Pearl Jam released their 10th studio album this week titled "Lightning Bolt". Did anyone check it out? For those who haven't, here's a youtube link (tempo & pitch changed very slightly to avoid copyright issues): [youtube]b2Tt_QT7Z8Q[/youtube] I thought it was a good album, better than their previous album Backspacer. I love the punk feel of a few of the tracks such as Mind Your Manners (which was featured in the most recent episode of Sons of Anarchy) and the softer tunes like Sirens and Pendulum are very nice. It's still nowhere near as good as some of their early work (I consider Ten to be the best album ever written) but it certainly proves that after 25 years they can still write a very good album. On a side note, I firmly believe Eddie Vedder is one of the greatest lyricists of our time and one hell of a singer.
I really like Pearl Jam's music, but Lightning Bolt was a bit disappointing. I'm not saying it's a bad album, though. It's got a good flow and the songs are pretty viable. However, it was a long 50 minutes. None of the tracks are really outstanding, and it's a very cramped and faded album. The only thing that keeps it going, though, is Eddie Vedder's vocals. He's still such an amazing vocalist, and manages to make this album interesting when it comes to lyrics and vocals. The rest of the music is unfortunately not on such a level. The only thing that's on my mind about this album is whether or not it will be overcome by the Random Access Memories effect (An album with high commercial viability fading away almost immediately due to the limited content of the album itself).
I love the album. Sirens is honestly one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, and Vedder is the best lyricist we have left, the mans a true poet.