Well it's about that time, a special time for me..you see, through some strange act of coincidence, a vast majority of bands that I like tend to release new work and tour during the same year, a vicious cycle if you will. This year, I look forward to new works from Tool, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sonic Youth, Neil Young, and hopefully Radiohead. All of those guys plus Roger Waters of Pink Floyd on tour this summer makes Justin a very broke man. Pearl Jam holds a special place amongst this group however, as this summer brings me to my 11th, 12th, and 13th Pearl Jam show (with three more lingering as possibilities.) I love seeing this band live..every night before a show my jammer friend/concert partner in crime and I will make up our dream setlist and have a running count of how many songs are played that we haven't heard before. A major reason for my looking forward to summer is to see these guys live again. They may not be my "favorite" band per se, but nothing is like a PJ live experience..from the road trip, stereotypically listening to their past studio works and bootlegs, to the crappy mapquest directions, I live for this stuff. When Pearl Jam decides to release a new CD, that means a big tour. That time is now. This morning at midnight, Pearl Jam released their 8th studio album, which is self titled, but I will refer to as Avocado.
A disclaimer, if you haven't guessed already, this review comes from an unabashed fan.
This album kicks ass. Following up what I would say is my favorite Pearl Jam disc (Riot Act) was a tough job. This one, while taking a somewhat different approach, fits the bill nicely. The songs here are shorter and less experimental than the previous..let's say 5 albums. The band seems to be a more optimistic bunch this time, though for Pearl Jam, that isn't saying much. Death and regret are running themes here.
Some highlights -
-The single - World Wide Suicide - is their strongest since 98's Do The Evolution.
-The B-side to that single - Unemployable - is the strongest track on the album.
-Army Reserve is the best example of what I would say is old and new Pearl Jam coming together. It is a sound that they have never tried before but still sounds like classic Pearl Jam.
-Parachutes is the closest to a Beatles song structure that the Jam has ever made.
-If anything, the band seems to have found that groove they have been looking for.
The low lights?
-Comatose is a song that sounds much like Vitalogy's "Spin the Black Circle" --not my favorite track.
-Life Wasted ends too early..there is a solo that should have been rocked out..and this should have been in the middle of the album..which brings me to....
-pacing. It doesn't seem like much thought was put into bringing these songs into a whole package. We have some brilliant tracks, but the parts are greater than the whole in this case.
-I was a fan of the M.I.A. experimental leanings that the band has been exploring for the last 10 years.
-The producer, Adam Kaspar, has relegated Jeff Ament's bass to the background. Jeff isn't a wonderful player, but I think it changes the sound a bit too radically in some spots.
Overall, this is not their most solid effort, but even Pearl Jam's worst album stands head and shoulders above most of the absolute shit that gets passed as music today.
For a Pearl Jam album: 7.9/10
For a Rock album 9.0/10
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