Pearl Jam - Vs.
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by K-Billy)
Pearl Jam broke through into mainstream america with the quintessential nineties rock record Ten in 1991. Their flair for the arena rock while keeping with the grunge scene and adding in their beautifully depressing ballads allowed them to easily outsell all of their competitors. The tour de force of the group was their extremely gifted guitar player Mike Mcready and the John Lennon of the nineties in my opinion, Eddie Vedder, as gifted lyrically as he is vocally. After the monstrous success of the first record the band seemed to shy away from the spotlight and were reluctant to embrace their new found fame, preferring to be taken more seriously as artists, not that they weren’t already. So it’s not surprising that the band takes a decively darker tone in their sophmore masterpiece Vs. Which was originally released with no labeling of the bands name or the name of the record to keep with the bands wishes of staying out of the spotlight. Somehow they still managed to sell millions upon millions of records.
The opening track “Don’t Go” begins with a pounding drum beat that alludes to the heaviness of the record as a whole, with Vedder’s screams mixed in with his beautiful melodies. This mood continues on “Animal” a much simpler track lyrically then many of the rest but one of the very best of Pearl Jam’s hard rockers. From their we are treated to a multitude of classic Pearl Jam, including the more downbeat “Daughter” a large commercial success for the band which proves to be one of their best live tracks during concert due to long jam sessions on the song. However their heavier tone doesn’t necessarily mean that PJ have forgotten how to make big bold music. “Dissident” is entirely reminscent to the mood and feel of “Ten.” And of course Vs. allows us our first peak into the political animal that is Eddie Vedder. With the track “W.M.A.” (White Male American) the frontman openly criticizes the police department for racial prejudice and violence in a politically fueled song that brings a dramaticism to the record. Also included in this political fueled nature is “Glorified G” which is Vedder’s mockery of America’s obsession with the almighty gun. The result is one of the best Pearl Jam rocker’s ever. And there’s also a little bit of experimentation if you will on a track like “Blood” which sounds more like a thrash metal band then regular Jam material, with Vedder screaming his lungs out with expletives and accusing lyrics that lead one to believe that the song is most likely directed towards the media. It’s not all heavy however, “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town” while holding the title for longest song title I’ve ever heard is also probably one of Pearl Jam’s very best acoustic songs with some of the best lyrics you’ll ever hear…“Cannot find the candle of thought to light your name.”
Quite
simply this is Pearl Jam’s second masterpiece, Ten being the first,
it’s unbelievable to say it but they have proven themselves two times
over at being the best band in the world with two records that contain some
of the best rock music ever produced in their own respects. Ten may have been
their most commercially and critically successful album but you would be a
fool to overlook Vs. Undoubtably the hardest rocking record the band ever
produced it stands to cement their place in history as one of the truly great
rock and roll bands of all time. Pearl Jam is the best band of the nineties
and remains to be the best rock band out there in the world... K-Billy
Key Tracks:
Daughter
Glorified G
Elderly Woman
Animal
Blood
Leash
Rats