Pearl Jam - Binaural
Epic Records
Hard Rock
13 songs (51'58")
Release year: 2000
Pearl Jam, Epic Records
Reviewed by Adam
Archive review
Popularity has never mattered to Pearl Jam. How else would you explain their decision to abandon any and all typical methods for promotion after exploding onto the scene with one of the most successful albums of the 90’s? They had become almost an afterthought after the release of their widely panned fifth album Yield, at least as far as the mainstream media that once adored them was concerned. They still maintained a large fan base, despite evolving their sound considerably in their nine year history. Their sixth album, Binaural, released in 2000, would serve to both appease their fans and mark a comeback of sorts with the rock and roll media.

One thing every Pearl Jam fan was aware of, at least in 2000, was that the drummer position was literally a revolving door. For Binaural, the seat would be manned by Matt Cameron, who previously occupied the same position for Soundgarden. He was the band’s fourth drummer in six albums (preceded by Dave Krusen, Dave Abbruzzese, and Jack Irons respectively). The fact that he remains the band’s drummer to this day speaks to his ability and fit with the rest of the guys. Anyway, enough of my reminiscing. The strength of Binaural is its strong and varied opening half, led off by Breakerfall, which sounds more than a little like an homage to Eddie Vedder’s heroes, The Who, particularly in the beginning. The song is surprisingly upbeat for a band that had turned to a darker rock sound more often than not. God’s Dice is a full speed (at least by Pearl Jam standards) rocker that makes good use of vocal harmonies during the chorus. This tactic is explored even further on Evacuation, over a choppy guitar melody that works very well. If these three songs represent the hard rocking side of Pearl Jam, the next three show off the band’s softer side. The first, Light Years sounds like a lost track from the Vitalogy recording sessions, allowing Vedder to ease into his soft crooning style that he previously perfected on songs like Nothingman. The next track, Nothing As It Seems, is the darkest track on the album, dominated by a simple acoustic riff by Stone Gossard that serves as the foundation for an inspired bluesy lead guitar performance by Mike McCready. As far as somber tracks go, you’re not likely to find a better one in the Pearl Jam catalog. Judging by the success of the Last Kiss single prior to Binaural, it made perfect sense for a song like Thin Air to be one of the album’s cornerstones. The stripped down acoustic sound and love song-esque lyrics are a nice folk styled change of pace after the previous track.

The second half of Binaural is nowhere near the quality of the first half, though it does have a few shining moments. The first that comes to mind is Sleight of Hand, which continues to be a concert favorite. The verse consists of an ethereal guitar riff that it is very unassuming and takes a backseat to Jeff Ament‘s bass and Cameron‘s drums, before a full and lush chorus riff washes in. There are also a couple of inconsistent tracks, such as Grievance, which just seems to go nowhere and is certainly not memorable in the slightest. Then there’s the odd pseudo song Soon Forget that would have been better off left on the cutting room floor. Still, on the strength of a stellar first half and pretty good second half, Binaural was easily one of the stronger Pearl Jam albums in existence at the time of its release, and still stands there today as far as I’m concerned.
Killing Songs :
Nothing As It Seems, Light Years, Sleight of Hand
Adam quoted 82 / 100
Goat quoted 84 / 100
Other albums by Pearl Jam that we have reviewed:
Pearl Jam - Backspacer reviewed by Goat and quoted 82 / 100
Pearl Jam - Live On Two Legs reviewed by Goat and quoted no quote
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam reviewed by Adam and quoted 88 / 100
Pearl Jam - Yield reviewed by Goat and quoted 75 / 100
Pearl Jam - Vitalogy reviewed by Adam and quoted 89 / 100
To see all 10 reviews click here
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