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★★★★★ 4.5 points (48 reviews)


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  • Issued : 02 May 2006

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Item Details

Genre : Rock & Pop Catalogue Number : 82876714672
Format : CD Label : J Records
Issued : 02 May 2006 Item sourced from : USA
Number of Discs : 1

Pearl Jam

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HMV Review

Nearly 15 years after Ten, Pearl Jam finally returned to the strengths of their debut with 2006's Pearl Jam, a sharply focused set of impassioned hard rock. Gone are the arty detours (some call them affectations) that alternately cluttered and enhanced their albums from 1993's sophomore effort, Vs., all the way to 2002's Riot Act, and what's left behind is nothing but the basics: muscular, mildly meandering rock & roll, enlivened by Eddie Vedder's bracing sincerity. Pearl Jam has never sounded as hard or direct as they do here -- even on Ten there was an elasticity to the music, due in large part to Jeff Ament's winding fretless bass, that kept the record from sounding like a direct hit to the gut, which Pearl Jam certainly does. Nowhere does it sound more forceful than it does in its first half, when the tightly controlled rockers Life Wasted, World Wide Suicide, Comatose, Severed Hand, and Marker in the Sand pile up on top of each other, giving the record a genuine feeling of urgency. That insistent quality and sense of purpose doesn't let up even as they slide into the quite beautiful, lightly psychedelic acoustic pop of Parachutes, which is when the album begins to open up slightly. If the second half of the record does have a greater variety of tempos than the first, it's still heavy on rockers, ranging from the ironic easy swagger of Unemployable to the furious Big Wave, which helps set the stage for the twin closers of Come Back and Inside Job. The former is a slow-burning cousin to Black that finds Pearl Jam seamlessly incorporating soul into their sound, while the latter is a deliberately escalating epic that gracefully closes the album on a hopeful note -- and coming after an album filled with righteous anger and frustration, it is indeed welcome. But Pearl Jam's anger on this eponymous album is not only largely invigorating, it is the opposite of the tortured introspection of their first records. Here, Vedder turns his attention to the world at large, and while he certainly rages against the state of W's union in 2006, he's hardly myopic or strident; he's alternately evocative and specific, giving this album a resonance that has been lacking in most protest rock of the 2000s. But what makes Pearl Jam such an effective record is that it can be easily enjoyed as sheer music without ever digging into Vedder's lyrics. Song for song, this is their best set since Vitalogy, and the band has never sounded so purposeful on record as they do here, nor have they ever delivered a record as consistent as this. And the thing that makes the record work exceptionally well is that Pearl Jam has embraced everything they do well, whether it's their classicist hard rock or heart-on-sleeve humanitarianism. In doing so, they seem kind of old fashioned, reaffirming that they are now thoroughly outside of the mainstream -- spending well over a decade galloping away from any trace of popularity will inevitably make you an outsider -- but on their own terms, Pearl Jam hasn't sounded as alive or engaging as they do here since at least Vitalogy, if not longer. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

Credits

Boom Gaspar(Piano),  Eddie Vedder(Guitar),  Eddie Vedder(Vocals),  Jeff Ament(Bass),  Jeff Ament(Guitar (Bass)),  Matt Cameron(Drums),  Matt Cameron(Percussion),  Mike McCready(Guitar),  Stone Gossard(Guitar),  Boom Gaspar(Hammond B3),  Boom Gaspar(Organ (Pump)),  Gary Westlake(Optigan),  Adam Kasper(Engineer),  Adam Kasper(Producer),  John Burton(Engineer),  Sam Hofstedt(Engineer),  Adam Kasper(Mixing),  Brad Klausen(Cover Photo),  Brad Klausen(Design),  Damien Echols(Composer),  Eddie Vedder(Composer),  Eddie Vedder(Design),  Fernande Apodaca(Artwork),  Jason M.(Design),  Jeff Ament(Composer),  Matt Cameron(Composer),  Mike McCready(Composer),  Stone Gossard(Composer),  Brad Klausen(Layout Design),  Eddie Vedder(Layout Design),  Jerome Turner(Concept),  Aaron Mlasko(Drum Technician),  Adam Kasper(Audio Production),  Fernande Apodaca(Sculpture),  George Webb(Guitar Technician),  Greg Keplinger(Drum Technician),  Pearl Jam(Audio Production),  Steve Rinkoff(Drum Technician)

Songs

  •   
    1
    Life Wasted  (03:00)
  •   
    2
    World Wide Suicide  (03:28)
  •   
    3
    Comatose  (03:00)
  •   
    4
    Severed Hand  (03:00)
  •   
    5
    Marker In The Sand  (03:00)
  •   
    6
    Parachutes  (03:00)
  •   
    7
    Unemployable  (03:05)
  •   
    8
    Big Wave  (03:00)
  •   
    9
    Gone  (03:00)
  •   
    10
    Wasted Reprise  (03:00)
  •   
    11
    Army Reserve  (03:00)
  •   
    12
    Come Back  (03:00)
  •   
    13
    Inside Job  (03:00)

Customer Reviews

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  • ★★★★★ 

    MOJO  |  TOKYO  |  不明  |  18/May/2008

    Pearl Jamて題名にふさわしい曲群ばかり。Ten時代。つまり初心に帰ったアルバム。 若々しいサウンド。

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  • ★★★★☆ 

    だるだるポイズン  |  京都  |  不明  |  11/May/2008

    前作に比べてストレートだし相変わらずむさくるしくて良い(笑)。が、もう初期のうねる様な異常な緊迫感は戻らない、と確信してしまった。 ただ、これからは自分の懐古趣味を振り払って、その時その時の彼らをずっと見守りたい。作品自体の出来は良いし(笑)。

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  • ★★★★☆ 

    セレブ  |  六本木ヒルズ  |  不明  |  06/April/2008

    おかえり。もう戻って来れねえとこまでいっちゃったのかと思った…次はすぐ買うから

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