Pearl Jam [Digipak] - Pearl Jam (CD 2006)

It shouldn't have been too hard to see it coming -- all we had to do is look at the first single.

Pearl Jam hasn't released a first single that completely rocked out in over ten years. Sure, "Given to Fly" wasn't a ballad exactly, but it starts slow at least, and any song that finds its closest comparison in Led Zeppelin's "Going to California" can't actually be accused of "completely rocking out". Other than that, what do we have? Going backward from Riot Act, the lead singles for the last five Pearl Jam albums have been "I Am Mine", "Nothing As it Seems", "Given to Fly", and "Who You Are". Before that was Vitalogy's "Spin the Black Circle", way back in nineteen ninety-frickin'-four.

Now, it's two thousand and frickin' six, and the beast has been awakened once again, with the blast of adrenaline that is "World Wide Suicide".

I have to confess: In those eleven-and-change years since "Spin the Black Circle" led off the promotion for Vitalogy, it has made perfect sense to me that slow songs would become Pearl Jam's signature, as I haven't truly loved a fast, hard Pearl Jam rock song since, oh, Vs. came out. Sure, there are good ones -- "Do the Evolution" is fantastic, "Hail, Hail" is a solid piece of songwriting, and even "Save You" was a decent little blast of vitriol -- but for the most part, the songs I truly loved were the slow tunes, songs like "Light Years", "Low Light", "Off He Goes", and the aforementioned "I Am Mine". Those were the songs that mattered, the songs that Pearl Jam put their heart and soul into and connected with mine. That has all completely changed with Pearl Jam (a.k.a. "Avocado", as per the sleek, really nifty cover art). Fast 'n loud is once again a priority for this band so long trapped in the muck of mid-tempo, and remarkably, two such songs on Pearl Jam completely and utterly raise the bar for the flannel-clad mosh pits.

One of those songs is "World Wide Suicide", a song that rather effortlessly grabbed the top spot on Billboard's Modern Rock chart for a couple of weeks, a song that has such a tight groove that it sounds as if it might just be about to pop at any second. Vedder actually creates melodies that don't sound predictable with that tired voice of his, and then he starts roaring as if it were still 1991. There's one thing for sure -- nobody can do the ragged screamy-sing thing like Vedder can. Driving the song are tremendous drums from Matt Cameron, a drummer I've pretty well despised up 'til now, not to mention a drummer that this album couldn't do without, and a fantastic, simple bass line from Jeff Ament. Vedder's lyrics are decent, mostly amounting to "war sucks", but containing some nice one-liners like Tell you to pray while the Devil's on their shoulder. I like that one. The kicker? A fantastic, quick-strum guitar sound in the back of the last pre-chorus, a noise coming out of (I believe) Stone Gossard, the likes of which haven't been heard since "Porch". Once I heard that, I was getting all the goosebumps and uncontrollable flailing that accompany songs that I love, and I knew that, apathy toward Riot Act be damned, I'd be buying the album.

And I'm glad I did, because without buying the album, I never would have heard "Severed Hand".

"Severed Hand" beats the hell out of even "World Wide Suicide", building up from an atmopheric intro into a rock 'n roll tension building "intro-bridge" and finally into another punky song, much like "World Wide Suicide", actually. Aside from the general attitude (and more of that tight musicianship), there's another common trait between the two that evidently endears me to many a Pearl Jam tune: more of that awesome guitar texturing.

"Severed Hand" starts the aforementioned texturing between the first chorus and the second verse, and then, impossibly, wonderfully, continues it through the second verse -- a rhythmic, high-pitched bit of controlled feedback that defines the song even more than the fantastic, cryptic lyrical imagery can.

And even past those two glorious, wondrous bits of rock-out-ism, the rocking is in full abundance throughout Pearl Jam, rocking with bite, rocking with vitriol, and venom, and vigor. "Life Wasted" might be a curious choice for a second single (seriously, can we not make a video for a song that actually has a memorable melody? "Do the Evolution" and now this? What th'hell?), but there's no doubting the power with which it kicks off the album, lyrically and musically decrying the evils of complacency, even featuring a nigh-unheard of vocal turn from Vedder: namely, a giggle. All right, so maybe "giggle" is the wrong word, but I like picturing him getting all giddy and tittering like a schoolgirl. "Comatose" is even more over the top, Vedder shouting things like Consider me an abcess / Leave me in my vacuum / Blood on all the pistons / Running my transmission while things explode and kick copious ass all around him. "Big Wave" is little more than silly fun (though its surfing-as-release theme is obviously close to the band's heart), and Pearl Jam's own brand of Americana is well-represented on the rollicking "Unemployable" and the swirling, heady "Army Reserve".

But still, this would not be a classic Pearl Jam album without some decent slow jams. Of course, the slower tunes here are quite a bit better than decent.

To start, we have "Parachutes", which floats along and flutters home in a three-minute acoustic haze, propelled by a time signature that never quite settles itself and a relaxed vocal performance from Vedder. He doesn't quite get off of his favorite political topic (And war...break the sky and tell me what it's for), but mostly, it's a pleasant little love song. "Gone" is only slow in the way that "Given to Fly" is slow, in that they start quietly, but explode into euphoric, anthemic bliss. Here, the contrast between the two moods is used to juxtapose everyday life with the wind-in-your-hair, sun-at-your-back feeling of getting the hell out of dodge. Is it telling, that the song features some of my favorite lyrics? Witness:

Feel like a question is forming
and the answers far
I will be what i could be
Once I get out of this town

I think I've identified with that one once or thrice.

Of course, even "Gone" pales in comparison to "Come Back", a pleading, emotionally raw lost-love song in which the object of Vedder's affections has either died or left forever. Please say, that if you hadn't of gone now / I wouldn't have lost you another way, he pleads, and the band accompanies him in a 50s ballad kind of way that has been compared to "Last Kiss" more times than I can count, though at least you could find the joy in that melody. "Come Back" is pure melancholy, through and through, and Mike McCready makes that guitar cry in the final solo, once again allowing the guitars to upstage the rest of the band. It's absolutely beautiful, and worth playing on repeat five or ten times when you're in a sad mood.

The disc closes with another anthemic slow burn, the largely McCready-penned battle with alcoholism that is "Inside Job", a satisfying, if not particularly noteworthy way to close the disc. The inclusion of piano is nice, however, something that Pearl Jam should look to do more of on future discs.

But then, for me to suggest they can improve also suggests that Pearl Jam, as an album, is flawed. It is a little flawed, I suppose -- starting the album with five (count 'em!) hard 'n fast tunes gets tiresome by the time the good-on-its-own-merits "Marker in the Sand" comes along, and a few of the songs are too obvious in their attempts at art to provoke emotion -- but for the most part, Pearl Jam is a fantastic album that keeps me singing, shouting, air guitaring, and flailing as much as anything else released this year. Yeah, sure, Vedder has something to say, about war, about politics, about whatever's on his mind. He always does. This album isn't really about his message, however; it's about finding the energy to be musically reborn, it's about sounding absolutely vital for the first time in far, far too long.

Welcome back, guys. We missed you.