First a little history: I've been listening to PJ since I was in junior high school, when every boy in my grade had just blossomed through puberty and wore open flannels, long parted hair, 3 days unwashed and scuffy jeans. PJ looked much the same upon their debut, but I remember first hearing "Ten" in my room at our dingy apartment, the dull orange curtains drawn, the glow of the sun trying to break it's way in as I lay sullen,Casio boom box resting on the torn weight bench and first heard the discordant noise that would become one of the loves of my strange life. Vedder's booming and jangled voice on "Once" screamed to me through sonic obtrusion and at the same time, the melody hit all my sensitives notes to keep on playing. Since that first day of listening to their music, I've changed immensely, out of the flannels and into dress shirts for work, and tees out of it, into marriage, fatherhood, much the same as the band members themselves, shunning MTV and Ticketmaster for years, now back in the limelight making more "accepted" music I'll say, than commercial, because they've always been everything but that. Anyways, onto the new CD:
1) Gonna See my Friends feels familiar, similar fast string work with piercing lyrics, followed by intense, heavy and moody bass in the middle. The lyrics already hint at the eventual end of things, " I wanna shake this pain before I retire," but moves briskly and cordially through, nothing out of place and nothing new.
2) Got Some gives you that double edge meaning like the previous track, Eddie consistently assures us "he's got some if we need it" not clear whether me means good will, some PEZ candy, or nose candy, much like the first track where it feels he wants to fall back onto his "old friend" to kick the pain. This track is rocking from start to finish and pushes the pace quickly and I love the drum assualt from Matt who sounds like he's pounding the hell out of them like he's playing Rock Band on Expert.
3) The Fixer is like the little angel's voice on your shoulder and has an inspiring refrain of "I wanna fight to get it back again." Eddie's voice is cracked like the floor of Death Valley these days and feels haggard on this track but the catchy tune in the background keeps it upbeat, as well as the small piano accompaniment. I believe they played this on Conan's debut Tonight Show.
4) Johnny Guitar is a fun tale of unrequited love by a man watching this charismatic Johnny get a girl obviously too kind and moral for him, as both the youth "I wish I could see further north (under her dress) a warmth alive and lingering" as well as the "lost and lonely" grown adult (I hide my disappointment, cause for years hoping she would come for me." Feels a lot like the other side of the coin to "Off He Goes" from No Code where you wait for the woman instead of the brother, it's played a lot lighter and fun more than mysterious and decisive like that song was. Again, they move quickly through it as Vedder's voice struggles with the fast material.
5) Just Breathe is in the middle of the cd and becomes the beating heart, the repentent heart looking for more in their life. Stone and Mike borrow a page from Eddie's recent singles foray on the "Into the Wild" soundtrack with the classical guitar sound that brings so much out of this. It's a quiet but powerful track that often eludes PJ but has grown into their reportoire over the years that's hard to ignore.
6) Amongst the Waves is the kind of song that will grow on me, but I'll never love it. It's a completely positive tune, upbeat as the band can get, with high pop-esque guitar notes and strong, sweet lyrics such as "Gotta say it now, better loud than too late" or "I feel like I can have a soul that has been saved." I see a middleaged married couple living near the sea and reminding themselves why they fell in love, taking late night swims and being in love again, but the overall presentation still doesn't hit me strongly.
7)Unthought Known is my favorite track on this record, the whole first section feels like a ride up from the ground into the heavens and through the cloudy sky up above the world, with the poetic sentences "feel the air up above, pool of blue sky.....black with starlight, feel the sky blanket you....see the path cut by the moon for you to walk on." As well as the music, it feels heavenly and uplifting, with throbbing piano picking up momentum and the drums asserting themselves quietly. The middle loses steam and doesn't feel quite finished but it ends as well as it begins with Vedder straining his voice to proclaim "Dream the dreams of other men....you will be no one's rival" as if we've taken an otherworldly ascent to become a spectre of the world to look upon it in beautiful reverence.
8) Supersonic is just that, really quick rhythmic playing, although nothing like the out of control chaos the first 3 albums produced, it's a more keyed down version, but still works. Vedder flows through his lyrics and gives the spotlight to a fun solo probably from Stone at the end that's neither complicated nor boring. This whole album feels like a juxtaposition from itself as this song is full of life and pushing yourself, where as others feel like they are more about accepting the end as it comes, nothing should take this track's stance out of question like the closing line "i want to live my life with the volume full."
9) Speed of Sound goes back to the end message where everything is closing in on the voice. It's an atypical PJ song, really light on the music end, although at one point you can hear someone wailing on the guitar with it turned down really low. Eddie actually shines here and sings with some vunerability usually not heard more than once on a record, although several times here. "Everytime I get me some, it gets the best of me, not much left you see" should be a good example of the downtrodden tone of the words here.
10) Force of Nature is a really strong song with some great visceral images of a ominous storm blowing in to a coast, joined nicely with a heavy anthem that is nearly reminiscent of chords from Vitalogy but lightens up in the chorus. The structure is classic rock sound, good beginning rhythm, 2 verses into new tune for the hook, then back to the first part to finish up. Vedder's voice strains in sympathy and fortitude of the story and it's a decent little tune.
11) The End feels exactly that, reflective, somber, beautiful in it's own way, especially when Eddie musters up the courage to sing the chorus, almost like it's a struggle to get the words out to seek some comfort from whoever the song's directed at. The music is simple but powerful with the string section leading the way through the chorus and the lyrics are simple as well but feel like the last plea from someone dying, wanting and needing love, companionship, to be with someone as it all closes to dark.
Overall this isn't my favorite of their Cd's, doesn't have the power ballads and intensity of Ten, lacks the strange harmonious balance of destruction and love in Vitalogy, or the depth of performance and catchy tunes from Binaural but is still a solid rock record. I'd probably give it a C+/ B-, a definite buy if you're a lifelong fan of PJ like me, but for the passive listener, you're probably better off skimming the tracklist in your local music store then downloaded your favorite tracks later.
- Jessie