Exclusive PJ listening party West Hollywood 1.31.24 - Confirmed DARK MATTER and wish I was there

Predaking said:

VINNY GOOMBA said:

Predaking said:

VINNY GOOMBA said:

My hope is that Dark Matter is to Pearl Jam what Death Magnetic is to Metallica. 

A poorly produced, ultra-compresses collection of above average songs? No one wants this.

Death Magnetic should have been soooo good. It was unlistenable.

I don't hear that album that way at all.  St. Anger was unlistenable.  That was poorly produced and horrible songs.  I like the sound of Death Magnetic, and really like the songs on there, and it was their best album in 17 years.  Hell, everyone loves And Justice For All and you can barely hear the bass on it.  Agree to disagree on this one.

You like it, you like it. I hear potential return to greatness, but the harshness of Lars' cymbals and the compression applied to the recording is God awful. It is the pinnacle of loudness wars. I revisited the 45rpm box set version and it still is awful to my ears.

Heard a few of the tracks live on tour and they are great though. Shame about the production. 

Predaking said:.

Heard a few of the tracks live on tour and they are great though. Shame about the production. 

It was a great tour!  Still the only time I caught Metallica.  Saw them in Albany, great show.

I had a dream that Johnny Guitar Watson was staring at me while I was pissing.

VINNY GOOMBA said:

With a guy like Watt being a mega fan of the band, there's a great chance he knows how to guide them through this process to maximize their strengths.  I think Watt also knows what constitutes a hit these days and how to put a modern spin on a classic band.

My hope is that Dark Matter is to Pearl Jam what Death Magnetic is to Metallica. 

Good points Vinny. I like this comparison and I hope you are 100% spot on. I remember how surprised (in a good way) I was listening to Death Magnetic for the first time. But then again, the release before that was St. Anger.   

In any case, any new PJ music is great, but imagine getting an album that has strong Ten or Vs. vibes with its own modern-day Pearl Jam polish?

Human Tide said:

verceman said:

kmcmanus said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

estarr31 said:

HughFreakingDillon said:

Jeff Ament Jan 2024: we made this record like a year ago
Jeff Ament Summer 2023: we've got a few things recorded, I really don't know where it's at right now

these two statements go together. I'm not in the industry but usually takes a while to release a big band's album with marketing, releases, lining up with a tour. They were talking about recording new music in 2022. 

the absolutely do not. "a few things recorded" 6 months after it was "in the can" are not at all the same thing. 

But Jeff’s the one who does most of the art direction, so when Stone’s work is finished he still has all of that left to do. He might honestly have a very different idea of “finished” than the other guys.

In one of his podcast interviews over the summer he was downright defiant that the songs weren't done and he implied that he wanted to push Eddie and Mike to push themselves a bit more. It was in June and he said they were taking a break for the summer and regrouping in September to revisit the tracks. Quite the ruse.

At the time, that interview seemed like the most honest take I'd heard on the band from a member. There was a clear sense of disappointment about the band not meeting their potential, and it made me wonder whether they might be nearing the end of the road. He was talking about how they had everything they needed to be great, with the clear implication that he felt they could do better. I believe the line was "We should be killing it right now..."

Very hard to know what to make of all that. 

Yes, exactly. Now maybe was all a ruse and the album was actually done months earlier? Very strange. Sure seemed genuine to my ears. Either Jeff's timing is off when he said they had been sitting on the album for a year, or Jeff missed his calling as an actor. 

AO253126 said:

Gern Blansten said:

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/pearl-jam-throws-listening-party-new-album-eddie-106852555?fbclid=IwAR1xjcP0Cee4pDnZF6SsiQyQ6_jtHARQKUmyvX2yMzHSSHFmSBUFn-A6hoU

“We made this record like a year ago," Ament told the audience. “We’ve been sitting on it.”

“Gigaton” surprised many fans and critics with how hard-rocking it was. The new one goes even harder. It's almost athletic in its speed, aggression, and tenacity, sounding like it would make men of their age sore in the aftermath.

While Vedder remains the face and voice of the band, the star of this album is drummer Matt Cameron, who joined the Jam in 1998 after starting out with Soundgarden.

His relentless pounding opens many of the 11 tracks, and drowns out his bandmates' playing and Vedder's vocals at times.

“It's one of the greatest drum records we’ve ever made,” Vedders said to cheers from a crowd that included Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. “Matt Cameron is just playing out of his skull, especially seeing as how it’s our last record.”

There were a few things in that article that made me raise my eyebrows, but nothing more so than "the Jam". If people have been referring to them all these years as "the Jam" and I've been missing it, then shame on me!

Actually, the writer meant that Matt has been drumming for The Jam, the Paul Weller outfit, since 1998 even though they broke up in 1982.

Predaking said:

A poorly produced, ultra-compresses collection of above average songs? No one wants this.

Death Magnetic should have been soooo good. It was unlistenable.

They fixed all the sound issues on the mastered for iTunes release. It sounds like it should’ve originally now. I deleted my rip of the cd and bought the iTunes version so I could actually listen to the album again. 

albysly said:

I think it looks a little like a colon.....

That's what I thought too!

SS657083 said:

VINNY GOOMBA said:

With a guy like Watt being a mega fan of the band, there's a great chance he knows how to guide them through this process to maximize their strengths.  I think Watt also knows what constitutes a hit these days and how to put a modern spin on a classic band.

My hope is that Dark Matter is to Pearl Jam what Death Magnetic is to Metallica. 

Good points Vinny. I like this comparison and I hope you are 100% spot on. I remember how surprised (in a good way) I was listening to Death Magnetic for the first time. But then again, the release before that was St. Anger.   

In any case, any new PJ music is great, but imagine getting an album that has strong Ten or Vs. vibes with its own modern-day Pearl Jam polish?

Thank you!  I would love that combination very much, and I honestly don't think it would be that hard for them to do it.  It's possible that they just haven't wanted to do anything like that, but maybe Watt directed them in such a way that this would be the inevitable result?  If it were me, and that was the goal, I would be pushing them to focus more on strong, groovy, and heavy riffs as the basis for most of their music.  They lyrical focus would me more emphasis on storytelling, and less direct / more cryptic with the language used, more room for interpretation.  Less importance on rhyming.  It's amazing how many lyrics on Ten don't actually rhyme, and you don't even notice it because it's done so smoothly and powerfully.  I feel that sort of thing comes with a lot of time and maturity in songwriting, and this band hit it out of the park from the get go in their infancy as a band.  Big Choruses.  Do a hard 90 turn at the bridge.  Ripping solos at the end of the songs, with tasty leads throughout.  Less punk, more groove.  

I will be happy with whatever we get.  What I'm describing above may sound more like Ten or Vs, but my personal favorite is Vitalogy.  I enjoy the adventures that all of their albums bring and am super excited to hear this one.

I'm a sucker for the big choruses eh. Maybe it's due to Ed's baritone in verses-his voice is so deep that the contrast when the band hits those soaring highs just hits me right in the feels. In Hiding, GTF, Amongst The Waves, the end of Retrograde...they show that the band has never lost the ability to write a great chorus after having set such a benchmark for the mid tempo stuff from Ten and the way they do it hits me like no other band. Pearl Jam choruses and Tool endings-haha there'd be a wicked combination.