Of the few surviving rock legends of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam still has a surprisingly loyal following among its fans. However, gone are the days when they were famous for the signature grunge sound eternalized in early recordings such as "Ten" and "Vs." Songs like "Alive," "Jeremy," "Daughter" and "Leash" from the aforementioned releases held lyrics that acknowledged pain and described life's harsh realities in a provocative, even hostile manner, yet still provided hope and means of escape to their millions of fans.
Subsequent album releases saw a strong and almost deliberate change from their musical roots, with each new album moving away from the familiar angst and intense energy of earlier recordings to a more mellow, even experimental sound. "Binaural," Pearl Jam's sixth studio release, is proof that the band's sound has evolved tremendously, for better or worse.
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"Binaural" opens up with a traditional fast-paced opener song, "Breakerfall," and maintains this pace with "God's Dice," but the songs are only vaguely reminiscent of the thick, complex rock ensemble the band is famous for. The tracks sound as if stripped off a layer of music that ought to be placed in the recording. Fortunately, the band's focus and tight musical skills still manage to grab the attention of listeners on the first two songs.
Many of the songs in "Binaural" also seem to take on an experimental approach similar to the band's 1996 release "No Code." The third track on the album, "Evacuation," contains rather unconventional chord progressions for a band like Pearl Jam. Other songs in the album, "Of the Girl" and "Soon Forget" also take this route. Although die-hard Pearl Jammers may actually enjoy listening to the band's (occasionally erratic) evolution of style and sound, this recipe may eventually cause a lot of fans of their older material to lose interest in their future releases. At least the lyrics in these songs still carrry profound meaning, as expected in many a Pearl Jam song.
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Not all of the band's songs in "Binaural" completely lose touch of their familiar melodic sound, even though the intensity is no longer obvious. "Light Years," a song suggestive of lost and distant love, starts off with a slow but steady drum beat, played by former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who joined Pearl Jam after Jack Irons quit the band for health reasons during the 1998 Tour. The solitary drums are then joined by the clean and sweet sounding guitars of Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, to be joined shortly thereafter by the slick and steady basslines of Jeff Ament and the ever-so-familiar crooning voice of Eddie Vedder. The resulting song evokes memories of "Wishlist," a slow-paced song from the very successful "Yield" release in 1998.
Also evident in "Binaural" is the individual freedom on songwriting and lyrics. Early Pearl Jam recordings listed most, if not all songs and lyrics either written or co-written by frontman Eddie Vedder. This latest release features the uncollaborated songwriting skills of Ament, Gossard and Vedder in five out of the 13 tracks. The current song on heavy radio airplay, "Nothing As It Seems," written by Ament, reveals his elusive skills in this area.
"Binaural" may not be the best release by Pearl Jam in their decade-long existence, and may come as a disappointment when compared to the success of "Yield" only two years ago. However, those who have enjoyed listening to the band's evolution of musical style throughout the years will find this release worth the wait.
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