The Avocado Reviewed: Pearl Jam “Pearl Jam”

You’re not going to believe this.

But it’s a good album.

That is, of course, according to me. Now, I doubt anyone’s checking into this blog to gain some sort of objective perspective on Pearl Jam‘s self-titled eighth album. Where does it rank among the past efforts? Oh, I don’t know. It’s more coherent than Vitalogy but certainly doesn’t have the home runs that Vitalogy had. It’s not quite as angry as Riot Act but not quite as wistful as Binaural.

It’s a good effort, however. I was a little hard on Bill Simmons recently, but he’s scarcely been the only writer or pundit to call VIII a “comeback album.” If it is, I would certainly affirm that it signals Pearl Jam is “back.”(snicker). It would perhaps be redundant for me to relay how closely I feel each album mirrors my own state of mind — but it’s the High Fidelity question — do I listen to Pearl Jam because of my mood, or is my mood a result of listening to Pearl Jam?

In this case, Eddie‘s rage-turned-despondency, and resulting anger at the futility of life’s passing is certainly a theme I can (anyone can) relate to amidst a bigger picture. We all hate getting older, and feeling like life is eclipsing too fast, or at least faster than we want. We all, additionally, should feel uncertainty amidst the current political climate. Vedder, perhaps wisely, doesn’t let his political views do anything more than hint around his lyrics — to me, they didn’t cloud the album at all.

As usual, Vedder’s emotion fuels the fire, and supplements the better tracks — as it does live, as it always does everywhere. As for the music — it simply refines the sound that morphed from Yield and perfected in Riot Act — shorter songs, punkier in places rather than reliant on heavy riffs, and the ballads are perhaps the most powerful moments on the album.

I don’t think it’s quite as good as Riot Act — which I thought was one of their best efforts. However, several of the tracks do stand out — namely Life Wasted, Unemployable, Severed Hand, and Gone. As usual, there is one song that blows me away on the album — this time it’s the ending (surprise), Inside Job. (For the record — the other blow-away songs are: Porch, Indifference, Corduroy, I Got Shit, In My Tree, Hard to Imagine, All Those Yesterdays, Untitled/MFC, Insignificance, All or None and Fatal.)

So it’s good. If you like Pearl Jam, you’ll like it. A lot. If you don’t, well, I can’t say for sure. Not many bands make it to album No. 3, let alone eight. They’re in Led Zep territory now, and are rounding the bend toward Rolling Stones. For that, we couldn’t be more grateful. (How about that, I’m wrapping this up, and I didn’t comment once on the NYE in NYC live show that arrived with the disc for 10 Club members. Features a fast version of Wash , one of the first performances of Dirty Frank and Leash, and a Vedder call-out of Marky Mark and Madonna. Classic, great show.) VIII track commentary follows.

Track listing:

Life Wasted. Great song, and one of their best album openers. Will be a rip during the live shows.
World Wide Suicide. I admit it sounds better within the context of the album. On its own, it was a little underwhelming.
Comatose. Could be an arena anthem – it rocks fairly hard.
Severed Hand. Excellent lyrics, and the song’s guttural sound echoes grunge.
Marker In the Sand. Grew on me quite a bit. (Three listens at work. If I didn’t answer my direct line, now you know why…) A challenging song, but the melody and unconvential structure are rewarding.
Parachutes. Similar to the title, it reminds me of a Coldplay song. Probably the weakest point of the album.
Unemployable. Great not-political, but not-not-political song. It fuses together nicely, showcasing the band’s chemistry. “Scared alive” is the most poignant lyrical stanza of the album.
Big Wave. Good but not great. Fits the album.
Gone. Very good, haunting and catchy.
Wasted Reprise. Throwaway tag to Life Wasted, and will show up live.
Army Reserve. Vedder’s comment on Iraq, understated and effective.(Granted, it depends on your side. Whether you agree with PJ, or you’re wrong.)
Come Back. Optimistic and lonely, haunting and painful. Great song.
Inside Job. The album’s best, as I’ve said. It’s a perfect swan song for VIII. Of course, it leaves us wanting more.