Pearl Jam have always been a classic rock band. They broke at the same time as the other great indie bands of the 90s, but they were always more Stones than, say, Television. Kurt blew his brains out, Billy Corgan collapsed under the weight of his own ego, and, Jesus, is Kim Deal, like, selling cars or something? Anyway, the point is that Pearl Jam only wanted to rock. They rocked since the release of “Ten” and they rock now, four hundred and sixteen album releases later.
I’ve got nothing but respect for these guys. They tackle rock from the neurasthenic fan’s perspective. They refuse to make videos (or, at least, they grumbled about it for a while), they took on Ticketmaster, they made an eastern-influenced album (“No Code”) that nobody liked. Like all good classic rock bands, they recently witnessed a tragedy at a rock festival in Denmark, when eight of their fans were trampled. And Neil Young digs them Plus, I hear Eddie Vedder is a Jew. So I consider myself a fan.
I’ve never owned a Pearl Jam album. Logic being that I still haven’t bought all the great classic rock albums yet. Someone sent me the new one, Binaural, so I can speak about it with a certain degree of authority.
The opening three tracks rock like they need to. “Breakerfall,” while it does remind me a bit too much of Robert Palmer’s version of “Doctor, Doctor, give me the news, I got a bad case of lovin’ you,” it still packs a wallop. And its, like, a minute and twenty seconds. And it even finds time for a false ending. Sweet.
“God’s Dice” explodes Phil Spector-style, dances around it’s three chords, and, so long as your central nervous system is working, will cause your head to bop.
“Evacuation” is the best of the three. A solid riff, hard drumming, and Vedder really tears out his vocal cords on this one. I’d give this song total props if it was actually called “Evacuation!” It deserves the punctuation.
Track four slows the whole mess down. “Light Years” is a delicate ballad filled with all sorts of minor modulations. It’s as good as their hit “Better Man.”
Do I like the new Pearl Jam album? Of course, I do. I feed off music, and while I tend to gravitate to unique gourmet dishes, I like steak and potatoes, too.
“Binaural” features exploding nebulae on its cover, inside flap and booklet. It’s tres cool.
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