~Official Pearl Jam Appreciation Thread~

[pathetic]

I guess i disagree with most people in here. PJ is my favorite band going. Both new songs are hard and solid. i love the punk vibe of running. i'm excited to see what the rest of the album is like

[TempHelpNeeded]

Originally Posted by pathetic

I guess i disagree with most people in here. PJ is my favorite band going. Both new songs are hard and solid. i love the punk vibe of running. i'm excited to see what the rest of the album is like

Doing Fenway?

[TypicalBilly14]

Full Band interview and performance on the Howard Stern show on April 22nd. Replays throughout the day and weekend on Sirius XM.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pearljam/co...how/?rdt=34774

[TypicalBilly14]

Album release this week. RSD variant on 04/20. Stern Show on 04/22. Listen parties at movie theaters on the 16th. Wow.

[Benny003]

I'm waiting for the blu-ray audio to arrive before listening to anything. Looking forward to it.

[TypicalBilly14]

Anyone seeing Dark Matter in theaters?

[Tomacco]

"Wreckage" is out. Nice midtempo tune. Feels kind of old-school. Sounds like a song you might hear on the radio in the mid-90s.

[tomalley]

Originally Posted by TypicalBilly14

Anyone seeing Dark Matter in theaters?

I did. Wasn't sure what to expect. Jeff had a brief statement beforehand. They played the entire album to a black screen, then played it again with visuals and lyrics on the screen. Dark Matter sounded much better. I had only heard the 2 released songs going in. People were applauding after the songs except after both plays of the 5th song. Thought that was odd.

[TypicalBilly14]

Originally Posted by tomalley

I did. Wasn't sure what to expect. Jeff had a brief statement beforehand. They played the entire album to a black screen, then played it again with visuals and lyrics on the screen. Dark Matter sounded much better. I had only heard the 2 released songs going in. People were applauding after the songs except after both plays of the 5th song. Thought that was odd.

Just heard Wreckage, per person's post above. Not what I was expecting, but I dug it.

BTW, someone on YT posted Binaural II, some outtake stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h4-ojhLtBQ

[coldengrey12]

I went to one of the listening parties on Sunday

The first few tracks were pretty heavy. I didn't stay for the whole thing

[DMBstandUP1984]

I really like the new songs so far

[wvufan2010]

My ears are playing tricks on me, but I swear I can hear “Fast Car” buried in the main riff of “Wreckage”. This is definitely my favorite of the new tunes. Has a Tom Petty vibe to it.

Would’ve loved to go see it in theaters, but no theater in the entire state of Alabama was showing it. Planning to listen immediately tomorrow night at 11.


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[oasisfan35]

Originally Posted by wvufan2010

My ears are playing tricks on me, but I swear I can hear “Fast Car” buried in the main riff of “Wreckage”. This is definitely my favorite of the new tunes. Has a Tom Petty vibe to it.

I find a lot of rehash in quite a few songs.

Personally I think the album is trash.

[maxatlof]

I had high hopes for it after knowing that the same guy that produced Eddie's most recent solo album was also producing this. I thought that solo record was great. I enjoyed it much more than anything PJ has put out since Backspacer, so I was super enthusiastic about it. But so far with the three they've released it's not looking too promising. Especially since you'd think with the first couple of tracks released would be some of the stronger tracks from the record. If that's the case - YIKES

[WidespreadMule3]

I have low expectations of anything PJ releases at this point. They could make one good (not great) album with the decent tracks they've put out since Backspacer. You could even probably eliminate Backspacer and keep a few tracks from it and make the post-2009 album better.

[wvufan2010]

If you have a VPN you can set it to Australia and the album will show up on YouTube.

I think it’s a good album. The first half is fine (Wreckage being the standout) but I found the second half (starting with Upper Hand) to be really, really strong. Didn’t really listen closely to the lyrics just wanted to feel it once and see how it landed. Something Special is the only second half song that I felt was lacking. Feels like a song that Dave is gonna punch air for not writing about his kids first. Setting Sun is among their best album closers IMO.


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[TypicalBilly14]

Don't forget Stern Show on Monday Morning!

[KevinTH]

Staying up for a midnight listen. Wreckage is the standard PJ soft rock song that’s been appearing every album since Backspacer. Assumed there’d be one like it. Not doing it for me. But Running and Dark Matter are as good as PJ gets these days. They hit hard and fulfill anything I could hope for in them at this point. Looking forward to checking it out.

[maxatlof]

Initial thoughts after a first listen as I'm getting caught up on work emails this morning, I don't hate it which is progress because other than Quick Escape I hated Gigaton. But for the "harder" tracks, melodically there's just nothing memorable about them. Nothing I'll be humming in my head endlessly for a week straight, just super forgettable. The mid-tempo ones are ok, Upper Hand is the one that stood out for me. But the most noticeable thing for me as I'm listening to it at my desk on an Alexa Echo is that the production sounds just terrible.

Now say what you will about the quality of the speaker but I've heard lots of bands talk about how they listen to their albums on everything from high end house speakers, to car speakers and even to how it sounds on the little speakers on your iPhone to make sure it sounds good regardless of the speaker its being played out of. I've got plenty of music on my iPhone that sounds good to great when I play it back on this Echo, and this record comes nowhere close to "good or great" sounding on it. Just really flat and nothing dynamic about it at all. Doesn't give me much desire to give it another spin tbh. I was really hoping this would give me a reason to go out to my local record shop tomorrow morning to participate in RSD but I don't think I'll be wasting my money on the vinyl for this record. I'll give it another spin or two today on a better speaker set up to see if its a grower.

[TypicalBilly14]

Just listened first go around. Decent, but need to listen again. A lot of U2 stuff and Coldplay are growers for me like Sound of Experience. There weren’t any songs that I disliked but need to give it another run through to really hone down my faves.

[neumdogg]

Originally Posted by TypicalBilly14

Don't forget Stern Show on Monday Morning!

Another interview to skip! I skip all his interviews because they are insufferable.

[TypicalBilly14]

Originally Posted by neumdogg

Another interview to skip! I skip all his interviews because they are insufferable.

Nah any chance to listen to full band acoustic stuff means tune in.

[Benny003]

I'll be getting the blu-ray Atmos version later today. I haven't listened to the album at all until I can listen to it in my media room at full volume to get the best possible first impression.

[WidespreadMule3]

Finishing my first listen and I'm pleasantly surprised. Definitely better than anything they've released in nearly two decades. S/T is still better IMO, but it's the closest.

After Wreckage, I need a full PJ album of them pretending to be Tom Petty.

[kmb40oz]

After giving it a spin, I thought it was pretty good. The band stuck to their signature sound, which worked well for them.

The album sounds great, production-wise. And I'm digging how they've arranged the songs and kept the pace going.

I've noticed the songs seem to be grouped in a certain way. Can't quite put my finger on it, but I've been listening to them in those chunks.

Scared of Fear / React Respond

Wreckage / Dark Matter

Wont Tell / Upper Hand / Waiting For Stevie / Running ( THIS IS THE BEST RUN ON THE ALBUM)

Somethign SPecial / Got To Give / Setting Sun

[Benny003]

Definitely a lot of people on the Steve Hoffman forum saying the album mix is terrible. Not very dynamic and the drums sound weak. That's unfortunate. Deluxe CD just arrived from Amazon, so I'll take a listen later.

[Mountains#41]

Originally Posted by Benny003

Definitely a lot of people on the Steve Hoffman forum saying the album mix is terrible. Not very dynamic and the drums sound weak. That's unfortunate. Deluxe CD just arrived from Amazon, so I'll take a listen later.

Just came in here to say this. I can't even pinpoint what about it is bad mix wise, but it's a mess.

And seems to be a victim of loudness wars as well. Lots of clipping and unintended distortion on various things. Vedders vocals are buried in the mixes too deep, lots of ups and downs, things are overly compressed. Guitars sound fake, like they were run through too many filters to get a "sound".

Nothing really stands out on this album as good. It's all very middle of the road. Nothing really held my attention or compelled me to listen to any one song in it's entirety.

Is this just A Level artists knowing that albums are just not all that cared about anymore? PJ just knows it needs some new songs for the live show and so do a 7/10 record, and call it good. What happened to giving a shit?

[AndySlash]

this is a mature band's record that sounds effortlessly made (in a good way) and that i think will be praised quite a bit, but is just not for me. the rockers on here i am in to. the rest, not so much. not yet, anyway... there are probably a couple growers. and i don't think there are any absolute stinkers like future days; won't tell and something special come closest but aren't irredeemable. tons of influences all over this - the cure and u2 are newer ones among the classic petty and springsteen touches - that all blend in with their own sound, so it's a bit of a soup. also, damn you andrew watt for masking what is a very sonically interesting album that has a lot of cool instrumental stuff going on everywhere but is completely obliterated by everything being fucking loud. jesus christ. setting sun, for example, i feel would hit harder with some (any) dynamics. a great headphone album that you won't be able to listen to on headphones without feeling fatigue. this part was expected, unfortunately. anyway, not bad, not great. gigaton is the better record to me, but i may be in the minority there.