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Pearl JamPearl Jam Sony/BMG The mere fact that I can't decide whether or not Pearl Jam's eponymous eighth studio album is a concept album could well be the concept the band want us to embrace. Apart from the omnipresent peppering of fragmented truths and accusations that coexist alongside the album's heartfelt despair, there's an almost open admission that we the people have finally lost all say against the greater world powers. This is not to say that Pearl Jam concede defeat, but it shows that there's no point in remaining angry when no one in office going to listen anyway (re: 2002's 'Riot Act'). To say that Vedder and Co's notable change of tack is clever would be to suggest that they've settled comfortably on a fence just for rating points. 'Pearl Jam' could therefore be called contrived, yet nothing could be further from the truth. Here is a band who have never brought out a bad album, perhaps just a few of lesser relevance. After all is said and done this is Pearl Jam's most triumphant record to date. After a few concentrated listens I found myself quickly filling in the gaps between their disjointed rhetoric with my own thoughts and pent up frustrations; such interaction serves to add to the collective empathy and strength to the idea that we can ride this whole global debacle out. "She tells herself and everyone else/ Father is risking his life for our freedoms...Darling you'll save me if you save yourself," beseeches Vedder on Army Reserve, while Come Back, one of the few lyrically coherently tracks which sees the band entering into R'n'B power ballad territory - without the multi-part harmonies. Inside Job is a near classic Pearl Jam album closer, if not maybe a little bit Pink Floydish. As a whole, and despite being unmistakably Pearl Jam, the champions of the new millennium, I have to rely on the music. Musically then, there's plenty of subtle nods to the likes of Springsteen (Unemployable), AC/DC (Life Wasted) and many other veteran rockers, and it's funny to note that in this way Pearl Jam have managed to extend themselves fully in the studio. Not an easy album, but definitely worth the extra effort required. Bring on the November tour!  |
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