Fanviews / reviews

Habit4me said:

First thoughts:
1. Who Ever Said - Solid song, maybe not the best song to choose as an album opener (see below). It starts to drag at the end.
2. SBWM - It's a catchy little song, but it feels jumbled and incomplete. Not sure why they chose this one as their second single "rocker song" (see below)
3. DOTC - I think we can all agree that this one is GREAT.
4. Quick Escape - This song is Pearl Jam. We get a taste of every single members musical talents in this song. Although I'm a little concerned that this one might wear out on me over time.
5. Alright - This would have been the perfect album opener or closer. I love this one.
6. Seven O' Clock - Kinda all over the place. Too long in my opinion. I'm going to need to spin this one a few more times.
7. Never Destination - Blah. Feels like a filler song.
8.  Take the Long Way - Not sure why everyone has this as a bottom tier song. This is PJ exploring their inner QOTSA. Has a Riot Act feel to it as well. Should have been single #2.
9. Buckle Up - I love this one. Has a Yield sessions vibe to it. I can picture the boys jamming to this on Single Video Theory
10. Comes Then Goes - I might be the only one who thinks this song is a snoozer. Yeah Yeah, I get the lyrics hit home for some people, but this is another album filler to me. It's another Ed solo song and should have been on an Ed solo record. It's going to take a LONG time for me to come around to this one - if I ever do. Right now, its an instant skipper.
11. Retrograde - Another song that feels like an Ed solo song ala an Into The Wild B side. Great ending though.
12. River Cross - Blah. Need more time on this one.


Good album, not a classic. I'd give it a C+/B-

Jammin909 said:

PJWGIII said:

AIGHT SO HERE WE GO....

*PJWGIII FANVIEWS AFTER THREE FULL LISTENS (GOING ON FOUR AS WE SPEAK)*

(These are instant reactions, not my edited Journalism — though I may write a full review on our student newspaper The Forest Scout soon — so expect some over-excitement and VERY stream-of-consciousness bullet points)

- Here’s what is most likely my violently hot take: This album opener/closer pairing (Who Ever Said/River Cross) is up there as one of the band’s best EVER (Yes - this is the same band that went Once/Release on Ten or Go/Indifference on Vs.)

- Now that it’s all in front of us, I feel pretty safe backing the band on their single selections: DoTC was the classic outlier first choice (a la Nothing as it Seems/Who You Are as opposed to Grievance/Hail, Hail) but it was a fantastic signal to the diehard fans that they were staying weird and actively trying to do something with quality that makes it worth the longest wait they’ve ever made us sit through in their career. I just don’t know if I get as excited about this record if Superblood Wolfmoon is the first single! It was a great second choice though, as it finally gave us our first new ripping Mike McCready guitar solo in forever. This all leads to my next point...

-QUICK ESCAPE was the best single, and is quickly the best song on the record! Early PJ swag is back in the form of a Zep-like sound with some Queen and Trump references over a really cool vocal effect. The video game it came with will be a great quarantine pastime for me as well. And...

-MATT FUCKING CAMERON is the MVP of this album. While he has always been a powerful beast that saved the band, he has kind of fallen into the role of being simply a tight metronome more and more often. He finally brought his Soundgarden complexity to Pearl Jam!! I could be crazy wrong because song credits don’t show this, but maybe some of these were very early Soundgarden ideas for what would’ve been their next one? Some of these songs make it sound possible (especially Quick Escape.)

-While I think it will remain a nice dip into psychedelia for now, I mostly agree with the common take that Buckle Up is the Parachutes of this album. It is true for better and for worse...

-Comes Then Goes is exactly why I identify with Ed in a musical sense — he has a very percussive mind for guitar and this song is him at his Who-iest and Into The Wild-est and is a great addition (I guess I’m also just glad it was my selection for PJ Fantasy League lol)

-Lyrics are poignant and meet high expectations. It is a little creepy how well the chorus of DoTC resonates right now...

-LASTLY AND PERHAPS THE BIGGEST THING: We were 100% wrong on the notion that these guys were kinda done with writing music - they are more dedicated to their craft perhaps than ever, and it showed. This isn’t “Legacy Jam” and that’s what I fucking LOVE about Gigaton. It’s active and resonant, and is exactly what makes this band my favorite.

I don’t expect something this individually good from an all-time favorite band of mine that is this far into their career, let alone my favorite band of all time. Truly spoiled and can’t wait for some vinyl to show up on my doorstep!

Current Rating: 8.5/10

Where it falls in PERSONAL album rankings (could change up or down by the second - the biggest thing is they kept their “undefeated” streak — not one truly bad record):

1. Vitalogy
2. Yield
3. Ten
4. No Code
5. Riot Act
6. Vs.
7. GIGATON
8. Binaural
9. Avocado
10. Backspacer
11. Lightning Bolt

Keep on Rockin’ In The Free World everyone...

I was really tracking man until I saw Riot Act ahead of Vs. That's just straight nonsense!!

cp3iverson said:

I think with the band now having a recording studio at the warehouse AND josh evans basically being a crew member we’ll see more recordings sooner rather than later.  

I want josh producing then until they hang up their instruments. 

Eilian said:

Got so excited with all the hype on here - I'm so gutted.

To my ear, (all too often) where this album isn't sloppy, garagey mush, it makes no musical sense at all. The production sounds like everything's been pushed to the front to such an extent that often it's just a wall of noise. Say what you like about O'Brien's creative choices, but he knows how to balance a mix... and he knows how to get the best out of Vedder, and for my money, the rest of the band too.

Who Ever Said - about 5 different messy, garage-band progressions wrapped around a catchy enough chorus.

Superblood Wolfmoon - The solo into the breakdown is cool. Again, a bit too mindlessly strummy and garage for a rock band which has McCready and Gossard in it. Sounds like all three guitars (one too many) are playing essentially the same thing.

DOTC - Great. Playful, inventive, well structured with nice instrumental interplay. 

Quick Escape - Cool song, oddly produced - feel like Vedder's been pushed back out of the spotlight a bit given the obscuring effect of the vocal EQ and the end solo everyone's been raving about just seems like a thoughtless improvisation - it adds nothing. (McCready's improvs are nearly always nonsense - think he's superb when he stops to think what kind of noise he's making, or when he's reined in by a good producer)

Alright - Half an idea - begging for a crescendo that never comes.

Seven O'Clock - A nice tune and melody which struggles to cope with some of Vedder's polysyllabic word choices. Could probably benefit from a little less auxiliary stuff going on - there's a moment between the chorus and the verse where there's so much ambient instrumentation getting pushed so loudly into the foreground that it becomes almost unlistenable. 

Never Destination - Like someone fed all the rockers on Lost Dogs through a computer program. Alright verse melody and obligatory, thoughtless solo. There's a melody at the very end lifted straight from Tom Petty's, Listen to Her Heart, too.

Take The Long Way - Kinda cool and jaunty with a catchy chorus but ultimately pretty forgettable.

Buckle Up - Interesting and lovely.

Comes Then Goes - Feels like A LOT of recycled guitar ideas (I'm hearing Parting Ways and Far Behind). That said, the overall package I kinda like. It at least makes sense start to finish.

Retrograde - Pretty guitar parts, nice chorus. The climax has so much auxiliary stuff going on it just feels like a wall of noise - could've been haunting, but they'd rather make a nonsense racket instead.

River Cross - Beautiful song ruined by that fucking kalimba. 

I'm sure (hoping) some of these will grow on me, but I don't think there's anything on here to rival the best bits of the last two albums. I'd even go so far as to say that, production aside, the verses of Can't Deny Me were more enjoyable than 90% of this album. I also think, however, that had O'Brien been the producer, a few of these song ideas would've been done a much greater justice.