THEY’RE the much-loved grunge titans who are still selling out arenas 33 years on from their iconic debut album, Ten.
Four years after the release of their last LP, Gigaton, Pearl Jam have released the title track from their forthcoming release Dark Matter.
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Frontman Eddie Vedder called it their “best work yet” at a recent listening party and fan reaction to the hard-rocking track would align with that statement.
After listening to the raucous rocker, one commented: “Now how are we supposed to sleep with this new hotness?!? Damn this sounds so good!!”
Another said: “Thank You Pearl Jam for keeping real music alive!”
A third enthused: “There is so much going on in this song, so many winks and nods to the past….Brilliant!”
Speaking at LA’s iconic Troubadour venue, Vedder, 59, said: “You all get together as a group as we’ve been doing for 30-plus years and you say, ‘Let’s try it again’. No hyperbole, I think this is our best work.”
Singling out drummer Matt Cameron, who joined the group in 1998 from Soundgarden, for praise in particular, he added: “It’s one of the greatest drum records we’ve ever made.”
Indeed, Cameron’s propulsive beats lead the comeback single and underpin a spiky riff and fretboard melting solo.
Vedder continued: “Matt Cameron is just playing out of his skull, especially seeing as how it’s our last record.”
The last part of the comment was likely tongue-in-cheek, at least fans in attendance hoped that to be so.
They quickly making their feelings known by responding with a chorus of boos.
The veteran rockers brought production whizz and superfan Andrew Watt into the fold for the album’s creation.
The group decamped to legendary producer Rick Rubin’s famous Shangri-La studio in Malibu, but its peaceful serenity doesn’t appear to have seeped into the record itself.
No hyperbole, I think this is our best work
Eddie Vedder
In demand Watt has worked with everyone from The Rolling Stones on their comeback record Hackney Diamonds, to Ozzy Osbourne’s on his critically acclaimed latest album and efforts by Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.
He was recognised as Producer of the Year at the Grammys in 2001.
Flying the flag for guitar music three decades on from classic record Ten, Pearl Jam now transcend scenes and generations.
The band’s fateful rise to the top began in 1990 when surfer dude Vedder was notified of a Seattle band on the lookout for a singer by his pal Jack Irons, who was the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the time.
The self-penned three-song demo tape he sent to the band’s members contained what became two of Pearl Jam’s most popular songs – Alive and Once.
Both featured on the album Ten, named after NBA star Mookie Blaylock’s jersey number, which ranks on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums list.
Following the release of subsequent records Vs, Vitalogy, No Code and Yield the band was dubbed the ‘most popular band of the 90s’.
Their noughties output has been equally as strong in the form of Riot Act, a self-titled record and efforts like Backspacer and Gigaton.
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