PEARL JAM
Binaural (Epic)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

---

Binaural has everything you'd expect from the premier survivors of the late, great Seattle surge. It's loud, dense, moody and muddy. Everybody in the band gets a piece of the songwriting action, but they've been working at it long enough that there's an undeniable Pearl Jam sound that permeates each composition no matter how credited. As long as there's a market for noisy guitar bands, there's going to be a spot in the charts for Pearl Jam.

Still, I come away wondering just what it's going to take to cheer these guys up a bit. Come on guys, you're rich, famous and beloved. Surely that's enough to justify just one vaguely optimistic track. Eddie Vedder is probably the only musician on the planet that can write a song for solo ukulele and still sound disgruntled, if not downright depressed.

Well, maybe next time. In the meanwhile, anyone who likes this band enough to have been waiting for this one is likely to be happy with the result, even if the band hasn't got anything happy to say.

Track List:

Breakerfall * God's Dice * Evacuation * Light Years * Nothing As It Seems * Thin Air * Insignificance * Of The Girl * Grievance * Rival * Sleight Of Hand * Soon Forget * Parting Ways

© 2000 - Shaun Dale