Pearl Jam - Riot Act

It's strange to think Pearl Jam was once herded under the grunge umbrella alongside pathos-spewing acts like Nirvana and Alice in Chains. The Seattle group's eighth album (give or take the 72 bootleg-style double CDs they released in 2001) has more in common with classic rock institutions like Crazy Horse and the Band than the snarling forces that were trying to tear away at their legacies. Appropriately, Riot Act is built on thematic pillars--love, death, politics--and fueled by dense, uncompromising power chords. It takes yet another step away from the courteous tones of the band's cornerstone LPs, Ten and Vs, and proudly flaunts egotism ("I know I was born and I know that I'll die/ The in-between is mine," Eddie Vedder sings on "I Am Mine") and a dark underbelly ("Green Disease"). But it's far from insufferable: If any band can make self-obsession sound hospitable, it's Pearl Jam. And when Vedder sneaks in the line "All you need is love" on the rollicking "Love Boat Captain," he proves that despite his furrowed-brow demeanor, he's a born entertainer. --Aidin Vaziri Amazon.com

One of the most underrated albums of the 2000's!

Helped to begin to heal what was then an open wound from 9/11 ("I Am Mine" in particular). Though not always uplifting, it really reflected what was going on at the time. And it still holds up (as do all of Pearl Jams albums). "Can't Keep" gets better with every listen.

Awesome album from start to finish. April 21, 2008

Pearl Jam has Stayed True

Somewhere over the years Pearl Jam fans seem to have lost interest in the band. They haven't yet to make a horrible album, but with the saturation of copycat bands like Creed, Nickleback and Live, they seem to have been lost in the crowd.

"Can't Keep" is a groovin' rocker with a big sound and Middle Eastern overtones. Then the album has "Save You", which is simply Pearl Jam's most rocking, energetic and exciting song in a while, along with the other Big Rock tunes on the album like "Got Right" and "Ghost". "1/2 Full" has an amazing, smoking guitar solo that you can't help but to rock out to.

Vedder has some songs that take a stab at President Bush in the lyrics like in "Help Help" with "the more you read, we've been deceived, every day it becomes clearer". Vedder has always been known for his out-right political lyrics and this album contains it's fair share of them. The band has stayed true to each other and their beliefs over the years. April 16, 2008

The dry spell comes to an abrupt end

Right, so in the mid-to-late 90's Pearl Jam sucked out loud (then again, so did everyone but that little band British band you may have heard of, Radiohead or whatever their name is, they've made a couple nice albums. That band whose name involves squishing orange gourds used for Halloween is pretty good, too). So what? Riot Act is their comeback album, you know? After years of being bad, this is them finally finding themselves again and rocking out. No stupid experimentation, very few stupid ballads, just a lotta rock. The kind of stuff they should've been doing in the mid-'90s in the first place if they weren't so focused on weird stuff like "Hummus". But hey, "Cropduster", "Ghost", "Get Right" and "Save You" are simply classic Pearl Jam rockers that make the mid-'90s stew worth suffering through. Plus there's an anti-Bush song!! That's right, "Bushleaguer" is a hilarious rockin' protest against our fearless leader. Of course, I'd praise any anti-Bush song, especially if it's as good as this one, and especially if it has a line as funny as "The haves have not a clue"! I don't think it's as good as the single "I Am Mine", though, which has what just may be the best guitar playing in Pearl Jam history. I do have a few gripes to make. Yes, this is little more than a very good copy of Ten: being a classic rock revivalist band at heart, Pearl Jam never was too original. And there are a couple of low points, sadly: "Help, Help" has an awful harmony vocal that ruins the song for me; there are also a couple folk-rockers: while one ("Can't Keep") is quite good, the others ("Thumbing My Way"; "All Or None") are quite bad. And "1/2 Full" sounds like a crappy Hendrix song (There are a few of those, you know! A mere five or six, but they still exist). I give it an 8 though, because the good stuff is really good! In fact, I think this is my second favorite Pearl Jam album, behind only Dix. November 22, 2007

no good

this cd failed to live up to earlier Pearl Jam standards. I Am Mine was the only thing listenable. September 17, 2007

One Of My Favorite Pearl Jam Albums

This makes my top 3 favorite Pearl Jam releases yet. Its definitely one of their most artistic albums. Along with No Code and Binaural its the bands most experimental album. Its not heavy like Ten, Vs, or Yield. Its very alternative and you have to listen to it having an open mind. If you buy this album just wanting a good hard rock album, youre more than likely going to be disappointed. Riot Act was one of my first PJ albums to buy and I have absolutely loved it since the first time it went into my cd player. It has a wide variety of songs that all pretty much sound different. No song on this album really sounds like another. Its just really a great album to put on and listen to all the way through. Its one of the few albums I do that with. Thats how good it is. Ive never got bored with this masterpiece. It seems everytime I listen to it I always hear something new. Thats due to the albums production. Its Pearl jam best album in terms of production. None of their other albums ever souned this warm and vibrant. Its full of really nice sounds that you usually dont hear on other records. Like I noted, its very experimental in just about everything it contains. This is drummer Matt Camerons best work as well. Some of his stuff on here can be very weird to play and it takes some listening to to really hear what all hes playing. I love it. A really great album, not only for Pearl Jam standards, but a great album period. June 16, 2007

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