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Pearl Jam
Backspacer
Monkeywrench
With their 9th studio album, Pearl Jam have fully completed their transformation from over-looked geniuses to the band that everybody thinks they have been since Ten first stormed the charts in 1991. As a lifelong Pearl Jam fan, for some reason I had a pre-conceived notion of how this album would be. The hints were there from the last album and a live outing for some if the new material did not bode well. I can't tell you how disappointed it is to have my preconceptions at least partly confirmed.
Advance tracks Get Some and The Fixer certainly have hooks and catches, giving a certain radio-friendliness to them, much like any recent album from AC/DC or even The Rolling Stones - rather than the difficult-to-fit, anti-mainstream style that hung around grunge, making it so fresh and new in the early 90's.
Eddie Vedder injects the occasional attempt at enthusiasm with a whoop or a holler, while awkward drum fills patch the holes in the songwriting as the band try and add some urgency to the mundanity to most of the songs. Whether it was real or implied, much of Pearl Jam's attraction has long been built around the message, or implied narrative behind the lyrics. Here those messages are barely audible, instead opting for the gabba-gabba-hey enthusiam of bands like the Ramones - while Vedder's song writing and love-it-or-hate-it vocals are sadly underused.
There's an air of preparation here, as if song-writing duties have been distributed evenly amongst the rest of the band for some post-career nest building. I haven't seen the liner notes, but would suggest the faux Thin Lizzy of Johnny Guitar came from the pen of Mike McReady (update: wrong, it was Cameron & Gossard), while the Camero-driving pound of Get Some might be from bouncing bassist Jeff Ament (update: bingo).
There are a handful of highlights here, with Just Breathe providing a short break from the non-stop pace of the album's opening, although at best it sounds like an outtake from Vedder's excellent stripped-bare solo album. Unknown Thought and The End approach the band's full potential (both penned by Vedder), while Amongst The Waves manages to shake off its cheesy start to build into a decent epic.
This isn't a terrible album by any means - and judging by some surprisingly positive mainstream reviews I would suggest everything I like about the band is what turned the masses away. There are moments of promise amongst the riffs, but Backspacer's biggest curse is that it is just largely forgettable.
29th Sep 2009 - Add Comment - Tweet
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The Monkeywrench
Clean As A Broke Dick Dog
Sub Pop
THEN: With Mudhoney in full swing, the ever-active Mark Arm and Steve Turner collaborated with Tim Keer of Poison 13 and an even more Nuggety side-project was born.
NOW: With Mark Arm having found his true voice with Mudhoney, this is a long way from Green River. Harmonica, touches of brush drums and stretched-out bluesy jams with extended instrumental sections makes for a great listen. It's a mild attempt to do something new, but not really. Like a Muhoney album without the belting killer tracks, but a bit more subtlty.
This is the side project that won't quit - with new album Gabriel's Horn out this year.
SUB POP SAYS: For fans of: Mudhoney, The Big Boys, Lubricated Goat, The Sonics, The Dicks, MC5
KILLER TRACK: Doubled Over Again
NEXT: 1993 - Earth - Earth 2
12th Aug 2008 - 1 comments - Add Comment - Tweet
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Mudhoney
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge
Sub Pop
THEN: I was definitely well aware of being late to the party on this one, and with Nirvana having blown up and Sonic Youth defecting to Geffen this somehow seemed like Mudhoney's "sell-out" album. Luckily being a sell-out in this instance meant being able to pick the album up in the outer-regions of suburban England. It was a great record though, with multiple highlights and Pokin' Around notching a place in my all-time favourites.
NOW: In context it's about as much of a sell-out as Led Zeppelin II - and takes equal standing. Many might disagree, but for me this is still Mudhoney's kick-ass high-point by a mile. More focussed that Superfuzz, but still fresher than their later efforts EGBDF seemed to pull it all together: better songs, better production and more accomplished playing. Good Enough, Let It Slide, Fuzzgun '91 and of course the still mighty, harmonica-infused frenzy of Pokin' Around.
KILLER TRACK: Pokin' Around
NEXT: 1991 - The Monkeywrench - Clean As A Broke Dick Dog
11th Aug 2008 - Add Comment - Tweet
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