Rating:

(J, 2006) It is always exciting when a band you have kind of grown up with comes out with a new album. I can remember buying Ten when I was thirteen years old and being completely blown away. Anyway, the new album is fast, heavy, wordy, and everything you would expect from a new PJ record. It just seems like they have lost a little bit of their “artiness”, if you know what I mean. Listening to their last record, Riot Act, they were becoming more and more experimental. This move did not result in huge record sales, but I feel that they creatively peaked with that album. I would compare this release to the release of U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind. U2 spent the entirety of the 90s expanding their sound, and making interesting records. Then, all of a sudden, they made a record that sounds like the 80s U2. The only difference is that Pearl Jam is a far better record. Lyrically, “Unemployable” and “Army Reserve” are two clear standouts. “Unemployable” details the trouble facing a newly fired man, and the end comes without a resolution. “Army Reserve” details the loss of war. “Looks like lightning/in my child’s eyes” is a stunning refrain. Highlights include the opening salvo of “Life Wasted” to the tumbling riffs of “Marker in the Sand,” to the Stairway-esque mini epic “Inside Job”. This is a good Pearl Jam record, but I am afraid their “artsy” phase may be over.

* 1. Life Wasted

  2. World Wide Suicide

  3. Comatose

  4. Severed Hand

* 5. Marker in the Sand

  6. Parachutes

* 7. Unemployable

  8. Big Wave

  9. Gone

 10. Wasted (reprise)

*11. Army Reserve

 12. Come Back

*13. Inside Job

* = recommended tracks

Buy album

– Jeff Crowder

This 35-beetsreview was posted on June 10th, 2006. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.