Pearl Jam - Lightning Bolt

Musically Mannerly Minded

Pearl Jam’s excellent – naturally – latest is being streamed [see here] one week ahead of its release. It’s classic PJ from punk rock to gorgeous ballads. Fourth Sirens is one such of the latter, a remarkably sweeping and soaring ballad with Eddie in passionate voice. This is one of the most pop-infused offerings I have heard from the band in a long time, perhaps since Ten [Jeremy - I know there have been others].

The album opens with the catchy Getaway, bass heavy and Vedder’s vocal to the fore where it belongs – the relentless pound of the rhythm’s head-bang honed to perfection. Second Mind Your Manners is punk wild and continues the powerful pulse. Fifth, title track Lightning Bolt, is firmly in familiar territory – driving beats with Vedder singing single note tirades above, then shifts into melody that rise to screams, all the time the band pulsating in support. Sixth Infallible begins to a staccato beat and then becomes a beautiful song of descending musical notes and Vedder singing sweetly above: you can hear on this first listen how this will be one of those songs that grows to memorable distinction after further hearing. Beautiful. And again beautiful, seventh Pendulum is a haunting ballad, with echoed guitar and serenading drum rhythms.

By eighth Swallowed Whole, the songwriting suggests a more melodic overall sound to the complete album, Eddie’s vocal again to the fore and McCready here providing a sweet guitar solo. Ninth Let The Records Play returns to a rockblues riff and more guitar focus throughout. Tenth Sleeping By Myself is again gentler with acoustic guitar and calming harmonies, a love-loss lament that includes Eddie on ukulele, strumming to the song’s forlorn reflections on sleeping alone. Ahhh. I thought eleventh Yellow Moon might strive to startle us back with some punk return, but this too is balladic, guitar lead soaring rather than tearing, and whilst the vocal rises melodramatically, it is essentially Vedder in control of pace and emotion as clear frontman – and I have to say that suits me fine. But I wonder if the headbangers will be satisfied. Indeed, closer Future Days, with opening piano and then acoustic guitar, is another slow and seeming Vedder solo, though there are more harmonies – again beautiful – and an Irish folk lilt in the fiddle accompaniment. A pretty ending indeed. I love this and the whole album already.