PEARL JAM - Riot Act

It's not entirely clear why Pearl Jam keep insisting on being Pearl Jam. For eleven years now, the Seattle band has been releasing albums that bring nothing particularly new to the table, yet stick to a well-defined style so rigidly that it's become almost a trademark. The problem is that while on their early records genuine feeling and freshness allowed them to churn out great songs - songs that, among other things, fit perfectly into the historical context of grunge - by 2002, with the passion gone and an era well and truly over, Pearl Jam's songs sound stale, repetitive, recycled.

"Riot Act", the new arrival, has got people talking, but decidedly more for the band's political opinions (Vedder is by now carving out a guru role for himself, threatening to steal Bono's spot) than for the music on offer across its fifteen tracks. There isn't a single track that stands out, just a handful of songs that make you pine for the band's better years. And yet "No Code" and "Yield", even if already well into the band's decline, still seemed to contain some glimmer of innovation that might have updated and reshaped the group's sound. Unfortunately, the previous "Binaural" and this latest album are a huge step backwards: scared off by anything new, Pearl Jam keep retreading their original brand of rock, painstakingly and forcibly piecing the record together.

As expected, there's an energetic opener ("Can't Keep", one of the best tracks here), a big ballad complete with a tribute to the Roskilde victims ("Love Boat Captain"), a catchy single ("I Am Mine") and a tirade against the President of the United States ("Bu$hleaguer"). There's little to say about the remaining songs, which feel like mere filler, with the exception of "You Are", perhaps the most distinctive, recalling at times certain Depeche Mode sonorities. Some may appreciate Vedder's usual lyrics, as ever packed with references to wars, the American dream and terrorism.

How is it that Pearl Jam don't notice the slow euthanasia to which they're condemning themselves, watering down their discography with these disposable records? Could it be a form of courage, in times so rich with electronics and experimentation, to keep picking up guitars and playing something that can only be called "rock"? What's certain is that Pearl Jam have lost their inspiration, and yet they carry on, always with the honesty and sincerity that set them apart, offering up their music in search of an intellectual maturity that can't be reached by slavishly (and poorly) rehashing their own origins, but would instead require a bold act of courage, perhaps without hiding behind the easy shield of contrarian lyrics and "epic" guitar riffs.

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04/11/2006