Pearl Jam

After years of silence (if you don't count the five jillion live albums) the anticipation generated by a new Pearl Jam record says a lot about the band's stature. Despite their long absence, they still remain one of the most widely-respected bands. And with good reason. On their new disc, Pearl Jam definitely bristles with an energy that has been missing for years. The anger and pure volume doesn't let up for the first four songs, and when Eddie finally does sit down to sing ("Parachutes"), it's a revelation and quite a departure from their usual ballad style.

Wartime, for everything else that's wrong with it, brings out the best in Pearl Jam: the
power-chord brawn, contrary righteousness and metallic-KO songwriting sense. The
band's second and third albums, 1993's bluntly titled Vs. and 1994's Vitalogy, are as good as
modern rock-in-opposition gets: shotgun guitars, incendiary bass and drums, and Eddie
Vedder's scalded-dog howl, all discharged in backs-to-the-wall fury and union.T... More >