Album Review: Pearl Jam “Gigaton”
In recent weeks there’s been countless cancellations, postponements and delays due to COVID-19. The one thing that isn’t being delayed is Pearl Jam’s long awaited new album Gigaton which drops today from Monkeywrench / Republic. Thank God we have something to be happy and excited about during this tough time!
Gigaton album cover
In reviewing this album, its impossible to review it without addressing two things I talk about quite a bit on here: (1) when a band has to live up to their own legendary discography. Pearl Jam have put out some legendary albums like Ten and Yield. To the point where I had difficulty deciding on my Top 5 Pearl Jam Albums of All Time (read my list I wrote in 2013 here). And (2) when you have to wait so long for an album that the expectations are sky high. This marks the first PJ studio album since 2013′s Lightning Bolt. While the band hasn’t been doing nothing since 2013 (read my live album / movie review of their 2017 release Let’s Play Two and my concert review of their 2018 show at Fenway Park), this is the longest gap between PJ albums ever. Is this album as good as some of their classics? Was it worth the long wait? In a word - Yes!
The band has always been politically charged and with something to say about the times we’re in. I don’t know if it’s the Trump era that has lit something under Eddie Vedder or if the band feels like they have something to prove during the streaming era, but this is easily PJ’s best album since 2006′s self-titled album! That album was the sound of a band mad as hell at the W. presidency and making their most rocking album in a while. Gigaton is the band, with the same lineup since 1998, sounding like a well-oiled machine and not afraid to lash out at Trump.
PJ’s Mike McCready, Matt Cameron, Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, and Jeff Ament
After Chris Cornell’s 2017 death, several articles pointed out that PJ were the last band standing of the early 90s Seattle alt-rock scene. The argument being that Nirvana ended after Kurt Cobain’s 1994 death, Alice In Chains are still together but not the same since Layne Staley’s 2002 death, and now Soundgarden were over after Cornell’s death, PJ were the last of that era. It’s hard to argue that PJ, who emerged out of the 90s Seattle scene, are still sounding great and haven’t jumped the shark. When I saw them in 2018, what I noticed was that the band was actually even better than the last time I saw them in 2000. It is only in March, but I think the bar has been raised for one of the best rock albums I’ll hear this year. Amen!
For info on Gigaton: https://shop.pearljam.com/collections/music
4.5 out of 5 stars
