Pearl Jam - Binaural

Pearl Jam lowered its profile after becoming a worldwide musical phenomenon in the early '90s, pulling back from the touring, radio, and press fronts. And this diverse 13-song outing, lacking another "Alive" or "Better Man," isn't the album to thrust Pearl Jam back into the limelight. Binaural kicks out the jams with a grandiosity worthy of the Who, as Pearl Jam roars through the loose, raucous two-minute-plus opener "Breakerfall" and into another brief rave-up, "God's Dice." Quickly, though, the loud MC5-style guitar outpourings that begin PJ's seventh album (and first to feature former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron) morph into the edgy, taut "Evacuation" and the midtempo "Light Years." The spare, mournful "Nothing as It Seems" (with lyrics and music by bassist Jeff Ament), "Thin Air," and the lilting "Parting Ways" all reflect romantic introspection. Eddie Vedder's poignant ukulele-accompanied "Soon Forget" is an affecting aside, and the rollicking "Insignificance" and Middle Eastern-tinged "Of the Girl" are all noteworthy. That's a strong lineup, but Binaural nevertheless falls short of the heights this talented group scaled in the past. --Katherine Turman Amazon.com

An average album from an above average band

A little personal back history, I bought this album trying to establish some semblance of cred in 2000. It was a tough time, eighth grade. My body was changing: I went from athletic to chubby back to athletic and had my wisdom teeth pulled. I grew out of Weird Al and the swing revival and moved on to what I thought was harder stuff like Sugar Ray and Incubus. I even raided my brother's CD collection. In it, I found Pearl Jam's Ten. It was pretty well beaten and wouldn't play, so I went to an Ames (remember those? They're all gone now!) and bought myself one at a "Nice Price!" (remember those stickers? They're all gone now!) for $8.00 or so.

Pearl Jam was always my favorite band to come out of the Pacific Northwest movement in the early 90s. Then again, I could only name Pearl Jam and Nirvana at that point that came out of that region. Oops. Anyways, a short time after I purchased Ten, I found out at Boarders (remember when it was cool to hang out there?) that they had a new CD so I picked it up. I was oddly confused then by what I heard. It was hard. There was screaming. No "Jeremy", "Alive", or "Evenflow", instead confusing key-changes and some non-radio friendly tracks. In short, at the time, I hated it and would have given probably only one or two tracks above 3 stars. How does it fare eight years later?

1. Breakerfall - Initially, the only track on the CD that I ripped to my computer in the days before Musicmatch or iTunes made it so convenient. "She lost her invitation to the party on earth. And she's standing outside, hating everyone here," is a pretty cool metaphor that I use in every day speech. As you can probably tell from my other reviews, I love opening numbers, they're great at dictating the pace of album and can make it sink or swim. This one drives with a synging guitar riff and driving drums. There's a sense of immediacy and urgency in Eddie Vedder's voice. I'm a fan. Five out of five stars.

2. God's Dice - Cool musicianship in this one, but I have no idea what Vedder is saying in this one, which is automatic minus one star. This just isn't something I would listen to by choice, but it isn't unbearably bad to make me turn it off if it came on shuffle. Three out of five stars.

3. Evacuation - A really cool bridge almost raises this above "God's Dice" in terms of likability, but again, this song is just too hectic with muffled vocals. A little too hard for me. Three out of five stars.

4. Light Years - One of songs tucked away on this album that took a few listens to find. A nice soft number with a pinch of darkness in its chord progressions. I have a feeling this is what Jimmy Eat World was trying to do on their first album. Unfortunately, they failed miserably, and I wasted $12, but this song, "Light Years" is "Light Years" ahead of what they were doing at the time. Five out of five stars.

5. Nothing as It Seems - I would later buy this as a single just for kicks at Tower Record's going out of business sale for a mere $.04. It wasn't worth that much. Just a bad song. Lots of noise, lots of Pink Floyd influence, lots of garbage. I can't believe they would release this as a single, especially with the really good songs on this CD being exceptional. Only the bridges keep me from giving this song a one. Two out of five stars.

6. Thin Air - This is a cool track. Has a Neil Young vibe for the verses with a more modern chorus, with a hint of hauntingness. Will definitely listen to again. Four out of five stars.

7. Insignificance - This track was the B-Side for "Nothing as It Seems" and is significantly better. Definitely fits more the Pearl Jam style. Very cool chorus. Definitely glad I gave this song a second chance. Four out of five stars.

8. Of The Girl - One of the songs I used to skip over completely when listening to this album just because of the minute long intro. These days, the intro is still kind of boring and also serves as the outro, but the meat and potatoes the song is pretty good. Four out of five stars.

9. Grievance - One of the more embarrassing moments of eighth grade was telling my 10th grade friend Matt how cool I thought this album was and then when he started rattling off names of songs, I would agree. He named a name that actually wasn't on the album and I stated it was a really cool song, but he called me out on it. He also called me out on this song when he played it in his car when I couldn't identify it. It has since become a bittersweet song for me to listen to, but a good one nonetheless. After quite a few listens, I can safely say it's my favorite song on the album. Five out of five stars.

10. Rival - This song is a song I mistakenly identified as a Black Crowes song once in 2000. Ooops. It is pretty cool, moves a long at a relaxing pace, has my favorite guitar solo on the album, and is much cooler than anything the Black Crowes did in the year 2000. Four out of five stars.

11. Sleight of Hand - This song really bores me. To the point where I turn it off. And I don't like all of the noise in the middle. My least favorite track on the album. One out of five stars.

12. Soon Forget - A mandolin brings us in. Very cool chords used in this very quick, well told story. Five out of five stars.

13. Parting Ways - Sleight of Hand is exceptionally boring, and this comes in a close second on the album. However, this one can atleast maintain my interest and is pleasing to listen to. Not really a "surprise track" but if you keep the song long enough you hear something that resembles gun shots. I'll give it two out of five stars.

Review:


1. Breakerfall - Five Stars
2. God's Dice - Three Stars
3. Evacuation - Three Stars
4. Light Years - Five Stars
5. Nothing As It Seems - Two Stars
6. Thin Air - Four Stars
7. Insignificance - Four Stars
8. Of the Girl - Four Stars
9. Grievance - Five Stars
10. Rival - Four Stars
11. Sleight of Hand - One Stars
12. Soon Forget - Five Stars
13. Parting Ways - Two Stars


Average star rating = 3.62, slightly above average. A word of warning though, this album is strangely forgettable. Many of the songs, including "Light Years" and "Grievance" are very pleasing to the ear, but are completely forgettable, where as "Breakerfall" is a true standout. And I didn't just say that to cover my rear from that incident years ago. Or did I? May 27, 2008

Possibly their worst

I really dismissed this one the first time I heard this, but like No Code it's slightly grown on me: as usual the classic rockers ("Breakerfall"; "God's Dice"; "Evacuation"; "Grievance") are best, though none of them match "Alive". As usual, the ballady stuff is boring and dull ("Light Years", "Nothing is As it Seems"; "Thin Air"; the aptly titled "Insignificance"). Okay, one of the ballady things is good: "Of the Girl", which has plenty of restrained emotion and lots of cool psychedelic noises. It's, like, awesome and stuff. But here's my question: Why didn't this album end after "Grievance"? The last three songs are dumb, dumb and dumb. The biggest insult is "Sleight of Hand", which I think is supposed to sound like a Talking Heads song or something with the weird new wave rhythms and the weird new wave synthesizers. Well, it's just bad. And Eddie's singing it like he's half asleep and/or stoned (possibly at the same time!) And here's hoping I soon forget the poor acoustic folk thingy "Soon Forget", because see, that's not what Pearl Jam should be doing! At all! These guys should be rocking out! Oh, and they should make better stuff than "Rival" while they rock out, because that is a bad song! I mean, not as bad as "Sleight of Hand", which might be the worst thing the group ever did, but still bad. Now I said in the start of my review that this has slightly grown on me, as in "it's jumped from one to two stars". So still a sub-par record, still plenty to complain about: too much experimentation, too many stupid rockers, not enough quality (except for "Of the Girl". That song rules, and you know it, so admit it). I think this might be Pearl Jam's weakest album. Yeah, that sounds right. November 22, 2007

Pearl Jam's overlooked beauty

Between the catchy, sometimes experimental rockers of the album "Yield" and the dark, heavy tunes found on the album "Riot Act", Pearl Jam had Binaural. This album sometimes seems overlooked as a popular album by the Seattle juggernaut of grunge, but lets face facts, grunge was all but over with by the time the millennium was upon faithful listeners, and yet Pearl Jam was still rocking on. Binaural has several singles that would be deemed "classics" or at least songs that belong within their greatest hits category. The catchy, scratchy rhythm of Breakerfall is a good way to start the album, and the mystical, lucent song "Parting Ways" is a great way to end it, with vocalist Eddie Vedder softly lulling along with dreamy vocals.

In the middle of it all, there are a number of memorable tracks, like "Light Years" which has a crashing intro to the chorus with bombastic cymbals that still allow Vedder's lyrics about a friend who has passed on. The mood is not self suffering or self serving, but universal in its message, with a tinge of sadness that does not drown out the message as it is delivered in present tense as a refection of and about life after the loss.

The track "Nothing as it seems" was written by guitarist Jeff Ament, and is soft and smoldering with brooding guitars and dark lyrics about seeing past a perfect childhood into darker, bitter moments that don't stand out much until later in life. Then there is "Of the Girl" which has one of the best intros the band has ever done. Slowly, this song builds up with acoustical power until settling on a plane in which Vedder starts in with signature singing. A song subtle in sound but very deep in message, truly one to remember. Just when one thinks they have had a perfect dose of PJ's assorted recipe of sounds and singing, the listener gets one out of left field that has yet another opening guitar piece that astounds, and with "Sleight of hand" we have a beautiful heart tugging sound that soon explodes into a chorus that although is familiar PJ territory, still seems more emotional and in depth than much that they have done. That is not a bad thing, with all the songs on here mixing blends of hard rock fun and slow moving fury, emotion and storied songs, Binaural becomes a hidden classic that after nearly ten years, still holds staying power.
October 26, 2007

Very enjoyable listening

I've been a Pearl Jam fan ever since I saw them open for the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Smashing Pumpkins back in the early 90's. I'd never heard of them before that night, but the next day I was at a record store looking to pick up all of their albums. There were none to be found and the workers had never heard of them.

After a while, TEN hit the shelves and I picked up a copy. It was worth the wait and it is still in my music rotation. Then came Vs and Vitology and they too were worth the wait and they too remain in my regular listening rotation. When No Code came out I snatched that up and gave it a few listens, but it found it's way onto the shelf pretty quickly. It just didn't do it for me and I assumed Pearl Jam had lost their magic. I lost interest in them and honestly had no idea they were still making albums.
Thanks to Internet radio, I have rediscovered Pearl Jam and their more recent recordings. Binaural was the cheapest newer PJ album I could find so I decided to give it a try. It was most definitely worth the wait.

I've had it for a few days and while I like some songs more than others, there isn't a single song on here that makes me reach for the skip button. This is the Pearl Jam I missed and I'm excited to see what else I've missed out on. July 12, 2007

2nd Favorite Pearl Jam Album

I believe Binaural to be the most underrated Pearl Jam album to be released yet. I think that where the album before it, Yield, was more heavy and rocking people wanted this to be just like it. It truly is nothing like it. This is actually a pretty dark album. Not in terms of religion..etc, but in terms of emotion and how the album almost sounds as if it were sad. If the lyrics arent dark in one song, the music usually is. I love that about this album. Binaural also has my favorite Pearl Jam song, Sleight Of Hand. Its a beautiful song and its always great to hear live as well. The meaning behind the song is really deep. I just cant understand how people say this album is bad. Its a very artistic album. There are many heavier songs, but for the most part the album is slower and more relaxed. To me thats not a bad thing. I love the sound of the album. The production is very cool, Ive not heard anything like it before. The whole wall of sound is very layered with different textures and elements. Its almost relaxing to listen to it. The result of the album is a band maturing in their performance and creating a fine piece of art. June 16, 2007

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