#Gigaton, how I love thee; let me count the ways. [a #weekend #PearlJam thread] 1/n

this album has been out about a month now, and perhaps needless to say, I've been listening to it A LOT. It's been a huge bright spot to me in the otherwise pretty dark world we're living in right now. #pearljam 2/n

I took the day off on the release date (March 27) and did a 9-mile solo hike & listened through 3 times. I loved it instantly (fwiw, I did not love their last 2 albums. like a lot, yes; love, no). I love it more the more I listen. 3/n

so here's a little journey through the track list. all my opinion, of course; I'm an astrophysicist, not a music critic [and full disclosure that anyone who knows me at all already knows: I am a huge fan, and have been since I was about 15] #pearljam 4/n

"Who Ever Said" - a great fast album opener; can't wait to see this one played live. Straightforward rocker; I love the drums on this one. "...All the answers will be found In the mistakes that we have made" 5/n

"Superblood Wolfmoon" - well I gotta love anything that references a celestial body, no?! This is a great song, it's got a good bit of punk energy and a face-melting @MikeMcCreadyPJ solo.... 6/n

...also loved that they had this great AR experience when the single came out - point your phone at the moon, get a snippet of the song! 7/n

"Dance of the Clairvoyants" - gotta admit, when I heard the opening part of this song, I was a little scared. But it didn't take long to grow on me, & now it's definitely one of my fav tracks on the album. SO GOOD. Modern, relevant; new & different yet same PJ we know & love 8/n

"Quick Escape" - it's so hard to rank the songs, but if I had to choose, this might be my favorite one on the record. I mean, the music & lyrics on this one are fantastic. Plus it's basically ab going to Mars (sort of), so, again, this astrophysicist is happy.... 9/n

.... "Queen cranking on the blaster And Mercury did rise" "Every sunset paid attention to Not a starry night laid to waste" "And here we are, the red planet Craters across the skyline A sleep sack in a bivouac And a Kerouac sense of time" [Quick Escape] 10/n

Last post on Quick Escape: JUST GO LISTEN TO IT 11/n

"Alright" - wow, needed this song right now. "It's alright, to be alone To listen for a heartbeat, it's your own" Love this song too (this is going to be a common refrain) This one if Jeff for lyrics & music #pearljam 12/n

"Seven O'Clock" - probably my 2nd fav on the record. Geez, these lyrics. Again, go listen. But a sampling: "For this is no time for depression or self indulgent hesitance This fucked up situation calls for all hands, all hands on deck" Much to be done. Indeed. #pearljam 13/n

"Never destination" - great upbeat (musically) song, good one to follow "Seven O'clock" 14/n

"Take the Long Way" - this is a Matt one! And you can tell. GREAT song, all the way around. I love the harmonies in this one too. 15/n

"Buckle Up" - a weird but great Stone song. Had to warm up to this one, but I like it alot now. It's so contradictory - musically light but lyrically super heavy/dark. Which makes it great. 16/n

"Comes Then Goes" - ah, one of the ones that might make you cry (said as someone that HAS cried at a PJ show). So good. Not gonna break this one down. Go listen. 17/n

"Retrograde" - THIS one, starts one way, ends in another incredibly fantastic way. I *love* the ending on this song, so ethereal. "It's gonna take much more than ordinary love To lift this up" #pearljam (I also love that Brendan O'Brien plays keys on several of these) 18/n

"River Cross" - so, this one did make me cry the first time I listened, on that hike. And we had heard it before b/c Ed does it solo, but, WOW. *such* a perfect way to end the album. On a whole, the record has some pretty dark tones, but ends with this... 19/n

still dark, but hopeful. "And all this talk of rapture Look around at the promise now,...Here and now, Won't hold us down, won't hold us down. Share the light, won't hold us down." 20/n

Thank you, @PearlJam, for this incredible album. It was worth the wait. #Gigaton