Aux-In

Basically, my premise for this journal is to wing some reviews when I can spare a few, with the idea that this will essentially serve as a sort of cataloguing of every album for which I own a physical copy. Most of what's here will be rock & nu metal (I think), with a sprinkling of other genres. Pro tip: I am putting myself under no extended pressure to write the greatest reviews of all time, either, and that's a burden lifted that I am going to enjoy.

With that in mind, I'm going to kick things off with some copypasta from one of my posts in another thread, as it looks like I will be getting into several Pearl Jam albums from the get-go:

Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt (2013)

Now, I have always likened Vedder to be a good bloke, but, unfortunately, I don't connect with his music as much as some of the other guys from Seattle. Be that as it may, this was an opportunity to give Vedder's material a greater chance than I ever have. As this was going to be my first write-up, I took the time to listen to Lightning Bolt three times, with an open frame of mind, and in an unaltered state. I came to the following conclusions:

Lightning Bolt starts off with the energetic "Getaway," which can be interpreted as an anti-religious anthem. The liner art next to this song is that of a preacher on his bully pulpit, with two members of his flock sitting in front of him, listening, faintly, to his every word. Faintly, because of such lines as:

And if you wanna have to pray, it's alright
We all be thinking with our different brains
Get yours off of my plate, it's alright
I got my own way to believe.

This theme appears in some other songs as well, in the same style of the stanza that I just posted: somewhat abstract, conceptually and lyrically, but not too unobvious as to be opaque. Other songs have themes which include death, loneliness and despair, such as "Sleeping By Myself's" lyrics forever be sad and lonely. Kind of straight and to the point. I'm sure there are differing themes not mentioned here, but I don't really remember and/or mostly couldn't be bothered to give them any sort of detail. "Sirens" is this album's soft-ballad radio...Jam.

Ultimately, conclusions are conclusions, and I just couldn't get into Lightning Bolt in any visceral way, musically or otherwise. B.o.r.i.n.g. I am not sure what Vedder should be writing about at this stage of the game. I'm just a lowly Internet forum poster, after all. Why would he care how I feel? He wasn't writing for me. Fair enough. Point blank, though: I simply didn't care about the message and I have a mind of my own, anyway, so I can pass on the third-hand preaching. Admittedly, I think I'm gravitating more toward abstract/inanimate themes with each tally on the passing calendar year.

Could this be Pearl Jam's weakest output? Maybe. I don't and won't know until I make my way through the rest of their stuff. It's definitely a shame, because the art, design and packaging, which opens like a book, is absolutely stellar. Although it's too early to tell, as I have more albums to sift through, Lightning Bolt just might be the purdiest (sic) of them all -- the toppest of shelves, which is why I thought to begin with it in the first place. If only the music had matched, the fusion would, perhaps, make for an iconic record on a mass scale ala Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, instead of its current place on my two-sectioned bookshelf from Walmart.

Final Tally: I'm a fan of giving bands at least one Eddie Vedder for even taking the time to come up with creations that they want to share. They are under no obligation to put themselves under such scrutiny.

Lightning Bolt gets 1.95 Eddie Vedders out of 5.