Pearl Jam is back, I'm not saying they ever left, but remember when Aerosmith quit drugs and came back with a hugely successful album, that's kind of like this. Pearl Jam has never stopped creating music or touring almost non-stop in the past 15 year. This new album, I think, is the best thing they have ever done. I know there are a lot of Pearl Jam fans that will disagree with me, but regardless, this music is right for this moment in time.
From the first track 'Life Wasted' you can tell this band has a lot to say. They speak of a life wasted and never going back again, this idea flows into the second song on the CD called "World Wide Suicide". This politically driven commentary on how the current War has taken this whole word over, is the hardest driven point on the whole CD. A clear shout against the current administration, this song is exactly what millions of Americans are thinking but afraid to say. Pearl Jam has become a combination of similar political rock acts like Rage against the Machine and U2. You can tell they put a lot of themselves and their ideals into this album.
Other songs of note are 'Comatose' and 'Severed Hand'. All of these songs would be great in concert. Yesterday, 05.04.2006, Pearl Jam played Letterman, after the show taping they played a live concert for the audience and web cast it directly off of the CBS website. They played the two songs just mentioned and also 'Marker in the Sand' and 'Gone' off of the new album. I was lucky enough to see the whole live streamed show.
Out of all of the songs on the new CD, I like 'Big Wave' and 'WWSuicide' the best. Now that I say that, it will change by the end of the day. If you ever liked Pearl Jam, you will love this new CD.
