Lightning Bolt

Firstly, I will state. There are only two bands currently I will pre-order albums from, knowing that neither has ever disappointed. The Black Crowes (or Chris Robinson Solo) and Pearl Jam. Both have been going for over 20 years and started around the same time and both continue to get better with age and give incredible live performances.The first few times I listened to this album, I just wasn't feeling it. I was thinking, finally- maybe Pearl Jam will put out a bad album. After some more listens and especially after seeing them live again, I have changed my tune on this one and definitely like it. I felt the same way when Binaural, Riot Act and other PJ albums were first released. There aren't many immediately catchy tunes (like Worldwide suicide, Life wasted, Just Breathe), but they do grow on you after awhile. Chalk some of that up to Eddies unorthodox lyrical writing. His Lyrics have never been standard. Getaway might be the first tune that I got into...and slowly I started liking the rest. It took some listing as background music while driving for the short time I've had it.Now having seen them live last night (34 song set!), I've really become fond of Yellow Moon, Pendulum, Sirens, Infallible, Lightning bolt, Mind your manners, my Fathers son. The raw emotion, tension and tempo changes are there that I've come to love...even in the slow songs you can feel every ounce of emotion Eddie gives in his singing and echoed by the guitars. The rest of the songs I'm starting to enjoy too, but haven't had enough time to just sit and listen/read the lyrics as every Pearl Jam song deserves. I already know there is definitely enough here to love though and am already plotting to see them live again. Every concert I've seen has been a highly memorable and special experience. They play every show like it's their last.I've always been a Pearl Jam fan. Many "fans" ditched the band after Vitalogy as "grunge" faded. I never bought into the grunge thing so much as a category. It was always rock n roll to me. Grunge was more of a marketing term and Pearl Jam is more than a grunge band, just as Led Zeppelin is more than a "heavy metal" band. I remember after Binaural, people were saying "Pearl Jam is still around?" when I brought them up. Yeah, and they still are going strong today. As a band I don't think they ever take their lives or success for granted.I'm not sure where I'd rank this in the PJ catalog. Every album is so different (and that's a good thing). I'm surprised at some of the reviews on here that disliked Backspacer, Avocado and Riot Act. I like all of them. As an entire album goes, it's hard for me to rank...but Yield, No Code, Ten, Vitalogy and Avocado rank higher than this one probably. I'd have a hard time ranking any as a least favorite. Every album has something to remember. It's not something I ever felt compelled to do.If you are a real Pearl Jam fan, what are you waiting for? Just get it. If you think Ten is their only good album, well I feel sorry for you.It has to be mentioned that PJ always gives you a quality CD package with lyrics, images and artwork. Not just some cheapass jewel case. That never goes unappreciated.

First, let me say "Lightning Bolt" is a Top-3 Pearl Jam album for me (with "Ten" and "Vs.").My interest has fluctuated with Pearl Jam over the past decade, and even before then, but this album has me (once again) in a Pearl Jam "kick."Here's a brief history, in case you think/feel like I do:I bought "Ten" during its release year, and I have a cassette tape of the band's second album called "Five Against One" (which later became "Vs."). I somewhat dropped interest with "Vitology" and did not buy (or even listen to) "No Code" until 2001, or so. That's also when I listened to "Yield" and "Binaural" for the first time each. That was the first time I experienced a resurgence of Pearl Jam enthusiasm, and the last time since this past month.To me, "Riot Act" is a horrible album; even listening to it now, there is not a single song I would put on a compilation/best-of Pearl Jam album. The combination of poor musical decisions (to me) and political/pseudo-intellectual undertones spoiled my appetite for the band's (then) "new" sound. That album turned me off to Pearl Jam once again, even though I bought the "Avocado" album years later, just to see which direction the band would take. It was...a'ight. When "Backspacer" came out, I didn't even listen to it, and I thought I was done with the band for the foreseeable future.Thank goodness Amazon offered this in a lightning deal sale (no pun intended), and that I just happened to be shopping, or else I may not have heard this album---or, at least, not anytime soon.With "Lightning Bolt," I feel like, finally, Pearl Jam is back. (It even sparked me to finally listen to "Backspacer," which isn't bad, but not as good.)While there truly is no song that merits skipping every time, my favorite tracks are: Yellow Moon, Infallible, Sleeping by Myself, and the eponymous track (Lightning Bolt). In fact, Lightning Bolt (the song) is my favorite song on the album, and one of my 5-10 favorite PJ songs of all time. To see if your tastes are like mine, here are my favorite songs from their other albums:Ten - Alive, Jeremy, PorchVs. - Animal, Elderly...Vitology - Whipping, Not for YouNo Code - Hail Hail, In My Tree, Off He GoesYield - Faithful, No Way, In HidingBinaural - Light Years, Thin Air, Parting WaysRiot Act - N/A (This album isn't good.)Pearl Jam - Life Wasted, World Wide Suicide, Marker in the SandBackspacer - Amongst the Waves, Unthought Known, SupersonicSo there you have it. If you want a PJ album that feels like "Ten" and "Vs." did when you were younger (when they first were released, in the early 1990s), download "Lightning Bolt" and enjoy being 10-20 years old all over again.

I was disappointed with Backspacer, PJ's last record. I felt like there were good songs on the record but it was incredibly uneven. Also sounded like Eddie basically took over the song writing and was punk rock song, punk rock song, acoustic ballad. The great multi layered PJ songs from No Code, Yield, Riot Act, and even Avocado were missing. So I had tempered expectations when I first listened to Lightning Bolt and I must say, my hesitation was unwarranted. This is a great Pearl Jam record for Pearl Jam fans. If you are expecting Ten 2.0 look elsewhere but if you were a fan of Pearl Jam in the No Code, Yield, Binaural, Riot Act era, you are going to love it. Sirens is an absolute classic rock song. Mike McCready wrote the music and it is multilayered with plenty of guitars. Great lyrics and vocals from Eddie as well. Yellow Moon, which is a Jeff Ament song is another highlight of the record, just classic PJ. Overall the only song that hasn't really grabbed me yet, is Future Days, which is the last song on the album. I'm just really happy that Pearl Jam has put out another classic because I was starting to wonder if they had this record in them after the disappointment of Backspacer. One note, as a hardcore PJ fan I was upset that Of the Earth, which has been played live a few times, wasn't included on this record. Hopefully we will get a Lost Dogs part 2 album one of these days. But man, does it feel good to have another classic Pearl Jam record out again.