release date: Feb. 3, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Brendan O'Brien, Pearl Jam
label: Epic Records - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Brain of J." - 2. "Faithfull" - 4. "Given to Fly" (live) - 5. "Wishlist" - 6. "Pilate" - 9. "MFC" [Mother Fuckin' Car?] - 11. "In Hiding" (live)
5th studio album by Pearl Jam and the fourth consecutive album to be produced with Brendan O'Brien is the return to a more energetic and aggressive style like a combo of Vs. (1993) and Vitalogy (1994).
I hardly noticed the album at the time of its release and have only recently come across it as one of the band's more successful albums.
In a Pearl Jam context the album is quite unique for being a coherent album. I've always found that the band struggled extremely hard in finding the right expression and a unifying sound for their individual albums by putting too much effort in embracing the soft and mellow compositions with clear folk rock references alongside a trademark of being true grunge rockers with fierce attitude and howling guitars, but without succeeding much in either. For once, I find that the compositions go hand in hand on the entire album, despite having both extremes of the energy spectre. The album peaked at number #2 in the US and topped the charts in Australia, New Zealand and in Norway.
Without being really great, I easily find it bettering the band's highly praised debut, and to me, this is simply Pearl Jam's best effort.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, NME 3,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]
