Pearl Jam's Gigaton

We All Believe said:

Happy Birthday Gigaton!

Before Dark Matter was released, I listened to Gigaton more than anything else, by PJ or any other artist. At least half of it, on a daily basis.

2020 was the worst year of my life. My relationship ended right as Gigaton came out, and a couple of months later, I lost my job, and was unemployed for almost a year. Combine those two things with COVID isolation, and the end result was me immersing myself in Gigaton even more than I normally would have.

There are so many things in it that parallel what was going on in my life at the time that it's eerie.

No Code is the record that, for me, changed PJ from a band that I really liked to something more, something greater and more meaningful.

Gigaton is on a similar level. It will forever be associated with the worst year of my life, but it will also forever be associated with me continuing to dig out from where I was, getting back to higher ground.

Seven O'clock and Retrograde were in my Top 15 PJ songs before DM. Might have to recalibrate, maybe bump 7OC.

The production on GT is fantastic IMO. Sonically, the band sounds great. Watt could take a few pointers from Josh Evans, as DM's sound is brutal. Combine the music that Watt was able to get out of the band, w/Josh's production and we might have an all-time PJ record.

I totally agree. The production on Gigaton is out of this world, and a few Dark Matter songs would greatly benefit from that.

Looking back, Gigaton is the album—after No Code and Yield—that I revisit in full the most. Dark Matter has a few all-time classics, but apart from them (Upper Hand, Dark Matter, Got to Give, and Setting Sun), I rarely listen to the album from start to finish.

For me, Gigaton always made complete sense sonically. The album feels like a journey, and hardly any song seems out of place. Perhaps Alright could have been placed later in the album or swapped with Take the Long Way, but other than that, it’s a fantastic album in almost its entirety for me.

On the downside I feel Superblood Wolfmoon is the type of punk rock song they should stop doing. It feels usually out of place and the sound usually lacks a bit the "edge" and "anger" for a punk rocker. Mind Your Manners is their last great punk rocker since Comatose, imo.