Great review, Fattie Vedder — thanks for taking the time to type it all out. Looking forward to Friday!

I'm going to barf out some initial thoughts of the album from the theater experience as very rough notes and first time seeing the lyrics, so bear with me. Thankfully, the sound quality in the theater was excellent. Surround sound dolby atmos was interesting to say the least. Real separation between left and right channels, but for me, left was way faded compared to right, and Eddie's vocals were sitting on top of everything for some reason. The difference was noticeable on Dark Matter and Running because I had something to compare to previously.

I said previously that this might be the album that I personally need now, in 2024, while Gigaton was the album I needed in 2020. That was based on the assumption that this album would represent the bright new future that Gigaton was hoping for and reminding us to look forward to. I'm not so sure of that anymore. Gigaton and Dark Matter share many of the same themes (sticking together through rough times, and coming back to ourselves and our inner strength and resolve, holding on for a better future), they have wildly different energies with different circumstances. Gigaton's music is quieter, more somber and reflective, but it is a more hopeful and positive album. Dark Matter's music is brighter, louder, more upbeat, but it is desperate and less positive or hopeful about the future. It is a desperate plea to not let go of what we have, fearing that the end is near, whatever that end might be (life/death, the band, personal relationships? All the above? ...). Themes of things ending are prevalent on Dark Matter, and while it tries to maintain a positive and hopeful outlook at what new beginnings may come after such endings, it's focused on the imminent threat of the ending itself, whereas Gigaton was more focused on the hopeful future. This is a "heavy" album in the sense that the subject matter is dark and heavy.

We've mentioned before how Eddie's lyrics are best when he draws from the personal to describe the universal. Some of the things Eddie sings about feel extremely personal that you can't help but wonder if he's talking about his marriage or some personal relationships. If I'm not mistaken, I think on one song he says something it could be just him and "just the two of you" which seemed like a very direct message to his daughters (this was not on Something Special). But he does extrapolate from these seemingly very specific lyrics to broader themes. There is very little here that indicates political messaging (Dark Matter is probably the most 'political' of these), but that future he's both hopeful and worried about could be our collective future just as much as it could be his personal future. The hopefulness on this album comes from the moments where Eddie centers love as the north star to guide our actions and direction when fear would have us react in detrimental ways. In this way it is similar to Gigaton, but it is more foreboding.

The lyrics generally didn't feel as polished, poetic, or pretty as Gigaton. There are definitely clunky lyrical moments. Gigaton is rife with lovely metaphors; this is more on the nose.

Yield and Backspacer had a baby: I see what folks are saying, to some extent. This is the pop Pearl Jam album Eddie has always wanted to make. It has so much of Eddie's sensibilities but tapped into the 'original' PJ of way back. It has some bright, soaring moments like Yield, but while Yield is very riff centric, this is a very chord driven album. I was actually surprised at the lack of pure riffage (not talking about Mike's shredding). Yield has a LOT more space between notes, where some instruments take focus over others at different times. Dark Matter sounds like all the instruments are yelling for attention. I'm not saying it does not have layers like Yield, it does, it just not only sounds different but also is put together and composed differently. Overall, this is the best example yet of all the things that Pearl Jam was, is, and has become. It's an evolution of the band's sound without losing its foundation. When people change over time, they may take on new views of the world and ways of being, but deep down they are still very much the people they originally became in their formative years. This is that.

Relentless is another way I would describe this album. It's loud, it's message is desperate, and it does not relent at trying to get you to heed its message, and the desperation is because whoever this is directed at don't seem to be listening, or don't see the same edge of the cliff coming up fast that Eddie sees.

As of now, I absolutely love this album. It's so powerful and has some stunningly beautiful moments, but some things leave me feeling unsettled. I am jut so happy for this band to have tapped into something great this late into their careers, and maybe my love for it is biased by being surprised by what they have been able to achieve in 2024. I wonder if in time it will hold up as much as other classics like Yield (my personal favorite) because the thing I love most about Yield is what is missing here. In fairness, this needs several more proper listens with good headphones. The other thing missing is spaciousness. PJ have not incorporated spaciousness in their songs in forever. Even Gigaton, which we praised for letting songs breathe more, at times felt like its spaciousness was forced in there between songs by Josh Evans, whereas songs on Yield just feel more spacious, even the fast and hard ones.

The first listen in the dark was preferable to the visuals. We joked that they looked like windows 2000 screensavers. Closing my eyes and just listening to it was the way to go.

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Scared of Fear:
- Love the verse "riff" (again more chord forward). The bridge is a delight too. Chorus did not grab me like it did others. Love the solo on this one too, particularly Mike's descending, step-down notes that mirror the descending chords, before it picks back up again.
- Lyrics are interesting. I need to see them again to fully grasp the theme of the album. It warns of a setting sun and fearing it.

React, Respond:
- what a delight! Everything everyone said about it is spot on. Love the plinky guitar build up to the chorus. Fun fact: I had a dream last night about this song where Jeff was playing a gigantic harp to make that plinky sound while a fly kept hovering at point blank range of my view such that I could see every hair and fiber on its body. Thanks brain!
- Love the way Mike's solo fades out then fades back in. I don't know if this was a dolby atmos/surround sound thing, but it felt like it was going away and coming back closer. So cool.
- Tying back to the album themes: Fear makes us react rather than respond. Don't be scared of fear. Center love for our actions

Wreckage:
- Holy fuck. Beautiful. Lovely harmonies. Would be a great next single.
- Some self flagellation in Eddie's words, once again damning his DNA and questioning if he's bound to make the same mistakes as his father. He's afraid of fucking things up, I think, in his marriage and family.

Won't Tell:
- What the fuck. I was not expecting this to hit me like this. It's beautiful. Earworm chorus. Also could be next single. Lovely riff/solo outro.
- Feels VERY personal. Who is he singing about here? I think this is the song where he says "just the two of you", but could be wrong.

Upper Hand:
- Confession: this did not grab me like it did others. It feels like... a lot. especially between Won't Tell and WFS. It also feels like PJ were under some edict to have to end every song with a major uplifting, double time, solo shred to make the song more appealing. That's not to say there aren't some really cool parts to this. I reserve the right to love this over time with more listens.

Waiting for Mother Fucking Stevie:
- I genuinely cannot recall another PJ line that moved me like "You can be loved and not feel love" like this one did in a long fucking time. Might be my favorite. Maybe.
- Interesting chorus then verse structure. Drum fills are stupid. I don't know how Matt does that. Incredible.
- One thing I didn't pick up on the main chorus (or is it a verse?) riff/chord is the neat little note bend that is done. it gives it more of a riff feel than just chord strum.
- "Dissolve the fear", "You can't take or give what you got", "You are what you're not"... this is connecting the whole album together but I'm not sure excatly how or what it's fully saying yet. Need the lyrics!!

Got to Give:
- Holy Americanna hell. Into The Wild meets Yield. OK verse. Beautiful chorus! Love how Eddie extends "believe" in the end; "beeeliee-e-e-e-e-ve". Wh knew this song would have the most screams.
- The riff/solo at the end was a lovely reprieve from the relentless Mike shredding throughout the album. It was hookier than other solos. Reminded me of the end of Lightning Bolt. While I love a good Mike shred, I wanted more of that throughout the album; solos with melodic hooks. The melodies on this album mostly come from the vocals, rarely do they come from the solos.

Setting Sun:
- Could climb up to be a fave eventually. That ending is incredible.
- Lyrics seem to be once again about the potential of losing a love, or love gone wrong, which feels very personal. But also, very much universal; this feels like a prayer for things not to end. I use the word prayer intentionally. I am not religious at all, but I noticed how the last few lyrics signal religious terminology (Kingdom Come). I am not saying Eddie is delivering a religious message at all, but I think he's playing with the idea of this being a prayer of sorts. It repeats the same line over and over, with a slight change of a word or two here and there, very much like a sermon would. There is something about wanting to live out our days forever, but the reality is that the end is much nearer than we realize. Fuck this makes me cry.

I wanna give a shout out to DM title track, because I've kind of been seeing this sentiment that it's one of the "lesser" tracks on the album. I feel like this tends to happen when songs are released as singles. It's one of my favorites! It's actually grown on me even more in context of the album. It has such an awesome anthemic, classic PJ chorus, and the blistering solo at the end is fucking great.

While most of the album is mid tempo, this one actually rocks.


It was a stand out from metal door leak on day 1, and I love it even more now. Gonna be so good live too.