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Pearl JamAlbums ReviewedTen (1991)Vs. (1993) Vitalogy (1994) No Code (1996) Yield (1998) Binaural (2000) Estadio do Restelo, Lisbon Portugal (2000) Riot Act (2002) Pearl Jam (2006) Ten(1991)For an album that surfaced in the wake of Nirvana's Nevermind, Ten sure isn't very grungy. Pearl Jam's grunge classification in the annals of rock is due more to the dark character of their two following albums; contrastingly their debut has an anthemic, arena-rock quality, while there are surprisingly eighties tinges in the production at times. My friend repeatedly dismisses Pearl Jam as music for spotty-faced, angst-ridden teenagers; while this statement certainly doesn't apply to Pearl Jam's catalogue as a whole, Ten is exactly the kind of album that a thirteen year old would buy, love to death, then grow out of. Furthermore, there's been a critical open season on Eddie Vedder's vocals since the emergence of Creed and about a billion other deep throated pretenders. For all of the above reasons I'm primed to despise Ten, but generally there's enough melody, riffage and emotional depth present to carry the album to reasonably high heights. And before we go any further, I'd like to point out that while Vedder did inadvertently pioneer the deep throated approach that's so prevalent at the turn of the millenium, his vocals are generally magnificient; he's capable of admirable tenderness, while there's evidence of a conscience behind his golden tonsils. The songs on Ten began their lives as instrumentals; guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were the remnants of Mother Love Bone, which disbanded after their singer overdosed on heroin, and they had written most of the music for the record before they hooked up with the rest of the group. Because the songs were designed as instrumentals, there are plenty of wonderful musical hooks: the riproaring introduction to 'Alive', the bass line of 'Jeremy' or the lovely verse melody of 'Black' are all fine examples. When vagrant surfer, service station attendant and amateur pop historian Vedder added lyrics about his personal angst ('Alive': a real story about his fake father), the resulting songs often turn out like meaningful anthems. Even without 'Yellow Ledbetter', an excellent outtake that was rejected for the album because of its overriding resemblance to a Jimi Hendrix song, more than half of the album (namely: 'Once', 'Evenflow', 'Alive', 'Black', 'Jeremy' and 'Release') are outright classics. The other half of the album is far less prepossessing; 'Garden' actually does sound like a Creed song, and a bad one to boot, while 'Why Go' is also bad, just in a less classifiable way. On the whole, however, Ten is a relatively assured debut; like it or not, anthems like 'Alive' and 'Jeremy' are what Pearl Jam are best known for. Whether you will like Ten or not will depend on your personal tolerance for bombastic and somewhat de-intellectualised anthems; if you're openminded, there's a good chance you'll love Ten, otherwise skip ahead to Vitalogy and No Code. 
Feedback: Heniatul Hanila writes Vs.(1993)Following on from the massive success of 1991's Ten, Vs. finds Pearl Jam in a darker mood. While Pearl Jam exude passion and commitment on Vs., the grunge gets monotonous after a while. Lazy lyrics are a major problem, as Eddie Vedder often repeats the same verse three times. Fortunately, Pearl Jam explore different avenues on Vs., and these are ultimately the most interesting. The sympathetic acoustic songs 'Daughter' and 'Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town' are very pleasant, while the sparse 'Indifference' is also effective. As well as containing the song with the longest name in the Pearl Jam catalogue, Vs. also contains the group's sole moment of funk with the bass driven 'Rats.' The more diverse material on Vs. makes it vaguely worthwhile, although it is certainly one of Pearl Jam's lesser efforts. For this album, Pearl Jam thwarted commerciality by releasing no singles or videos.
Vitalogy(1994)Only a year after Vs., Vitalogy marks a huge step forward for Pearl Jam. Vitalogy features as much musical intensity as Vs., but the impact is far greater as the lyrics are more coherent while the music is more diverse. 'Betterman' is another sensitive women's rights song, 'Nothingman' and 'Immortality' exude cryptic seriousness, while 'Tremor Christ' and 'Satan's Bed' deal with religious issues. I find the former ambiguously offensive, but am relieved that Vedder has no designs on the latter. Live staple 'Corduroy' is a catchy little riff rocker, easily one of the best songs in the group's catalogue. The ten actual songs of Vitalogy are all solid, although they build up an atmosphere of oppressive darkness. For this reason Pearl Jam included four relatively experimental pieces on Vitalogy, which were intended to make the album less intense, but which merely disrupt its flow in a fairly catastrophic fashion. The best of the quartet is 'Pry, To' which is relatively tuneful and lasts for less than a minute, the exact antithesis of the droning, overlong 'Hey Foxymophandlemama, That's Me' which feels like an inferior remake of The Beatles' 'Revolution No. 9'. The accordion driven 'Bugs' is only funny the first few times, while 'Aye Davanita' is almost literally a song devoid of any musical ideas. To recap, Pearl Jam look set to make the best record of their career, and then shoot themselves in their collective feet with a previously closeted experimental streak. At least the booklet is really entertaining. For this album, Pearl Jam thwarted commerciality by releasing it on vinyl only for its first two weeks.
Feedback: Bluerondo of Quito, Ecuador writes
Feedback: a mr arse esquire of Lower Hutt writes No Code(1996)After losing a large portion of their fan base with the experimental tracks on Vitalogy, Pearl Jam bamboozled their remaining audience with the smorgasboard of styles on 1996's No Code. After three commercially huge albums, No Code represents Pearl Jam making music for themselves. Although they had previously shown a willingness to explore outside the boundaries of post sixties rock music, such as folk influences in 'Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town' or the Eastern tinges of 'Aye Davanita', on No Code almost every track is trying to capture something different. A noticable influence on the record is Neil Young, whom Pearl Jam recorded Mirrorball and Merkinball with the previous year; 'Smile' is virtually a rewrite of Young's 'Heart of Gold', while Vedder's vocals creak charmingly on 'Sometimes'. Elsewhere Pearl Jam take on punk (the one minute 'Lukin') and psychedelia ('Red Mosquito'), while 'Hail, Hail' rates as one of their best rockers. Guitarist Stone Gossard gets to hold the microphone on 'Mankind'; none of his lyrics make sense ("It's all just inadvertent imitation and I don't mean mine") but it's still catchy. While No Code features plenty of rock songs, the album as a whole comes across as sombre and meditative. The key tracks are arguably 'Who You Are', which matches Eastern trappings to a fine composition, and 'Off He Goes', which adds a country sheen to Vedder's personal lyrics. No Code succeeds because Pearl Jam never lose sight of their own personal identity, and because of the strength of their songwriting. To a neophyte, No Code's guitar tones are really nice, while the rhythm section capably fuel the Pearl Jam's musical explorations. No Code's most obvious flaw is that the group lack conviction to step outside the shadow of their previous work; 'Habit' breaks the mood of the album with a well meaning but weak play on words ("I never thought you'd have it/habit") married to a lifeless tune and straightforward rock arrangement that recalls their earlier work. 'Habit' is worth salvaging for the solo, but breaks the pensive mood of 'Off He Goes' inappropriately. While Pearl Jam's slight tentativeness holds No Code back from being a complete masterpiece, it easily rates as one of the best albums of the nineties. For this album Pearl Jam thwarted commerciality by releasing it without a barcode, hence the title.
Yield(1998)After consciously thwarting commercialism since Ten, Pearl Jam did a sudden about turn for Yield; creating their most accessible record since their debut and releasing videos and singles. Brighter than Vs. and Vitalogy, and less experimental than No Code, Yield is a controlled and attractive record. Despite its commercial concessions, Yield witnesses Pearl Jam departing from the forefront of popular music and slotting smoothly into their own niche where they are making music for themselves and their fans. As a result, Yield is a more timeless record than their earlier efforts: they're not tied to any particular trends, but are content to humbly build on the rock tradition of their influences. Pearl Jam are also continually growing as a band; collectively sharing more songwriting responsibilities and showing more interest in texture and guitar tones. There's a charming documentary available, Single Video Theory, that documents the relaxed atmosphere that spawned Yield; a contrast from the Vitalogy sessions where the group were hardly talking to each other. As the above paragraph indicates, Yield is superficially a fantastic record, but is let down by a lot of material that is too straight-forward, slight and unmemorable. At least there's nothing particularly jarring either; the experimental pieces (Jack Irons' 'o' and 'Push Me, Pull You') assimilate far more easily than those on Vitalogy. The standout songs are absolutely fantastic; 'Given To Fly' in particular is one of the group's finest efforts, a wonderful cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Going To California' but with different lyrics. The plaintive 'Wishlist' is another highlight, with a memorable e-bow solo from Vedder himself, while 'All Those Yesterdays' is an enjoyable ballad that references The Beatles with a drawn out pronounciation of "yesterdays". The mid-tempo tunes that litter the album are all pretty, if inconsequential, but the rockers aren't as interesting or as hard-edged as their predecessors. While Yield is not the most compelling album in Pearl Jam's catalogue, it documents a comfortable transition for the group; from trying to change the world to discovering the joy of presenting lovely albums to the world. For this album Pearl Jam decided they'd shed enough of the unfaithful, and went back to producing accessible records.
Binaural(2000)Superficially, Binaural is an unappealing record; the cover is both dark and geeky, while the opening trifecta of harsh rockers don't give an accurate perception of the entire album. More tellingly, there isn't a single great song of Binaural; no 'Nothingman', 'Given To Fly' or 'I Am Mine'. The low point of Binaural, and possibly Pearl Jam's career to date, is 'Evacuation'. Written by new recruit Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam's fourth drummer in six albums), it demonstrates why drummers shouldn't be permitted to write songs (although, to be fair, he pulls out some pretty good efforts on their next record). I'm not a particular fan of any of the rockers on Binaural; 'Grievance' features polical lyrics, but musically invokes Vs.' 'Rear View Mirror' a little too closely, while 'God's Dice' is competent but not necessarily interesting. Coming after the prettiness of Yield the harshness and claustrophobia found on much of Binaural is jarring. All of this disguises the fact that there are a number of solid songs on Binaural; even if there is nothing brillant, there are plenty of examples of honed songcraft. 'Sleight Of Hand' is my favourite song of the album, with an atmospheric verse and a crashing chorus, while 'Insignificance' uses similar textures with a more jaded mood; these two songs both benefit from the claustrophobic mood of Binaural. There is very little uplifting material on Binaural; Vedder was going through a divorce at the time, so it's up to Ament ('Nothing As It Seems') and Gossard ("Thin Air') to provide rare moments of lightheartedness and optimism. 'Light Years' and 'Of The Girl' are both nice ballads, while 'Rival' sounds unlike anything the band has done. Binaural, therefore, has a solid core, but ends almost as forgettably as it started. 'Soon Forget' finds Vedder wielding a ukelele to attack Seattle's software millionaires, while 'Parting Ways' isn't a particularly memorable closer. Without spoiling the surprise the bonus track is harding revelatory; in fact, I'm making the exact same noise right now in typing this review. In summary, Binaural is one of my least favourite Pearl Jam albums, even if it's hardly an outright failure. It is merely too bleak, often features bland lyrics and lacks a grand focal track, like all their other albums have. Not a good place to start, but certainly worth a look for seasoned fans.
Estadio do Restelo, Lisbon Portugal(23/5/00) (2000)Portugal was the first concert from Pearl Jam's Binaural tour of 2000, where the band set a precedent by releasing all of the shows from the tour on CD (apart from the tragic concert in Roskilde where a number of fans were crushed to death). All the concerts are released completely unedited, so that large periods of crowd noise are included, especially during the encore break. The positive side of the lack of editing is that sometimes charming and spontaneous things happen: Eddie Vedder forgets his words during 'Wishlist' and 'Immortality', while the band has to improvise 'Untitled' and 'Last Kiss' while Matt Cameron's drum kit is fixed. A noticeable revelation from this concert is that Pearl Jam are no longer able to write effective rock anthems; the weakest moments in this concert are recent attempts at hard rock such as 'Do The Evolution' and the heinous 'Evacuation'. In contrast their more subtle material is exhibiting growing artistic depth and personality; 'Of The Girl' is a good choice for an opener while 'Thin Air' is beautiful. Lisbon features a populist song selection with most of the group's best known tracks such as 'Black', 'Jeremy', 'Alive', 'Animal', 'Daughter', 'Betterman', 'Wishlist' and 'Given To Fly', as well as classic b-side 'Yellow Ledbetter'. This makes the set a good option for the Pearl Jam beginner, although on the quality scale this concert is probably quite average of the "bootlegs" that have been released. My friend has an excellent album in this series from Spodek in Poland, which has an excellent track selection and features the special evolution symbol (a man standing next to a monkey) that the band use to denote their most excellent efforts.
Note: If you have any of the other 71 live CDs, I'd love it if you sent in a review; send me one through the feedback form and I'll post it up! Don't worry about #72 though; I'll review that sometime soon. Riot Act(2002)Riot Act, despite its ridiculous title and nerdy cover, seems to be Pearl Jam's best effort for quite some time. It's more of a consolidation of the group's strengths than a step forward, the most noticable change are that there are more prominent keyboard parts than previously, but as a result it is their most coherent album since Ten. The Eastern influences have resurfaced from No Code, featuring most prominently on the magnificient single 'I Am Mine', but they are integrated more naturally into Pearl Jam's ouevre than ever before. While Vedder thankfully reasserts himself as the songwriting lynchpin on Riot Act, contributing key tracks such as the mystical opener 'Can't Keep', the ballad 'Thumbing My Way' and 'I Am Mine', all of the members (apart from McCready) contribute strong songs. Matt Cameron in particular shines with the funky 'You Are', creating the pulsing guitar sound by feeding it through a drum machine. Vedder has plenty on his mind as he remembers the Roskilde tragedy on 'Love Boat Captain' ("lost 9 friends we'll never know"), continues his anti-wealth stance on the sixties throwback 'Green Disease', criticises the president on 'Bushleaguer', and often discusses religious beliefs such as in 'Can't Keep'. Vedder also often helps the other writers polish their lyrics, although Ament's solo writing effort 'Help Help' strangely benefits from its repetitive inanity. Riot Act isn't necessarily an easy record, as the hooks are less obvious than on Ten or Yield, but there are plenty of good songs and few that are obviously substandard. The straightforward punk of Cameron's 'Wanted To Get Right' is perhaps the worst offender, but is hardly completely without merit. Even the compulsary experimental piece, 'Arc', featuring Vedder droning religiously, is short and surprisingly pleasant. Even if they're falling into too much of a routine here, Pearl Jam have seldom sounded so organised and coherent, and Riot Act is easily one of their strongest albums.
Pearl Jam(2006)Plenty of reviews have hailed Pearl Jam as a return to form for the band, but that's hardly an accurate appraisal given that Riot Act was a strong album in its own right. It's certainly not a blinding comeback to artistic relevance: Yield was Pearl Jam's last moment of cultural significance and since then Pearl Jam have continued to make respectable records, but it's unlikely they'll ever return as the mouthpiece of disaffected youth and instead they've been growing up alongside their audience. So despite a more abrasive approach - this is probably the most aggressive Pearl Jam album since Vitalogy - and a more blatant political lyrics than ever before, neither of these factors are enough to reignite a band that was currently settled into middle age, and this record warms up only when it strays away from hard rock material into more relaxed areas. Despite using the same producer as for Riot Act, the sound here is much thinner and more abrasive; in places this could almost pass as mid-period Husker Du, which is more commendable than going for a more mainstream modern rock sound, but it's perhaps trying to hard from an aging band who are now more suited to inventing interesting guitar textures and chord sequences than brute force. The shakiest stretch, and the most symptomatic of the album as a whole, is the opening sequence of songs - like Binaural, Pearl Jam starts with a series of rockers that are self-consciously fast and abrasive, but not especially interesting, and it's not until the fifth track that things loosen up and get more interesting. The McCready written 'Marker In The Sand' starts off with more abrasiveness, but opens out into a warm, jangly chorus ("So unforgiving/Yet needing forgiveness first") that signals a change in pace, whereafter the record gets much more appealing. Matt Cameron, who came up with some of the best material on Riot Act, only gets one writing credit here, the hooky 'Unemployable', while an unusually prolific McCready is responsible for a lot of the record's better songs. 'Parachutes' has a nice folky vibe, while 'Gone' is the most commercially viable song here with a big anthemic chorus and 'Army Reserve' bounces along on a nice, spiky guitar rhythm. Vedder emotes his way through the agreeably melodramatic 'Come Back', while the closing 'Inside Job' builds from gentle acoustic lament over its seven minutes. I have little desire to own a copy of this album; it's not a comeback by any stretch of the imagination, merely another late period Pearl Jam album that's superior to Binaural, but inferior to Riot Act, and there's a limit to how many late period Pearl Jam albums I want cluttering my life, when there's so much else to explore, but if you're a fan there's more than enough to like here.
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Written 2001-2007, Graham Fyfe
