Binaural - Pearl Jam (CD 2000)

I really figured we'd seen the end of Pearl Jam at the end of the 1990s. After all, the band's Seattle peers (all members of the alleged "grunge" movement, of course) were gone, and Pearl Jam seemed to stall a bit with 1998's Yield. Fortunately, 2000's Binaural is a fantastic album which set the band up to stick around and produce great music well into the future. I don't know if it's the addition of a new drummer (Matt Cameron, a former member of Soundgarden), the fact that Pearl Jam's particular blend of classic rock and pre-Smashing Pumpkins "alternative" resulted in truly unique music or..

"I'm sorry, we've stopped rocking." - Pearl Jam by way of Guildenstern, May 25, 2000. The title of Simon's review of Binaural might be the best, simplest, one-line summation of the album I've read. The band who buttered their bread with earth-shaking socially- and self-conscious rock-- 1993's Vs. and 1995's Vitalogy two of the most blisteringly effective cases for the art as the mainstream (or the direct left of mainstream, anyway) has ever allowed us to hear-- effectively ceased to rock with 2000's Binaural. And with the airy, schizophrenic album, Pearl Jam's discography-- which, mind you,...

With every new album, Pearl Jam continues to disappoint the people who long for a return to their early '90s sound. To that, I say, "good" because as Pearl Jam does that, they also manage to make their dedicated fans love them even more. Their 2000 release Binaural does just that. There is so much good stuff on this album, but many casual fans are not willing to listen because they still, after all this time, expect grunge rock. This is evidenced by the short amount of time Nothing As It Seems spent on the radio before fading out. Sorry, but Pearl Jam has evolved in a better way than you...

When Pearl Jam returned in 2000, they already were veterans. In fact, by the end of the 90s every band playing that kind of music automatically was perceived as veterans. Veterans - do you receive the sarcasm contained in this word? It actually means old . And no matter how many hardcore fans there still are, one always can feel when the things are getting old. Pearl Jam felt they were becoming veterans. It wasn t their fault, just the music scene had made another step, and it s still hard to say in which direction, I would in any case hesitate on calling that a step forward . That was the...