THE AVOCADO AVALANCHE

PEARL JAM´s ASTOUNDING COMEBACK WITH ONE OF THE MOST AWAITED ALBUMS OF 2006 PROVES THAT THE SEATTLE BASED QUINTET HAS BEEN MASTERFUL IN THE ART OF REMAINING A RELEVANT VOICE FOR PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE GENERATIONS OF ROCK AFICIONADOS.

BY: Fernando de Mello Pimentel

It was with the first jamming power chords of their anthemic and revolutionary debut album “TEN”, back in 1991, that Pearl Jam really brushed up the rusty edges of mainstream rock´s conformism and lack of creativity of the previous decade. Now, fifteen years, more than half a dozen studio albums and over one hundred official bootlegs later, this colossal musical mammoth - bred from the fusion of Hendrix´s bluesy guitar lines and elements of 70´s classic rock - returns from a 4-year creative hiatus with an enthusiastic appetite for re-conquering its throne in the Alternative Rock circuit.

With a tempting overdose of heavily distorted guitar driven tunes, finely calibrated with a pure dose of freshly revitalized and angst-filled lyricism, “PEARL JAM”, the Seattle quintet´s 8th studio achivevement to date, also known informally among fans as the “Avocado Album”, has rapidly established itself as a promising new milestone for the band, quite nearly duplicating the “sound and feel” of the early 90´s primal grunge atmosphere.

What most fans might have realized by now with this release is that gone are the days of Vedder´s personal lament and melodrama. Instead, the plot that “PEARL JAM” so merciless and competently explores through-out most of its tracks concerns a series of unfolding events which are all direct by-products of crass post-9/11 domestic and foreign affairs policies. Ultimately, with its sharp stinging verses aimed at the Bush Administration, the album is a wake-up call for world-wide alertness. Such thesis is revealed true by the content of songs such as “World Wide Suicide”, “Life Wasted”, “Army Reserve”, and “Marker In The Sand”.

Eddie Vedder and Company evoke nostalgic glories of an era when the Seattle quintet was a fearless locomotive of youthful bliss - a time when the group´s performances were marked by its frontman´s outrageous defiance of gravity, as he leaped for the crowd through remarkable stage-dives. In addition to Vedder´s undeniable charisma and astounding vocal qualities, Pearl Jam´s reputation as a state-of-the-art musical act has also been relying on the thrusting machine-gun riffing power of guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready. The “kitchen” has always been subject to constant drummer replacements during the band´s history. However, as of the 1998 “LIVE ON TWO LEGS” tour, bassist Jeff Ament finally found a permanent drumming force in the figure of the virtuoso-percussionist Matt Cameron.

Whether “PEARL JAM” is your very first-hand experience with the band, or if you´re a seasoned die-hard fan striving along the last 15 years accompanying the band´s musical trajectory, the least you can expect is a thrilling rush of musical ecstasy provided by one of the band´s most mature and relevant accomplishments to date. Although not always as dazzling as the first three releases, “PEARL JAM” is a mandatory pick for any serious rock junkie.

***** FIVE STARS! The boys are back in business!!!

All Rights Reserved - 2007 FPimentel Poems & Publishing Co.