{"id":39748,"date":"2006-05-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-05-05T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/pearl-jam\/"},"modified":"2006-05-05T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-05-05T00:00:00","slug":"pearl-jam","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/pearl-jam\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearl Jam"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Many gen-xers are starting to look in the mirror and
\nsee some graying hairs. In between working 50-hour weeks, hauling
\nkids off to school and managing expanding waistlines, it’s
\ninevitable that some of their peers in the journalism world are
\nrelishing the return of Pearl Jam. After all, it just seems like it
\nwas a few years ago when these folks were taking hits off of the
\none-hitter pipe and skipping classical mythology course to play
\nfrisbee. But it’s been more than a few years since Pearl Jam
\nprovided the summertime soundtrack for gen-x. More like 15
\nyears.<\/p>\n

The fact that Pearl Jam can remain vital almost a
\ndecade after Soundgarden called it quits should be enough to usher
\nin their latest album. But for some reason, Pearl Jam is getting a
\nton of attention because their latest self-titled album is supposed
\nto be their most rocking (read best) album since Vitalogy<\/i>.
\nBut for longtime Pearl Jam fans, Pearl Jam<\/i> is going to sound
\na lot like most of their other albums. Just for some reason, this
\nis the year a lot of the music writers are taking notice.<\/p>\n

Pearl Jam has always preferred the Neil Young way of
\nrecording: continue to do your own thing, keep recording consistent
\nalbums, but don’t be afraid to risk a few artistic failures
\nas long as your live shows remain stellar. And like Neil Young,
\nPearl Jam is capable of dropping near-classic albums in-between
\nlackluster efforts (see 1999’s extraordinary Yield<\/i>).
\nAnd with those albums come a few songs that are every bit as good
\nas the songs each artist has recorded in their creative and
\ncommercial peak. For Neil Young, a great example of this was
\n1989’s “Rocking In The Free World.” For Pearl
\nJam, it’s “World Wide Suicide.”<\/p>\n

One thing I’ll give Pearl Jam<\/i> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c
\nit’s their most groove-oriented album since Vs<\/i>. For
\nthose who have been waiting for Matt Cameron to fully come into his
\nown in Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam<\/i> is your reward. Like former
\ndrummer Jack Irons, Cameron pounds through songs like
\n“Severed Hand” and the surfer-anthem song “Big
\nWave” to give the songs enough air for Stone Gossard and Mike
\nMcCready to form some great riffs and solos.<\/p>\n

Theme-wise, Pearl Jam<\/i> sounds like Eddie Vedder
\ntook some songwriting pointers from Bruce Springsteen during the
\n2004 campaign for John Kerry. “World Wide Suicide” and
\n“Marker In The Sand” are both “state of the
\nworld” rockers. But on “Unemployable,” Vedder
\npersonalizes a story of a father left out of the booming economy of
\nthis decade.<\/p>\n

“Well, his wife and kid are sleeping but
\nhe’s still awake \/ On his brain weighs the curse of thirty
\nbills unpaid \/ Gets up, lights a cigarette he’s grown to hate
\n\/ Thinking if he can’t sleep, how will he ever dream?”
\nThe song ends with Vedder trembling “Near to death, here to
\ndie, scared alive.”<\/p>\n

Vedder hasn’t sounded this urgent and
\npassionate in years. But even with this shot in the arm, Pearl
\nJam<\/i> can’t help but suffer from modern rock-its.
\nIt’s an album that for all its pluses, doesn’t add up
\nto a truly great album that Pearl Jam is still capable of
\nproducing. Gone are the pretentious, loopy tossoffs like
\n“Bugs” or the untitled interlude of Yield<\/i> where
\nthe band sings in a high-pitched tone “We’re all crazy
\nand warped.” What’s left are songs that make you tap
\nyour dashboard, maybe even nod your head, but at the same time, you
\nhave a nagging feeling that a few months from now, none of these
\nsongs are going to stick with you.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind this is coming off of three listens. And
\nPearl Jam<\/i> certainly gets better with repeat listens. For
\nthese cynical times, it’s odd that a band that landed on the
\ncover of Time<\/i> with the headline “All The Rage”
\nreleases an album in 2006 that requires listeners to drop their
\nironic guard for the wide-eyed optimism of songs like
\n“Gone” and “Inside Job.” They may have
\nopted to play it safe for this go around, but Pearl Jam are still
\ndefiant in their own way.<\/p>\n

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