Cons: Lacks inspiration... too many experimental songs
The Bottom Line: Not too bad, I suggest picking it up if its on sale (for less than $10). Better than their last album, very experimental. A very weak 3 out of 5.
Pearl Jam is back in their latest attempt at musical self discovery… err, I mean their latest album, Binaural. Pearl Jam for those of you who either don’t know or don’t remember was THE grunge band of the last decade. This is the band that defined grunge music, and a key facet of their success was the quality and strength of their lead singer’s voice (Eddie Vedder). Vedder’s soul-filled crooning has been the defining sound of this band throughout its decade long history. His voice has been at its finest in all of Pearl Jam’s biggest hits, songs like “Last Kiss,” “Yellow Ledbetter,” “Daughter” “Betterman,” “Jeremy,” and “Black.” It is therefore very discouraging to hear not one song on this whole album where Eddie buts in half the effort he did in those classics. Its not that the songs on this album are all that bad, in fact I found many of the experimental songs to be rather good, it just that with a lackluster effort on the part of Vedder this album will be doomed to mediocrity.
The difficulty one has when reviewing this album, is to which standard should I hold Pearl Jam to? Should I measure them up to the impossible standard of themselves? Or should I hold them up against contemporary rock? Or should I judge them on the technical merits of this album, giving them the credit they deserve for this “more” successful experimentation in this album? Well you’ve all seen the fact that I’ve given the album a 3 out of 5 stars, so ill explain a little bit about why.
Reason #1: You can listen to the whole album without getting annoyed with many of the songs. This album does have decent replay-ability, and the experimental songs all seem to “work” (more on the songs later).
Reason #2: There are some rather good songs on this album, songs that had Eddie given this album his usual effort they would have become radio classics.
Reason #3: There really isn’t anything to truly dislike about this album, and while there isn’t anything great here, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to punish PJ in my ratings.
With the exception of some difficulty that PJ runs into in the middle-end of the album I found the whole thing to be of rather decent quality. Following is a little bit on each of the songs.
Breakerfall: This song has found its way into the ever-changing PJ concert rotation and live this song is amazing. On this album with a muted Vedder singing it, on the other hand it’s merely decent. This song has a good frantic pace, with great grinding guitars; unfortunately the electronic distortion of Vedder’s voice is just annoying, and in the end this song falls short of what it could have been.
God’s Dice: This is another song which I’ve heard live, and just like breakerfall, it is amazing. However for some reason Vedder’s voice is again electronically distorted, detracting from his voice’s depth and power.
Evacuation: Finally, I thought, a song where Eddie’s voice is not horribly distorted. Unfortunately the weak performance of Eddie in this song leaves much to be desired. Vedder is known for his deep and powerful voice, but to hear him straining to sing higher than his natural range, its just too awful to contemplate. Eddie actually sounds like the lead singer of Jane’s Addiction in this song.
Light Years: This was the second single off of this album, and it has a different enough of a sound that I kind of like it, in spite of the lackluster nature of this song. This song sounds like the whole band is winded and yearning for bed. Unfortunately, this form of experimentation would be tried with the next several songs, giving the album a lull in the middle. Good with the bad throughout this whole album I guess.
Nothing as it Seems: This was the first single off of the album and probably the best song too. It is a quiet and slow song, and one of the few where Eddie almost sounds inspired enough to try to sing a good one. The nice thing about this song is the haunted sound they achieved with the electrically distorted guitar.
Thin Air: Yet another experimental song, and despite the nearly country pace any sound that was achieved in this song (truth be told I think this song resembles a few of Live’s songs off of Throwing Copper). That said I think this a close second to Nothing as it Seems. In short, this is a great love song.
Insignificance: This song nearly had me skipping it due to the terrible way it started, it sounded like a horrible repeat of the previous three songs. Thank god for the refrain though, as we finally find the real Pearl Jam in the energy of the guitar riff, that fantastic guitar riff, in the middle of this song. Even Eddie seems to wake up and put some energy into this song. In short this is a song for any PJ fan.
Of the Girl: This song has a similar sound to Thin Air, and as a result I was a little bit disappointed. However, this song finds Eddie with some of his best stuff, and more than makes up for the lack of originality. The only significant way that this song differs from Thin Air is that this song has a very western cowboy feel to it.
Grievance: Sigh… all I know is that after listening to this song I was wondering what PJ was smoking. I also had to make sure that I wasn’t listening to the awful alt. rockers from Florida, Seven Mary Three. That’s right, I’m actually accusing PJ of trying to copy some crappy Fla. Band! What the heck has happened to PJ?
Rival: This is where the album really starts to go weird on you. Pearl Jam really gets into some self-discovery on this song, to the detriment of our ears unfortunately. I’d really like to get the pianist’s home address and break his fingers for what he did to my ears. Ouch!
Sleight of Hand: This is a very poor song, the worst on the album in my estimation. It is disjointed, and sounds like it was recorded as a throw-in, you know the old, “hey we came up a few minutes short, do you think you guys can record another one?” In a way I wish the producer had let the album go out the door one song short.
Soon Forget: Another experimental song, this one has Eddie singing with a ukulele playing as the lone accompaniment. It actually isn’t as bad as it sounds, just weird, and short (about 90sec)
Parting Ways: This is the a good name for a last song on an album. It’s too bad that it isn’t a happy parting. This song is so lackluster, with such a soft sound you wonder if Eddie is singing this one in his sleep. In short it fits in with the sound of most of the rest of the album. Oh well, with a little bit of luck this will be the last album in which they do serious experimentation with their sound. What separates this one from any of the other songs on the album is the cello in the background.
In short as you can see this album has a lot of “experimental sounds. The thing I find so annoying about these experimental trips (which established musical acts seem destined to take) is that their record company doesn’t try to keep them directed on making a focuses and good album. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for stretching yourself, sometimes you get something good out of it, or discover your passion for something new, but undirected, unaided trips of discovery are nearly always dismal failures in the music world. Even if Pearl Jam (PJ) was so interested in musical/artistic fulfillment, this album could have been saved by Eddie’s remarkable voice. As I’ve always said, where Eddie goes so does PJ. However in this album Vedder’s voice is weaker than I’ve ever heard it before. What is so frustrating about this album is that I’ve heard PJ live recently, and they are just as good now as they ever were, in short for some reason Eddie wasn’t singing from his heart.
I can only suggest this album for Pearl Jam fans or people who like softer alternative music. I hesitate to recommend this album but if you want to get it, get it on sale or used.
With the first single Nothing As It Seems already on radio and the band s amazing past records which has built a huge following around the world, Pear...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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