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Pearl Jam has been around for over 15 years. That statement makes me feel a bit old, so I can only imagine how old it makes the band feel. Back in the early nineties, Pearl Jam was on top of the emerging grunge scene and even surpassed Nirvana as one of the biggest bands in the world. Since 1994’s “Vitalogy,” however, Pearl Jam has had a hard time reclaiming the rock world that they ruled. Through a string of relatively well-received, yet financial disappointing, albums, Pearl Jam has pushed on, continuing to evolve in the process.
The release of Pearl Jam’s self-titled album marks the band’s seventh major studio-release in 15 years. Typically, a self-titled album is usually a statement about how the artist perceives themselves. With “Pearl Jam,” the band is clearly making a statement, saying, “This is who we are. Like it or leave it.” However, Pearl Jam dows much more than make this brazen statement. They back it up with a truly refreshing addition to both their catalog and the mainstream rock scene.
“Pearl Jam” begins with the song “Life Wasted,” the band’s triumphal re-entry into the CD players and iPod’s across the world as Eddie Vedder sings, “I’ve tasted a life wasted. I’m never going back again.” It is a good starting point for the album and one of the best Pearl Jam tracks to date. Transitioning from blazing guitar solos and Eddie Vedder’s (trademarked) almost-drunken shrieks to half-time soft-rock balladry is no easy feat to pull off, but the band does it amazingly and capture the true versatility in their music. The remainder of the album can best be described as “unpredictable,” featuring a wide assortment of songs and influences that only goes to further the notion that Pearl Jam is a band worth indulging in for hours and days on end.
What the band accomplishes with this album is more than creating a 13-song revival of sorts. On the contrary, Pearl Jam has proven that in the flimsy, here-today-gone-tomorrow world of nineties rock, at least one band has proven they are more than an early nineties genre-fit.
Pearl Jam has risen from the ashes of grunge-rock and put their heart and soul into one of the best albums to come out so far in 2006.
Though ecclectic at times, one cannot simply dismiss the raw talent and raw emotion that went into the making of this album. Granted, it may not be Pearl Jam’s best, but it’s definitely towards the top of the list. There are a handful of tracks on this album that could easily be argued as some of the band’s most impressive, and that is definitely an accomplishment. At more than 15 years into their career, Pearl Jam has proven that they still have a lot to say and a lot more songs in store for us…if we are lucky.
Key Tracks:
1. "Life Wasted"
2. "World Wide Suicide"
3. "Comatose"
4. "Severed Hand"
5. "Come Back"
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