Along with singer Andrew Wood, MLB was preparing to release their full length debut album, Apple, in March 1990. Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, already veterans of the grunge scene with their band Green River, were on the verge of making it big with their latest group, Mother Love Bone. 5 out of 5 stars.The story of the seminal rock quintet, Pearl Jam, begins in tragedy. Cheers to a new decade and cheers to a group of human beings who have embellished our lives with so many great songs, energising concerts and now this classic record.
Vedder and Company have genuinely earned their place in the annals of rock and roll. It easily evokes the raw passion and authenticity of early 90s accoustic tracks like ‘Footsteps’ or ‘Hold on’. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album by far. In which case Vedder’s vocals accompanied by inspirational and heart-warming guitar chords is all that’s really needed to get such a beautiful message across.
It epitomises that sometimes less is more. Has anyone noticed the Led Zeppelin influence on ‘Quick Escape’? The accoustic number ‘Comes then Goes’ is a magnificent track. Songs like ‘Superblood Wolfmoon’ and ‘Quick Escape’ combine a groove and feel which we had not experienced with the same intensity in previous albums. How many bands in the history of rock n’ roll have had the resilience and competence to rock on for so many decades without breaking up or losing their appeal? Very few. However, they are not bound to be restricted by lazy music genre labels, because they are bigger than any movement or fad. Are Pearl Jam a pillar of 90s music? No question about it. All is good here, and I am really grateful they took this (calculated) risk to expand their musical frontiers even further. They opened a precedent with ‘No Code’ back in 1996. Experimentation is part of the band’s DNA. However, that is exactly what makes the song such a big hit. ‘Dance of The Clairvoyants’, for example, is perhaps the most ‘unusual’ track to be featured on Pearl Jam’s catalogue. Instead, they launched a behemoth album which features music that goes on unexpected new directions. Still relevant and fresh after so many years on the road, Pearl Jam could’ve easily just called it quits. The music from the album engages and inspires listeners - living in times of acute environmental concern, political skepticism and social isolation - to soldier on. With all these elements on check, Gigaton does not disappoint. The energy is there, the sense or urgency is there, the musicianship, experimentation and lyricism are also on point. Heavily supported by some clever digital marketing tactics like videos, digital billboards, moon scanning devices, and other snappy tricks, Pearl Jam come back with one of their most solid and incredibly relevant records to date. Old school die-hard fans can also line-up at traditional record shops to pick-up the record in CD or vinyl. The much anticipated Pearl Jam release, the band’s 11th studio album and first record in 7 years, hits the airwaves across the globe through streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. Today, nearly 30 years later, Pearl Jam - one of the last pillars of Seattle’s ‘Big 4’ - are releasing ‘Gigaton’. The music landscape was certainly different with so many authentic acts like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam paving the road for Generation X, my generation, to feel represented and socially included. Once upon a time, back in the early days of the Seattle music explosion, there was angst, rage and a need to pick-up distorted guitars tuned to ‘Drop D’ to make bold statements and social criticism of our daily affairs. Once upon a time, back in the early days of the Seattle music explosion, there was angst, rage and a need to pick-up Gigaton - My review.
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