- Label
- Universal/Island
- Release date
- 21st September 2009
- Genre
- Rock
- Buy this album
- Order CD
They were never as cool as Nirvana… but they’re still standing
As the duel figureheads with Nirvana of Seattle’s early nineties grunge scene, Pearl Jam’s musical touchstone was a brooding angst expressed through more classicist heavy rock than their rivals’ punk-influenced thrash.
A full 15 years after Kurt Cobain and Nirvana’s implosion, the Eddie Vedder-led band are releasing their ninth studio album and have grown into the hard-working, spasmodically inspired arena-filling rockers they were always destined to be.
Unlike Nirvana, Pearl Jam were always as influenced by Led Zeppelin as Black Flag, and tracks like gravel-voiced opener Gonna See My Friend and frenetic first single Got Some are unashamed rockers powered by vim and brio.
There is one more crucial difference: far from the tortured figure who crafted their dark debut Ten, the effervescent Vedder now has the air of a man happy in his own skin and enjoying making music. Backspacer is the sound of survivors on top of their game.
More to try:
Foo Fighters: Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Thin Lizzy: Jailbreak
Theory Of A Deadman: Theory Of A Deadman
