Album Review : Pearl Jam - Gigaton (2020)
Pearl Jam is an important band. That means it was both extremely popular and influential. Although they are remembered to be forefathers of grunge, they pretty much pioneered 90’s alternative rock. For close to a decade, every band on the radio ripped off Pearl Jam in their own way. It’s been decades since they were relevant, though. How can you possibly come back from that? Being the most influential band of a generation and then seeing the world pass you by? Their first album in seven year Gigaton provides a painfully simple answer to this question: you don’t.
Gigaton is what would happen if you took frozen leftovers from Yield, stirred them up and microwaved them. The opener Who Ever Said (which is a good song) is such a typical Pearl Jam song, with the twanging, uptempo guitars and Eddie Vedder’s trademark delivery, it could’ve been written by an AI. Seriously, it’s like opening up the radio in 1998. Superblood Wolfmoon is another good song. Sonically more frantic and aggressive than Who Ever Said, it doesn’t fall into Pearl Jam stereotypes as much, but it’s still a pretty straightforward alternative rock song.
That brings us to the first single from Gigaton, Dance of the Clairvoyants. A lot of people shit on that song for being a Talking Heads ripoff, but I kind of liked it? When was the last time Pearl Jam took such risks introducing new elements into their songs? Also, who the fuck cares? Talking Heads haven’t recorded music since 1988. My favorite song on Gigaton though is Quick Escape. A heavier, bluesier and optimistic song about finding beauty in a banged up world. The lower register of Quick Escape is an awesome fit for Eddie Vedder’s voice. I’d take more of this Pearl Jam.
I’m being pretty laudatory so far, but Giganton kind of… falls off a cliff starting with Alright, a song that looks great on paper. It’s about listening to oneself and not letting the world dictate who you are. But it’s so long and weirdly structured that you lose interest two minutes in. It runs out of steam quick. Same with Seven O’Clock, a mishmash of half-baked idea which was apparently taken from a studio jam session. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like good ol’ album padding to me. Gigaton even takes its sins from another era.
I don’t know what to tell you about the second half of Gigaton. It’s borderline unlistenable. Buckle Up is another meandering mess that sounds twice as long as it actually is, Come Than Goes and Retrograde are not unpleasant but forgettable. After eight listens in two days I would not be able to sell you on songs like Take the Long Way or Never Destination. In one week, I probably won’t be able to recognize them if they play in a public place. Past Quick Escape, Gigaton becomes somewhat of a jammy mess that seemed more fun to record than it is to listen to.
Pearl Jam did not reinvent rock with Gigaton. Seems to me like they just recorded new music because they could and because they enjoyed the process of it. That’s a privilege they earned. The end product is kind of low in ideas, though. It starts with four mostly conventional, but rock solid songs and the rest sounds like a bunch of friends messing around in a studio. Whoever tells you this is Pearl Jam’s most experimental record is out of his fucking mind. Gigaton is not a disaster or anything, but it’s also not good. It could’ve easily lost four songs and been better.
5.1/10
