time grunge poster-boys have long found their way into the echelons of solid rock-elders, and Lightning Bolt comfortably follows the template of 2009’s Backspacer: a frantic opening trio (to prove there’s firepower under the bonnet) giving way to what, these days, suits them rather better — medium-tempo, medium-muscled Americana rock, given a sense of legitimacy by Eddie Vedder’s heart-on-plaid-sleeve ruminations. Rather like Springsteen in being both arena-sized and intimate, it’ll work better live. Even here, however, when the choruses on Sirens and Infallible reach for the stars, they really soar.
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http://www.allmusic.com/album/lightning ... 0002563197
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