Artist: Pearl Jam
Album: Backspacer
Year: 2009
Grade: 2.5 pretzels
This month, two of the “Big Four” Seattle grunge bands are releasing new albums: Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains. These two bands could not have followed more contradictory career paths, yet here they both are in 2009, releasing albums within days of each other. As such, I feel compelled to write a double-header review today, starting with Pearl Jam. AIC’s review will show up later in the day.
So, Pearl Jam. What have they been up since the grunge bubble burst? Well, much, much more than every other band that dropped out of the cultural mainstream at that time. They’re the only grunge band (besides under-the-surface greats like Mudhoney) to keep chugging along at a semi-constant pace since their debut in 1991. Perhaps this is because, at heart, they never really fit into the whole Seattle grunge aesthetic. Sure, half the band grew up playing in proto-grunge outfits like Green River and Mother Love Bone and guitarist Mike McCready graduated from my very own Roosevelt High School, but the band’s mouthpiece, Eddie Vedder, came from the Californian surfer culture. The end result is a band that looks and sounds like it belongs in Seattle, but is actually informed by outside voices as well.
Pearl Jam’s first three albums, Ten, Vs. and Vitalogy, are crucial cornerstones in the House That Grunge Built. However, Pearl Jam began to change soon after Vitalogy’s 1994 release. The boycotted Ticketmaster (winning lots of moral points but also shooting themselves in the foot in the process) and their music began drifting more and more into the standard alt-rock mold. The fiery torrent of guitar assault began to cool into a calmer, decidedly R.E.M.-flavored jangle, while Vedder’s penchant for quasi-intelligible, convoluted lyricism definitely cast him in the same light as Michael Stipe. This is the groove Pearl Jam settled into as the second half of the 90s took over and we find them in essentially the exact same place here in 2009.
Not unlike the band’s self-titled 2006 effort (y’know, the one with an avocado on the cover), Backspacer seems destined to be seen a “return to rock” for Pearl Jam. Big, flashy singles like “Got Some” and “The Fixer” feature lots of loud, electric guitars and pounding drums. However, most of Backspacer is actually very calm and mature. The languid “Speed Of Sound” and the soft, finger-picked “Just Breathe” are much more representative of the album as a whole. Sadly, they’re also a bit boring.
This is the struggle Pearl Jam have faced for the past decade. While their stability and consistent artistic growth are commendable, they’re records have lost the spark and thrilling intensity that won them legions of fans in the first place. With each new record, it feels more and more like the hardcore Pearl Jam fans are the only people who’ll be really enjoying the new songs. Backspacer delivers the usual blend of chunky rock and blurted vocals, with nothing immediately jumping out and demanding the album be treated any differently from the other albums Pearl Jam has released recently. The band sounds like they’re treading the same water they’ve been mired in since 1994. Sure, they’re the only grunge band to have made it this far in one piece. But, as their friend and artistic godfather Neil Young once asked, which is better? To burn out or to fade away?
So, Pearl Jam. What have they been up since the grunge bubble burst? Well, much, much more than every other band that dropped out of the cultural mainstream at that time. They’re the only grunge band (besides under-the-surface greats like Mudhoney) to keep chugging along at a semi-constant pace since their debut in 1991. Perhaps this is because, at heart, they never really fit into the whole Seattle grunge aesthetic. Sure, half the band grew up playing in proto-grunge outfits like Green River and Mother Love Bone and guitarist Mike McCready graduated from my very own Roosevelt High School, but the band’s mouthpiece, Eddie Vedder, came from the Californian surfer culture. The end result is a band that looks and sounds like it belongs in Seattle, but is actually informed by outside voices as well.
Pearl Jam’s first three albums, Ten, Vs. and Vitalogy, are crucial cornerstones in the House That Grunge Built. However, Pearl Jam began to change soon after Vitalogy’s 1994 release. The boycotted Ticketmaster (winning lots of moral points but also shooting themselves in the foot in the process) and their music began drifting more and more into the standard alt-rock mold. The fiery torrent of guitar assault began to cool into a calmer, decidedly R.E.M.-flavored jangle, while Vedder’s penchant for quasi-intelligible, convoluted lyricism definitely cast him in the same light as Michael Stipe. This is the groove Pearl Jam settled into as the second half of the 90s took over and we find them in essentially the exact same place here in 2009.
Not unlike the band’s self-titled 2006 effort (y’know, the one with an avocado on the cover), Backspacer seems destined to be seen a “return to rock” for Pearl Jam. Big, flashy singles like “Got Some” and “The Fixer” feature lots of loud, electric guitars and pounding drums. However, most of Backspacer is actually very calm and mature. The languid “Speed Of Sound” and the soft, finger-picked “Just Breathe” are much more representative of the album as a whole. Sadly, they’re also a bit boring.
This is the struggle Pearl Jam have faced for the past decade. While their stability and consistent artistic growth are commendable, they’re records have lost the spark and thrilling intensity that won them legions of fans in the first place. With each new record, it feels more and more like the hardcore Pearl Jam fans are the only people who’ll be really enjoying the new songs. Backspacer delivers the usual blend of chunky rock and blurted vocals, with nothing immediately jumping out and demanding the album be treated any differently from the other albums Pearl Jam has released recently. The band sounds like they’re treading the same water they’ve been mired in since 1994. Sure, they’re the only grunge band to have made it this far in one piece. But, as their friend and artistic godfather Neil Young once asked, which is better? To burn out or to fade away?
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