Author's Note: I re-wrote major passages of this review on 3/26/06, reflecting some of the new opinions I've developed over the course of the last 3 years about this album. Much of the review remains intact, but my opinions on some songs, and the album as a whole, has changed.
Ahhhhh, the wonders of the internet. The absolute joy of holding that cold, sterile CDR in my hands that contains 15 brand spanking new Pearl Jam songs a full seven or eight weeks before the record company wants me to have it...ok, so it really doesn't compare to the excitement of going through the artwork and the credits that having the actual album does, but you know, when it comes to Pearl Jam, I've decided I just don't care. Give me the music, and give it to me now.
After the band's last album, Binaural, they had some questions to answer. Despite the fact that I heaped praise on Binaural, over the past year I've really had a change of heart towards the album; to me, it's an album with some great songs, some good songs, and some utter crap, and it sounds even worse than the band's debut, Ten, does. The production is awful on it.
Besides the fact that the band is following up their poorest disc to date, there was also the Roskilde question. How would the death of nine people affect the band's songwriting? WOULD it affect the songwriting? How would the addition of the man named Boom on keyboards affect the band's sound? How would the election of George Bush affect the band's songwriting, given lead singer/guitarist Eddie Vedder's strong dislike for him? And how would 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan affect the outcome of this record? Oh yeah, Vedder also had the divorce from his longtime girlfriend/wife, Beth Liebling to deal with.
The answers lie in the band's seventh album, titled Riot Act. A good portion of this material was tried out at various appearances over the past year, and it's rather interesting to see how the songs that Vedder played solo at a pair of appearances in the first third of the year have evolved into full on Pearl Jam songs.
One of those songs, Can't Keep, opens the album. It's an acoustically driven number that features some nice fill work by drummer Matt Cameron, but really nothing else. Ed sounds somewhat bored on this track, and the song sounds unfinished. Given that this is one of the album's ballads, this continues a disturbing trend that began with Binaural and has now extended into Riot Act. The trend? The lack of affection and emotion in the ballads. The other ballads here, Thumbing My Way and All or None, are just as boring as songs like Sleight of Hand and Nothing as it Seems from the last record. They lack the vocal fire from Ed, as well as the hopeful, searching tone that made Pearl Jam's music so vital and important in the first place.
For those wanting the older PJ sound from their early days, there are one or two tracks that should appeal to you. The first is Save You, which reminds this reviewer an awful lot of State of Love and Trust and Brain of J. It just drives forward with a huge musical intensity, and Vedder lets the music guide him, rather than vice versa. Another good rocker is Get Right, which is much more midtempo than Save You, but it still packs a musical punch. The problem with Get Right is in it's generic tone; the song feels like the band is just gliding along with no real effort. It's a shame because I do think the song had potential to be a classic PJ hook.
The first single, I Am Mine, has slowly but surely grown on me, and it's become my absolute favorite track on the album. The only bad thing I can say is that the closing solo (damn that is catchy as hell!) doesn't last nearly long enough. I really like the chorus, and that little "whoo!" that Vedder lets out before the bridge is perhaps the most excitable he gets to sound on this record.
If there's one thing that early material PJ fans haven't been able to deal with, it's how Vedder has lost his guttural roar, and how he's really learned how to sing. The only thing Vedder hasn't learned is how to sing with some volume behind his voice. One of my only complaints (sonically) about this album is that Vedder sounds so down, so depressed throughout most of it. Part of me wonders if he's bored, or just plain downtrodden by the leadership of the country over the two years that has passed since the band's last record.
Love Boat Captain is an odd title, but it's the only song that deals with Roskilde directly (one could say I Am Mine and Can't Keep deal with it indirectly), as shown by the lyric I used for my title. But while there are many indirect references to the themes that have become important since 9/11, there is one track that pulls no punches: Bushleaguer is in fact about our president. It's a spoken word piece on the verses, and then it becomes a great, catchy bit on the chorus. But for a band that has attacked issues intelligently, the third grade hissy fit lyrics on the verses are disturbing and boring, and help to ruin a fantastic, foreboding chorus.
Meanwhile, 1/2 Full features a great bluesy guitar wail of an intro, and it's really a blues song that's amped up a bit. I mean, if Aerosmith were to release this song, I'd probably crap myself because I think this would be a GREAT Aerosmith song, with Joe Perry on vocals and everything. It makes for only an ok at best PJ song though, despite McCreedy's fiery guitar work. Again, this is due to Vedder's lack of fire, something that is really heard on this track especially.
The midtempo rockers on this disc a mixed bag. Cropduster has a nice melody and is one of the few times on the record where a sign of hope comes through in the lyrics. Ghost isn't all that impressive. The music, written by bassist Jeff Ament, is as generic as anything the band has ever come up with, and the lyrics, penned in collaboration by Ament and Vedder, are at once surprisingly good and excruciatingly awful ("didn't know soap made you taller," WTF???). Green Disease is about as energetic as Ed gets on the record, and it helps raise this song up above most of the other material here.
There's something about the funky, Eminence Front, late era Queen sounding You Are that just makes me want to do nothing other than DANCE when I hear it. I love love LOVE that song, and if not for I Am Mine, it would be the best song on the album, bar none.
As for Boom, the keyboards he adds do a nice job of fleshing out Pearl Jam's sound, and for me, it is his work on I Am Mine that make that song so damn good.
Ultimately, as a long time Pearl Jam fan, the lack of hope and optimism that appears on this record is a tough pill to swallow. For a band who was always searching for answers while tackling dark subjects, the key to their music the was eternal hope and optimism they could still create. This album doesn't capture that at all, and in fact, feels just the opposite. With the appearance of Lost Dogs in 2004, this album, much like it's predecssor, is as much a victim as bad tracklisting as anything else. A dose of the hopefulness and optismism found in songs like Down and Undone would have been a very healthy thing.
On the whole, Riot Act is nothing more than "ok." It's slightly better than Binaural, but certainly does not measure up to the band's latter era masterpiece (Yield). Here's hoping they get back on track for album #8.
Riot Act Tracklisting:
Can't Keep
Save You
Love Boat Captain
Cropduster
Ghost
I Am Mine
Thumbing My Way
You Are
Get Right
Green Disease
Help Help
BushLeaguer
1/2 Full
Arc
All or None
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