Pearl Jam
Gigaton

I am a lover of Pearl Jam. They have marked the most important moments of my life, and they've been constantly disappointing me in the studio for 18 years. Since that morning in 2002 when that masterpiece, too often underestimated and misunderstood, Riot Act was released, I haven't been truly moved anymore. The works that followed have been a series of announced disasters starting from Avocado (the failed attempt to replicate an All that you can't Leave behind) to the lowest point, LB (really poor from any point of view) passing by that Backspacer which brought a lot of cash to Our guys but remains an album really thrown there in one night to go on tour. With these premises and after 7 years of silence, during which surely the awareness of the situation has been strong, yesterday Gigaton was released. Leaving aside the environmental theme, which to be honest has always been present in past compositions and heritage of good old Neil, the real novelty is producer Josh Evans. The real merit of his operation beyond the Dolby Atmos sound technique is understanding who Pearl Jam are in 2020. The 5 members have lives, families, and parallel projects that no longer allow them to stay in the studio together for months as seen in Single Video Theory of 1998. Where Brendan O'Brien only accentuated the lack of empathy and shared work, Evans relaunches by working on the tracks, allowing maximum freedom to the composers working alone with each of them and painstakingly creating a product where the different musical souls are clearly visible but finally a moral cohesion that seemed lost forever is achieved. Gigaton is a compact album, clear in its intentions and with a refined sound. Not everything is on point, indeed, but what's surprising is the courage. The courage that can be had in 2020 even by making rock! The album is ideally divided into 4 well-recognizable parts, the first 4 tracks are, in the humble opinion of the writer, the best start since Yield. Who Ever Said (excellent in the second part) and Superblood (beautiful bridge) although in a different musical guise, are able to shake the listener. Dance of The Clairvoyants is the real masterpiece that has been much talked about, and Quick Escape (I've heard about Nirvana's School without any sense) a dense, fierce piece with a very high-level rhythmic base. Then enters the first part of apparent calm in the disc formed by Alright and Seven O' Clock. In the first, Ament manages to immerse us again in the atmospheres of Binaural while the second is another compositional novelty. The influences of the more melodic Pink Floyd are very noticeable, but it's not a damage in this case, on the contrary, the piece through a very long and heartfelt text hits the target. The third part is certainly the most uncertain but also surprising of Gigaton. Never Destination is really a disaster if it weren't for the last 30 seconds. The more predictable and with nothing to say Pearl Jam return, but fortunately, Cameron with Take the Long Way gives us his best composition since he joined the group with a very Soundgarden sound and here totally on target with a wonderful finale. Special mention for Gossard in Buckle Up: difficult to digest at first impact, the track is a modern version of Around the Bend but with swing intrusions with a melodic line that even Sinatra could sing. Thus, we naturally reach the last 3 pieces. Comes Then Goes is Vedder's melancholic confession. Musically, it's evident the homage to Dylan's It's All Over Now, but he does it with great taste and an acoustic Who-inspired guitar that maintains a surprising balance never descending into the mushy solutions like Just Breathe. Retrograde is by a McCready who perhaps understood the mistake made with Sirens and creates an intense ballad with an ending where Vedder's trademarks in Into The Wild are evident. Finally, River Cross represents the Peter Gabriel-style end just for Gigaton, a sort of 2020 Biko but where there was protest in Gabriel, here there's melancholy and emotion. In conclusion, Vedder is not always pleasant with his voice sometimes too stubborn in emphasizing but nevertheless gives us a performance that seems to want to scream urgency and passion, while the band really plays well communicating (especially the guitars) with great harmony. Pearl Jam certainly don't have to provide the guidelines for modern music, indeed, as it should be, they have stepped aside, but Gigaton is an inspired, moving, and above all, SIMPLE album in its most beautiful sense.