I can't help but think Illumineddie would be furious over this thread.

Very nice 1st post

You may have a bright future

Keep it going friend

This whole "The Living Years" thing is really working for me.

Lightning Bolt.... I honestly thought I was done with Pearl Jam beyond having fond memories of my time as a fan and enjoying the seven albums we had of good music and the numerous b-sides and outtakes that were of similar quality. Yet somehow, I found myself here for a good portion of my free time last year reading about, thinking about, sometimes posting about, and just generally anticipating this new album by a band I thought I didn't care about anymore. In fact, I think the amount of time I spent devoted to thinking about this album was to the detriment of enjoying other music throughout 2013 that I should have been paying more attention to. But that's on me, not the band or this record.

Like most of PJ's music, Lightning Bolt draws both fans and detractors. To some it's one of their best records, to others it's the worst, but to many, myself included, it's an album that is flawed, but does some things well. It could have been better. With a different producer, different arrangements, different songs, different performances, it could have been better. Regardless, here we are, so I'm going to LAL now. I haven't listened to this album in a couple of months, partly because I didn't think it had much staying power, and I didn't want to burn out on it too much. Thus, I'll be trying to see if my early impressions hold up after time away, or if I view it a different light than before.

"Getaway": This was one of those first four songs we got in the initial partial leak. It's a good mid-tempo rocker with a melody that climbs and falls through the verses. Stip mentioned that's it's a little too polished, which is true. That early leak had it covered in a low-fidelity haze that was actually kinda appropriate; it's too bad it was just from a bad rip. I don't really have much to complain about with this one. The bridge is nice, but unremarkable. A little bit too much arrangement in the outro; those tambourines are unnecessary, but that's BO'B-ification for you.

"Minds Your Manners": One of my favorites from the album. Uptempo rocker a la "Comatose" or "Spin the Black Circle," but more akin to the latter than the former. Ed's delivery is better than it has been in these types of songs for a long time. I like the kind of snarky, sarcastic mood that the whole tune gives off. That quick jump into the second chorus is kind of off-putting. It feels like something was cut there. I'm not particularly keen on the call and response vocals at the end, but it is somewhat different for PJ. It sort of fits as a call back to "Oi" punk, though. I know Motorhead's been said to be reference for this song; do they use those call and response vocals?

"My Father's Son": This one's got a nice urgent sense of movement to it. The lyrics are pretty stupid, as many have pointed out, but I guess that's nothing unusual. There's a cool dark mood that permeates the verses and choruses here, and those little guitar touches in the second verse really add to it. And then there's that bridge; so very different in tone from the rest of the song. Stip likened it to a dark carnival, but I don't think that's apt. It sounds very sincere, as more of a ray of sunshine than further down the rabbit hole.

"Sirens": By all rights, I should hate this song, but I don't. I don't know that I really particularly like it, either, but... Pearl Jam's full-on "MOR" rock anthem. The sentiments are pretty profound, so appropriately, Eddie's vocals are the focal point, while the rest of the performance lags in the background. I do like the touches of slide guitar here and there, though. Despite some of the flaws from that "live performance" video they put out for the single, I think it was a better take than the album cut. Mike's solo was better there, and felt more tonally appropriate than the one present on the album. Did they put together that extended instrumental bit after the solo just so Ed could deal with the logistics of strapping on his acoustic guitar? I like the backing vocals in the outro, too. They should be another thing to shit on, but I just can't.

"Lightning Bolt": I can see why this became the first eponymous PJ album. The entire mood of the album is summed up by this song, but it feels somewhat odd being in this #5 spot. I've never been a huge fan of this one, but I can see some of its merits. The chorus is dumb as fuck, but that instrumental part after the first chorus through that transition into the second verse is quite cool. The structure here is a little more complicated than most of the other tunes on the album, which lends to that sort of epic feeling. I like the keyboards, but there's an overabundance of extra percussion, or maybe it's just badly mixed. Yeah, I think that's it.

"Infallible": This was the early favorite for me, so we'll see if it still holds up now. I really like the droning transition from "Lightning Bolt" to this one. That main riff on the keyboard with the heavy drum beat is really cool. Another kind of dark moody song. Many people complain about how the chorus is too light, but I've always liked it. My favorite lyrics on the album are in this song, and the chorus just adds to that. Interesting percussion additions in the second verse and chorus. I also really like Eddie's delivery throughout this song, and the melodies are fantastic. This a direction I'd like to see them explore further; it's a good blend of accessible pop and slightly off kilter sensibilities, and hearkens back to some of my favorite PJ songs, at least in terms of embracing things that are slightly left-of-center.

"Pendulum": Another tune with a darker mood. The drums are great on this one, very reminiscent of PJ's earlier flirtations with "tribal" percussion. The sparse atmosphere is very welcome after the density that plagued a few of the earlier songs. I like the vocal effects on "easy left me a long time ago"; it could have felt overdone, and cheesy, but it somehow works. The transition into the final section with the "ah-ah-ahhs" is also a really nice part. There's an excellent 1-2 combination, pairing this song with "Infallible." It does end too abruptly, though. That drum outro could go for quite a bit longer and it would feel more satisfying.

"Swallowed Whole": My favorite from the first four-song leak. I like Eddie's repetitive vocal bits at the end of the lines in the verses. I also like the mallet percussion that transitions into the second verse. There's a lot of nice building and crashing in this song; it feeds off of its own energy. The bridge is perhaps a little too much, though, with the gongs, organ and piano. That's the only arrangement complain I have with this one. Mike's solo out of the bridge is like a ray of sunshine and fits the tone of the composition, but it's a bit overlong. Still, I like this one, so add it to the previous two, and that's the best run of songs on this record.

"Let the Records Play": That's a neat intro part, but I've never been particularly fond of bar-band blues. I've said before this song needs to either be a lot dirtier and more authentic, or it needs to be more fully claimed into the Pearl Jam "sound" (which may be impossible). As it is, it's far too vanilla to be taken seriously, but it is supposed to be one of those token "lighthearted-throwaway" songs. It's hardly offensive, so I can't understand the vitriol it gets, but it's definitely a bottom tier track. Eddie's spontaneous vocals as the song fades are somewhat amusing; "faster, faster!" and there's a bit that sounds like it's pulled directly from a song on Lost Dogs (I can't remember which one at the moment).

"Sleeping By Myself": Somebody once said this sounds like one of those commercial jingles you hear on Spotify, and I haven't been able to shake that idea ever since. This is such a typical folksy indie pop tune, and it's very odd hearing Pearl Jam use this kind of arrangement approach to a song. It's a neat little novelty song that I think would have made a good b-side or fit on an EP of tonal explorations. Here it's absurdly out of place. Again, nothing terrible, but I don't think it fits the venue.

"Yellow Moon": The opening riff is very reminiscent of "Low Light," so there's a point against it, there. It's hard to see this song as necessary when there's already "Swallowed Whole" present; sorry to all the fans. Ed's vocals are really nice, and the pensive mood is very pretty. Maybe there should have been more distance on the album between this and "Swallowed Whole." I feel they'd coexist better if not for their proximity. A lot of people have also said that this would work as the album closer. Maybe, but to me, it's lacking that certain "something" to make it a good closing tune. Not that the real closer is any better, 'cause it's most definitely not.

"Future Days": Ah, yes, this little bastard. Sorry BO'B, you can't make this song sound super profound by having Eddie's vocals echo like he's on an empty stage. All you get there is empty sentiment. I do have to admit, I like the violin playing that melody; it seems like the only timbre that could pull it off and not sound like crap. More bad piano here, which is often cited as its worst offense. They made bad decisions on this record, and this is the worst of them. And that schlocky intro repeated as outro. Argh, why?

So, yeah, that's Lightning Bolt. I feel the same about as I did when it came out. There's some songs that are quite good, a number that are alright, and one that's shockingly bad. Overall, pretty uneven, but it does appear to be part of an upward trend after "Avocado" (which I think I am firmly committed to calling the musical nadir of this band). I don't know where they're going, and I highly doubt that they know either, but I guess I haven't lost the plot entirely.

That pretty much sums it up right there

I haven't Let's Actually Listened to this since November, but from my oftentimes equally sound Let's Actually Remember practice, I give this album a C minus.

This is where I am. A record I really like, but still feel disappointed by because as much as I enjoy most everything here, almost everything could have been better with usually just a pretty minor tweak here or there.

It's been about 4 months to the day since I first listened to LB. After a 3 month break from the album (I listened to nothing else besides LB for an entire month, so I needed an extended break), my boots arrived in the mail today (Brooklyn 2 and Philly 2 - the 2 shows I went to last year) and instead of starting with these, I decided to grab a bottle of wine, a pair of headphones, and revisit my former, even if short-lived, obsession... L f'n B.

A long story short (which is really fuckin' hard for me) I pretty much agree with almost everything Stip had to say about this album, and certainly couldn't have said it any better myself, except for 2 big exceptions... MFS and Swallowed Whole are easily the 2 best songs on the album and some of my favorites from the post-RA era.

Also, Sirens still elicits an emotional response from me. Infallible elicits multiple listens (still trying to figure out if it's a classic PJ song). The MYM solo is one of my fav moments on the album. The LTRP bridge might be my 2nd. And SBM has aged the strongest (to the point where I'm willing to admit it's one of my highlights on the album).

Oh, and one more thing... It still amazes me that after 3 months there are still plenty of you who have nothing better to do with your lives than try to convince everyone on this board that Pearl Jam sucks.... RIP PJ, right?

The fact that this could be posted on a Friday night without even the slightest hint of self-awareness is actually quite impressive.

Why don't we all just acknowledge we're posting on a Pearl Jam message board, of all things; we're all equally lame.

on an absolute basis, this album was a welcome creation

but it just absolutely blows on a relative basis when compared to most things that are found on recorded media

PJ really need to spend more time playing music together and developing songs with depth; and stop just "pushing out the tenants" like some withered entertainment industry shill

she's a lightning bolt = dear peasants, please like me, and i am a moron. eat fries.

there's a trapdoor in the sun =

I have my dog cuddled up next to me and a bottle of wine... What could be lame about that? Oh, and my wife just came home from work, noticed I was having some "private time" and went straight to bed... Valentine's Day bullshit and all... So you know, speak for yourself.... I'm sitting on top of the world.

EDIT - Shit! My dog just left me...

Not at all. The wetter the better.

You win

Lightning Bolt is intellectually stimulating

now I have to go catch some Ricki Lake re-runs

Yes, the lyrics in lightning bolt are not as good as those in immortality, and lightning bolt is not as good as vitalogy

Which is a claim that can be made about basically every other pearl jam album and every other album period.

agreed.

fortunately bluestate's accurate synopsis of the condition of my anus served as a conversion experience that informed me that lightning bolt is not actually a hastily created mass appeal album; rather it is a spiritually satisfying work of timeless art, reflecting the relatively high amount of effort the band exerted in order to make it, as compared to other pearl jam albums.

i had to address my subconscious bias against admitting that puss that has been ejecting from my anus, before i could come to this conclusion.

thank you for your support as I continue to cope with this sensitive medical issue.