Lightning Bolt reviews in one place/thread?

SPANISH
http://www.informador.com.mx/entretenim ... o-cesa.htm

New Music

Arts; Music

Angst Endures for a Pioneer of Grunge

By JON PARELES

1621 words

15 October 2013



NYTimes.com Feed

NYTFEED

English

Copyright 2013. The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.


“All the demons used to come round,” Eddie Vedder sings in “Future Days,” the ballad that closes “Lightning Bolt,” Pearl Jam’s 10th studio album. “I’m grateful now they’ve left.” Well, not entirely: Pearl Jam still needs something to brood about.

“Lightning Bolt” (Monkeywrench) is Pearl Jam’s current answer to the open question of how to create honest rock as a grown-up. The music that has made Pearl Jam an arena headliner for two decades, with a huge and loyal following, is based on churning and seething, on Mr. Vedder’s mournfully forthright voice and on tensions that often explode into choruses of desperate affirmation. With songs about self-doubt, loss, abusive relationships and political fury, Pearl Jam nevertheless turned out to be the one stable band (give or take a drummer) among the major pioneers of grunge; its members have prospered and settled down.

But complacency would undermine Pearl Jam’s music. So Mr. Vedder continues to ponder and agonize: this time, often, over mortality and faith. “Go to Heaven, that’s swell/ How you like your living in Hell?,” he taunts in the punky “Mind Your Manners.” He warns humanity against arrogance and shortsightedness in “Infallible,” as the music hints at the Beatles’s “Magical Mystery Tour.” The eerie, gorgeous “Pendulum” suspends Mr. Vedder’s voice amid echoing keyboards and guitar as he sings about looming despair. But he also finds euphoria, a oneness with Nature and spirit, as major chords peal all around him in “Swallowed Whole.”

“Lightning Bolt” is not as raw or reckless as the music Pearl Jam made in the 1990s; it also trades away the rough-and-ready sound of Pearl Jam’s previous album, “Backspacer” from 2009. With the producer Brendan O’Brien, Pearl Jam now offers some of the most unrepentantly pretty arrangements in the band’s entire catalog; “Sirens,” an apologetic love song that also warns, “We live our lives with death over our shoulders,” has the sheen of “Hotel California.”

Whether he’s singing a ballad or a rocker, Mr. Vedder carefully outlines the melodies, no matter how worked up he gets (and he does). Even when the music goes hurtling forward in hard-riffing songs like “Getaway,” “My Father’s Son” and the album’s peak, “Lightning Bolt” itself, what comes across is the teamwork of musicians who have been working in tandem for decades. They’re grown-ups with fewer demons and more polish, but they’re still pushing themselves.

GERMAN

Stark und wach: Pearl Jams 10. Album

311 words

15 October 2013



Märkische Allgemeine

MARKAL

Mantel

German

Copyright 2013 Märkische Allgemeine – Brandenburgs beste Seiten. All rights reserved. For further information see http://www.MaerkischeAllgemeine.de


Von Lars Grote

POTSDAM Wenn Eddie Vedder vor die Menge tritt, dann tut er das im Karohemd, mit dem man Bäume fällt und sagt: Ich bin ein Arbeiter, ich bin kein Prominenter. Vedder, Sänger von Pearl Jam, spielt Konzerte an die drei Stunden, und immer liegt ein Weinen in der Stimme. Als trauere er weiter um Kurt Cobain, den Frontman von Nirvana – Bruder im Geiste, mit dem Vedder den Grunge in Seattle definierte. Grunge, dieses ungewaschene Wechselbalg aus Punk und Heavy Metal. Vedder und Cobain haben grundverschiedene Wege gewählt. Cobain hat sich erschossen und wurde zum Märtyrer. Vedder kauft Biokost und gilt nun als Sozialarbeiter. Neulich hat er in einem Interview geheult. Vedder kümmert sich nach Kräften um sein Publikum. Kriegt jeder Luft, hat jeder freie Sicht, fragt er, die Katastrophe vom 30. Juni 2000 vor Augen, als neun Pearl-Jam-Fans beim Roskilde-Festival zu Tode gequetscht wurden.

Erstaunlich, wie hart der Mann bei aller Anteilnahme musiziert. Das letzte Album von Pearl Jam, „Backspacer“ von 2009, war ein tadelloses Brett, wie man in Fankreisen sagt: zielstrebig, nicht mehr so versponnen und aufgeschlossen wie „Vitalogy“, dieses so rabiat nach neuen Klängen grabende Album aus dem Jahr 1994.

„Backspacer“ war homogen, das ist „Lightning Bolt“, die neue, zehnte Studioplatte, ganz sicher nicht. „Getaway“ eröffnet mit Druck, ein unkompliziertes Stück, das dennoch mit Synkopen arbeitet, raffiniertes Dehnen der Notenwerte. „Mind Your Manners“ pflegt den Punk, als schreibe man die frühen 80er. „Sleeping By Myself“ ist eine der gut gelaunten Harmlosigkeiten, die Pearl Jam immer schon wie ein Erweckungserlebnis inszenierten. In dieser Liga spielt auch „Future Days“, ein rührender Rausschmeißer.

Das Album ist stark, wach und motiviert. Es ist ausgewogen, manche sagen: kakuliert. Doch so lange Vedder Karohemd trägt, steht fest: Er meint es ehrlich.

info Pearl Jam: Lightning Bolt. Republic/

Universal.

ROLLING STONE 3.5 STARS
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/album ... t-20131015

Entertainment; Music; Posts

Review: Pearl Jam's 'Lightning Bolt' — it's only rock 'n' roll

chris barton

By Chris Barton

From the Los Angeles Times

931 words

15 October 2013



latimes.com

LATCOM

English

Copyright 2013. Los Angeles Times Communications LLC. All rights reserved.


The long-awaited album is a solid reflection of the band, but breaks little new ground."Everyone's a critic," Eddie Vedder sings to open Pearl Jam's new album, "Lightning Bolt," the group's first since 2009.

It's an interesting introduction for the band, which after more than 20 years together (a Cameron Crowe-directed documentary marked the anniversary in 2011) have reached the level of being beyond anyone's opinion outside of their large and loyal fan base.

Much like road-tested fellow travelers the Dave Matthews Band, the Foo Fighters and even Phish, Pearl Jam need only to drop an album every few years to spur a national tour, and arenas quickly fill to catch a band whose strongest statements are best delivered in front of thousands of people.

PHOTOS: Iconic rock guitars and their owners

In a promo clip that artfully flexed the band's Q Rating with cameos by Judd Apatow, Sleater-Kinney (and "Portlandia") co-creator Carrie Brownstein, along with a pro surfer and an ALS-afflicted NFL player, bassist Jeff Ament explained Pearl Jam's lag between albums — the group's longest since between 2002's "Riot Act" and the self-titled record of 2006 — as waiting "until we have something to say."

After so many years, it's a fair concern. In the best case scenario, Pearl Jam could deliver something akin to the Rolling Stones' "Tattoo You," which yielded a true classic 17 years into that band's run with "Start Me Up."

Chronologically — and somewhat shockingly — Pearl Jam has already passed that window. While 2009's "Backspacer" received some strong notice, it found the band leaning back in its comfort zone with a blend of would-be anthems ("The Fixer"), soft-focused ballads ("Just Breathe") and a strong position on how nice it is to go surfing ("Amongst the Waves"). Nothing sounded terrible, and certainly not insincere, but nothing was surprising, either — unless you count Vedder's 2011 ukulele album, a collection laid back enough to make Jack Johnson sound like Skrillex.

PHOTOS: Daughters of rock stars

But after surviving a career forged during vertigo-inducing fame, Pearl Jam seemed content with sounding like Pearl Jam; an efficient machine of solid but safely nostalgic rock.

Still, for a band that once dominated pop culture, a question prompts asking from fans of the group's peak period: Did Pearl Jam become less vital because they got old? Or because their fans did?

With that in mind, it's hard to say what the ideal Pearl Jam album could sound like 2013. Rock 'n' roll isn't often kind to adulthood, and to be fair, Pearl Jam is no more capable of sounding as fiery as they were at 27 than its fans are. Still, while nothing on "Lightning Bolt" is half as immediate as "Alive," "Corduroy" or even "Wishlist," there are flashes on "Lightning Bolt" that show Pearl Jam still capable of delivering statements.

RELATED: Best albums of 2013 so far | Randall Roberts

Built around a glossy acoustic guitar, "Sirens" sags under some treacly heavy-handed production, but finds the 48-year-old Vedder confronting the frailty of life as emergency vehicles pass his window. "The sound echoing closer, will they come for me next time?" he asks, holding a loved one closer in a flash of vulnerability that no twentysomething rock star could consider.

In maybe the album's most striking moment, the atmospheric "Pendulum" is framed by ghostly guitar and echoey percussion as Vedder ventures into another dark night of the soul: "We are here and then we go," he murmurs. "My shadow left me long ago." The song never finds a way out of despair, and it's that much stronger for it.

After a herky-jerky start that recalls drummer Matt Cameron's roots in Soundgarden, "My Father's Son" finds the band again delivering strong material in the parent–and-child relationship, except in this case perhaps involving a reluctant messiah. "Can I get a reprieve? This gene pool don't hurt me," Vedder sings amid a loping low end that hurtles to a raw-throated finish that's a reminder of one of most powerful voices in rock. "Mind Your Manners" also ventures into question of faith with a vintage punk drive that Pearl Jam typically offers once an album or so.

PHOTOS: Concerts by The Times

Other trips into familiar territory are more mixed. The album sags in its second half, with "Infallible" wearing out its welcome with a feel-good Beatlesque churn, and the Neil Young-leaning guitar stomp of "Let the Records Play" restates Pearl Jam's well-established fondness for listening to albums. A country-tinged holdover from Vedder's solo album, "Sleeping By Myself" carries an incongruously jaunty air, and although the lush "Yellow Moon" builds to graceful heights, the similarly paced "Future Days" drifts into the middle of the road with a lovelorn sweep that will sound great at a Santa Barbara wedding.

Ultimately, "Lightning Bolt" may not be "Tattoo You," but it's not "Steel Wheels" either. For better or worse, Pearl Jam sound just like who they are right now, but after more than 20 years, that's not so bad.

http://blogs.seattletimes.com/soundpost ... cation=rss

NEW-RELEASE TUESDAY\ RECORDINGS

HEALTH & FITNESS

Pearl Jam fights for relevance

Greg Kot

Greg Kot, Tribune Newspapers critic

420 words

15 October 2013



Orlando Sentinel

ORSE

FINAL

D5

English

Copyright 2013, Orlando Sentinel Communications. All Rights Reserved.


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.\

NEW MUSIC

The Arts/Cultural Desk; SECTC

Angst Endures For a Pioneer Of Grunge

Ben Ratliff

By JON PARELES, NATE CHINEN and BEN RATLIFF

1623 words

15 October 2013



The New York Times

NYTF

Late Edition - Final

1

English

Copyright 2013 The New York Times Company. All Rights Reserved.


''All the demons used to come round,'' Eddie Vedder sings in ''Future Days,'' the ballad that closes ''Lightning Bolt,'' Pearl Jam's 10th studio album. ''I'm grateful now they've left.'' Well, not entirely: Pearl Jam still needs something to brood about.

''Lightning Bolt'' (Monkeywrench) is Pearl Jam's current answer to the open question of how to create honest rock as a grown-up. The music that has made Pearl Jam an arena headliner for two decades, with a huge and loyal following, is based on churning and seething, on Mr. Vedder's mournfully forthright voice and on tensions that often explode into choruses of desperate affirmation. With songs about self-doubt, loss, abusive relationships and political fury, Pearl Jam nevertheless turned out to be the one stable band (give or take a drummer) among the major pioneers of grunge; its members have prospered and settled down.

But complacency would undermine Pearl Jam's music. So Mr. Vedder continues to ponder and agonize: this time, often, over mortality and faith. ''Go to Heaven, that's swell/ How you like your living in Hell?,'' he taunts in the punky ''Mind Your Manners.'' He warns humanity against arrogance and shortsightedness in ''Infallible,'' as the music hints at the Beatles's ''Magical Mystery Tour.'' The eerie, gorgeous ''Pendulum'' suspends Mr. Vedder's voice amid echoing keyboards and guitar as he sings about looming despair. But he also finds euphoria, a oneness with Nature and spirit, as major chords peal all around him in ''Swallowed Whole.''

''Lightning Bolt'' is not as raw or reckless as the music Pearl Jam made in the 1990s; it also trades away the rough-and-ready sound of Pearl Jam's previous album, ''Backspacer'' from 2009. With the producer Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam now offers some of the most unrepentantly pretty arrangements in the band's entire catalog; ''Sirens,'' an apologetic love song that also warns, ''We live our lives with death over our shoulders,'' has the sheen of ''Hotel California.''

Whether he's singing a ballad or a rocker, Mr. Vedder carefully outlines the melodies, no matter how worked up he gets (and he does). Even when the music goes hurtling forward in hard-riffing songs like ''Getaway,'' ''My Father's Son'' and the album's peak, ''Lightning Bolt'' itself, what comes across is the teamwork of musicians who have been working in tandem for decades. They're grown-ups with fewer demons and more polish, but they're still pushing themselves.

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/entertai ... story.html

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/10/16/ ... evel-blog/