2006-06-18
I hardly believe that Eddie Vader and his gang ever record anything trying to please their fans, telling the truth, i hardly believe they were looking for fans that much, but it appears that this days, it is impossible for them to fail to meet their fans expectations of them, and that the Peal Jam fans will follow them in any phase, format and bootleg, their new album is a reminder of how they could get so big.
The new album simply titled "Pearl jam" is a refreshing home coming for the band, after a long dandling road of success in different forms, and 15 years after their critically acclaimed debut album "Ten", Pearl jam provides us with a light feeling of going back home, with a new sense of elation, energy, freshness, and a constant feeling that they're again feeling so comfortable in their own skin.
The first four songs (including the already hits "World wide suicide" and "Wasted life") are a kick ass opening for the album, building it harder with their more genuine sound, very much alive as Eddie Vader keeps on showing us why he is one of the best vocalist in rock this days, while the guitar section sends off chained addictive guitar riffs.
Set list wise this album is divided to two parts for me, up until track five (marker in the sand), and the tracks after it, which are a bit more varied then the first half, "Marker in the sand" by itself, is more of a mixture between both parts, combining rough edgy verses with a sweeping chorus.
It is followed by the most beatalish track I ever heard from pearl jam (well, since Vader covered " you've got to hide your love away" in the "I am sam" soundtrack) In melody as well as in music, and is set as a good break between distortions, the recommended songs on the album playlist basically contains almost every song in the repertoire, but for conscious reasons I will mention the amped-up "Unemployable", the track "gone" in which Vader gets a lot of space for his deep wonderful voice, and "inside job", a perfect closer for the album, setting its end just right, I will also mention the reprise on "Wasted life" toward the end of the album giving It a feeling of a concept, one piece album.
Eventually, you can't really talk about Pearl Jam's album without mentioning the lyrics, songs like "Wasted life" which I believe everyone can relate to, the protestant in "World wide suicide" and the feeling filled "Gone", are the base of what it is all about, always having something to say, to mention, Peal Jam was always had some of the best lyrics around.
There's no more words I can come up with to describe this album, fifteen years after kicking into our lives, Pearl Jams still sounds, relevant, hot and spicy then always on this back to the roots album, that reminds us how good rock sounded back at the nineties.
Roy Povarchik
