Lightning Bolt
| Pearl Jam
Lightning Bolt
Lightning Bolt is the tenth studio album by the American rock band Pearl Jam. Produced by long-time Pearl Jam collaborator Brendan O'Brien, the album was released in the United States on October 15, 2013, through the band's own Monkeywrench Records, with Republic Records handling the international release. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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The Guardian
Pleasingly, Lightning Bolt finds the Seattle quintet in a more bullish and spiky mood than usual, as exemplified by the furious, spittle-spraying punk rush of Mind Your Manners.
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Billboard
Twenty-three years into its career, the Seattle band that never stopped crafting heartfelt, intelligent rock 'n' roll and blowing minds with it on stage, strides forward with a new album studded with highlights.
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Slant
Years removed from the raw emotion and desperate appetites of youth, Pearl Jam has slipped into alt-rock elder statesmanship as one would a comfortable old sweater. And as Lightning Bolt mostly attests, it’s a decent look for them.
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Sputnik Music
The Seattle Grunge Rockers put forth a solid effort for their tenth studio album.
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musicOMH
Lightning Bolt is a mixed bag. It does punk well, hard rock terribly, and soft both effectively and ineffectively. As an album it amounts to a forgettable entry in Pearl Jam’s canon, but it has the potential to produce staples in the band’s live set for years to come.
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Ultimate Guitar
I wasn't a huge fan of their last album, "Backspacer," so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect from "Lightning Bolt," but when all is said and done I am fairly impressed with the album.
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Uproxx
The 12 songs here – all anchored by Eddie Vedder”s often stirring, always impassioned vocal delivery, Mike McCready and Stone Gossard”s fine, sharp guitar playing, and drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Jeff Ament”s sturdy rhythm section -are well delivered, with taut, strong musicianship.
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Contact Music
Their sound has changed, become lighter and more radio-worthy perhaps, but times have changed too and the melting post of grunge and angst they were formed into has morphed into a new climate.
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NME
The quintet’s 10th album tries to experiment, but there’s something very ‘mopey American teenager’ about ‘Lightning Bolt’.
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The Lantern
The first time I listened to the songs on “Lightning Bolt,” I felt it left a lot to be desired. But on second listen, I could hear the essence of PJ that I felt at two separate shows sitting in the second row. Though the band on record is never as good as its shows, I think it’s safe to say that they still got it.
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The Sydney Morning Herald
Lightning Bolt, the Seattle five-piece's 10th studio album, doesn't just articulate the band's sound, it subtly furthers it.
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Cherwell
The bottom line is, the fans will like Lightning Bolt, because it’s a perfectly decent album,but it’s nothing new. Pearl Jam are out of ideas.
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lehighvalleylive
The Seattle survivors' 10th studio album is erratically paced and skips from punk rock attacks to power ballads to AOR offerings in a schizophrenic playlist.
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Independent
An intriguing mix overall and further proof that Pearl Jam play by their own rules – a fact that real fans would never want to change.
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Paste
Essentially, the cruise control is running onward with disregard for all the maintenance and repairs that an engine needs, and the result is the worst album of their career.
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AV Club
But the album still feels fresher and more relevant than the world at large might expect at this point—this classic-rock band still has at least a few classics left in it.
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Blurt
The problem is that Pearl Jam at this point is just repeating itself—or others.
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EW
Lightning Bolt hurls down a new, if unsurprising, preoccupation: mortality.
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The Irish Times
Pearl Jam wisely moved away from grunge before it was watered down by the likes of Creed and Nickelback. It’s taken more than 20 years for the Seattle band to finally settle into what they are: a good, old-fashioned classic rock combo crafting riff-heavy songs with poppy hooks, a punk edge and a solid guitar solo in the middle.
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Gusto
To say that “Lightning Bolt” is one of Pearl Jam’s finest albums is a bit of an empty statement, since the group has never released a dud. Far better to suggest that this new album can more than justifiably share shelf space with some of the best of the best among the band’s catalog, albums like “Yield,” “Riot Act,” “No Code” and “Backspacer.”
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The Observer
This album shows that the band has found a strong balance between its fun arena rocker and softer sides, but at times “Lightning Bolt” loses direction and falters. The whole album is definitely worth a listen to see what it’s all about, but not necessarily everything is worth saving for later.
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Far Out Magazine
To suggest that these tracks are merely studio experiments would be letting Pearl Jam off the hook – each are dull and skip worthy and, since ‘Pendulum’ was first put together in 2009 but missed the cut for ‘Backspacer’, one can only assume they’ve been thrown into the mix to satisfy a 12-track agreement with record label Monkeywrench.
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Pitchfork
Pearl Jam on record have essentially been reduced to the rock ‘n’ roll version of wearing sweatpants: they’ve given up trying to impress anyone, so they may as well be comfortable. Their first studio album in four years continues the trend.
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All Music
On Lightning Bolt, they've grown into that classic rock mantle, accentuating the big riffs and bigger emotions, crafting songs without a worry as to whether they're hip or not and, most importantly, enjoying the deep-rooted, nervy arena rock that is uniquely their own.
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Sputnik Music
As the only true survivors of the Seattle scene, they deserve every piece of hyperbole written about them and are more than deserving of their current status as rock legends.
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Time Out
It all makes for a decent record, but not a remarkable one.
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Cryptic Rock
While Lightning Bolt needs to be listened to a few times to truly appreciate it; each track is deep, well composed, and all extremely memorable.
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The Line of Best Fit
there’s no inherently bad songwriting here, but most of it isn’t particularly interesting, either. This ultimately becomes the chief complaint here: four years and this is the best they got? A collection of mid-tempo rockers that semi-lazily stomp around in an attempt to display maturity paired with half-cooked experimentalism?
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Punk Rock Theory
22 Years after “Ten, Pearl Jam has released their tenth album, “Lightning Bolt”. If you’re looking for innovation, feel free to pass up on this one. But if you were hoping for a solid rock album, these Seattle natives are aiming to please.
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Premier Guitar
Lightning Bolt is the band’s most focused record in more than a decade.
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The Fire Note
This “Lightning Bolt” still doesn’t strike twice in the same place.
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Paulelmo's Blog
This album shows that they deserve the respect for that. Thanks and kudos, gentlemen, and a sip of wine from the bottle.
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UCR
Most important of all, instead of disrupting the album’s flow, this willful variety simply highlights the deeply symbiotic interplay of these veteran musicians; the kind bands can only accrue the hard way, over many years and countless miles on the touring road, with all its triumphs, failures and, sure, a little self-sabotage.
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Bearded Gentlemen Music
Lightning Bolt definitely has a spiritual element amongst its sharp rhythm guitar riffs. However you take your Pearl Jam, heavy, medium or light, I’ll always enjoy listening to their music; partly because I have soft spot for the era from which they came, but also because their music constantly infuses a perfect combination of rock, passionate song writing, and fluid melodies.
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The Austin Chronicle
Ukulele Songs, outshines everything else on Lightning Bolt, save perhaps his violin-kissed closer "Future Days." While the backside wavers, the band has never sounded better or more self-assured, but its ambition suggests they've outgrown simple song collections. Time for a concept epic. Time for Pearl Jam's Quadrophenia.
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The College View
Still, this is a solid album that builds on the creative momentum Pearl Jam have built up over the last five years, and there are many songs here worthy of their early nineties peak.
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Rock the Body Electric
Bluntly put new fans aren't going to be drawn to this disk and old fans will enjoy it for a short period of time before going back to their personal favorite Pearl Jam release. The band still gets off on the live show (doing it amazingly well) and these songs may grow and breath live, but as a disk Lightning Bolt just doesn't catch fire.
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Montreal Gazette
Lightning Bolt is the most relaxed album in the catalogue.
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Music Feeds
Lightning Bolt is, for all intents and purposes, representative of everything we love about Pearl Jam, with something for every type of fan contained within. While there’s nothing revolutionary, it’s unlikely to upset old fans, and may just garner a couple of new ones. Solid and simple in its execution.
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The News & Advance
In a culture where everything’s a brand and every brand is sponsored by other brands, Pearl Jam remains a welcome exception — proof that there’s still some value in simply being yourself, even if that’s not so easily bottled or packaged
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B Sides TV
the album sounds manufactured rather than genuine.
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The National Student
So, it’s no surprise to say that their tenth studio effort Lightening Bolt is what you would expect from Pearl Jam. With trusted producer Brendan O’ Brien (famed for his big rock sound) at the helm it has the bombast to be considered up there with the band’s best.
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The Upcoming
After more than 20 years, the legendary rivals of Nirvana might not have created another one for the record books, but this album should please those of us who remember and still groove to the last great moment in genuine rock music history.
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Rukus
Lightning Bolt will serve both Pearl Jam and their fans well. A band that truly comes alive on stage, Pearl Jam will be able to nit-pick the golden nuggets of this record and ignite them while playing live and then leave behind the clunkers.
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PopMatters
Lightning Bolt is sure to rank among one of the high points of the group’s discography, standing as an example of their ability to burrow down and hone all of their strengths to a fever pitch.
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