Monday, March 14, 2016

Pearl Jam album reviews Ten, Vs, Vitalogy, No Code, Yield, Binaural and Riot Act



PearlJam-Ten2.jpgPearl Jam
Ten (1991)
Genre: Grunge, Hard Rock, Alternative  Rock

What a colossal album, Ten is one of those ground breaking debut productions, I listened to recently first time in about 10 years this past week, and I was floored to remember how good this album was, to rediscover this masterpiece . Back in the day when this production came out, I stole it from my dad who had bought it on cassette. Now  if you haven't listen to this album stop reading this review and get your hands on it .

Vocals and Lyric: Eddie Vedder is one of the most gifted rock singers ever and even on this band first album, he just knocks it out of the park, with mega anthemic "Even Flow", somewhat personal "Alive" and the very political charged "Jeremy" which is about gun violence and school shootings, that sadly is still a very revlevant today in the US.     12

Instrumentation:

Guitar: Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, are probably one the best guitar units in a rock band out there, they have already have a defined style on this album with some notable influences from old school blues solos and  Jimi Hendrix licks on the more mellow tracks.
Bass: Jeff Ament is one of the best rock/hard rock bass players ever, he is  present  on each sonf doing stuff, keeping the bass line interesting, but never overloads the song. Plus on this album he uses other than a traditional electric bass, he uses a fretless bass or a upright bass  on a couple of tracks and a special  bass on Jeremy that on ever bass string it has the equivalent guitar string giving the bass a very warm sound.
Drums: Dave  Krusen  does a fantastic job, but his playing is highlighted on a outtake called "Dirty Frank", note Dirty Frank has a break where they play "Freaky Style2 from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, which caught me totally by surprise  7.6


Melody and/or Structure: Eddie Vedder's melodic work on tracks like "Black" is just phenomenal.    12

Sound, Production and Feeling: This probably the only aspect that didn't hold up over the years it sounds like a late 80's at moments 8
Songs: Killer track list, the whole band is just focused on making great songs. 11
The Bad:
Originality: This album is a milestone Grunge album, these guys where the trail blazer with Nivana for the Grunge and Alternative rock  of the 90's  12

Overall: 62.6





 Vs. (1993)

Genre: Alternative Rock, Grunge, Hard Rock




PearlJam-Vs.jpgI must note to you the reader  that I  also had this album on cassette and I loved walking around  town with my walkman with this album blasting  my ears and oh man this Pearl Jam album just comes out swinging, it probably  has the heaviest none metal tracks out there, with Go, Animal and Blood are freaking intense, these tracks probably will scare any casual listeners the band picked up with Ten, that's a ballsy move for these guys.
The album in general leans more on alternative rock than on grunge, it does lack focus at moment like most alternative rock albums.   Now breaking down this album let's  start with Eddie, the main change for Vedder on this album is that at moments he sounds more intense and like a dude about to lose it, just adding to the heavier songs. The Guitars have the same high quality of  playing,  but they add more pedal effects. And my last instrumental observation  is that  the band has a new  drummer Dave Abbruzzese.
Now on a song level this album has some mega tracks, but this production does have fillers, but because most of the album is so good you barely notice. A major improvement compared to the last album  is that this album does sound much better, Brendan O'Brien production work just makes this album sound timeless, fresh and chuck full of energy. 
 


PearlJamVitalogy.jpg
Overall: 61.5



Vitalogy (1994)

Genre: Grunge, Alternative Rock


On this album the band dives deeper to establish their own style and sound, only equatable to Pearl Jam, the more energetic tracks have a punky feel and energy and the the more mellow track know how to take their time. It's a much more focused than Ten and Vs, and in general it a fantastic album very well rounded that grow on you over time as a whole. 

Overall: 59
 

No Code (1996)

Genre: Alternative Rock, Grunge

A set of Polaroid photos. On the upper side the title "Pearl Jam - No Code" is written in red letters.I was such a  dick when I was teen my dad gave me this album and Binaural as a gift from  trip and since I was super into metal at the time, anything related to grunge was lame so I gave both albums   to a friend, and man what a stupid mistake I had committed, because they where fantastic productions, Now on this album  Pearl Jam proceeds in their journey to go deeper into their own sound it a progression from their last album, its more folky and hippy in feeling and in tone, but the material isn't as good as the previous album, but don't get me wrong the track list is pretty good in general. This  is the first album with the Ex Red Hot Chili Peppers Jack Irons on the drums. 

Overall: 50.9
 
 
Yield (1998)
Genre: Alternative Rock, Hard Rock

A triangular yield sign alongside a desertic road. Above and below the image are black bars, the top one having the text "Pearl Jam".
PJ is back and they sound pumped,  reinvigorated and with no string attached, even though they don't break new ground, they serve the listener with batch of fantastic straight up rock songs, and "Do the Evolution" put them on the radar of a new generation of fans. 


Overall: 58.5 








Binaural (2000)
Genre: Alternative Rock, Psychedelic Rock

In a black background is the image of a nebula, which resembles two orange rings of smoke, with an eye-like structure in their intersection. Below it is the title "BINAURAL" in white letters.Man these guys are still running strong with another album that is solid as hell, they have matured as song writers and have made a very balanced album, they know what it takes to rock out, but also exploring the more mellow Psychedelic side of rock, fantastic use of atmospheric type of mix, use of silence, a calm tone and bluesy solos, you can't go wrong . This album has the addition of the Sound Garden's drummer Matt Cameron.
 





Overall: 59.5





Two skeleton dolls wearing crowns stand on a darkened room with rocks. Orange glows are seen through the image.Riot Act (2002)
Genre: Alternative Rock

One thing is very apparent on this album some of the songs have much more effort put in them  than others  for example  "You Are" is a impressive track with a brilliant use of pedal effect or "I Am Mine"  there first single in a long time has tons of good arrangements, but the rest of the album is pretty bland with a few good rockers.
 


Overall: 49.2
 

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