Review Summary: An exciting, experimental approach from a great rock band.
Pearl Jam
Vs.
Epic Records, 1993
Pearl Jam is...
Eddie Vedder: Vocals
Mike McCready: Guitar
Stone Gossard: Guitar
Jeff Ament: Bass
Dave Abbruzzese: Drums
Pearl Jam's debut album, 'Ten' was a massive success, going multi-platinum in the US, and eventually working up the list to becoming one of the best selling albums of all time. It had also helped kick-start the genre that was known as grunge, despite the controversy surrounding fact that 'Ten' could not be considered particularly 'grungy'. Following an extensive tour promoting their new masterwork, Pearl Jam decided to return to their studios in Seattle to record their new album, Vs.
After listening to the first few songs, it is immediately apparent that this is a much different record from Ten. It is heavier, the production is not as clear, and it is also much more experimental. While Ten contained many straight forward hard rock tracks and used only the basic rock instruments, Vs. contains a much greater musical variety. Once the album is broken down, the songs can be organized into the hard rock tracks, the soft tracks, and the experimental tracks.
Hard rocking tracks are abundant here, with the album begging with the fast, hard hitting anthems 'Go' and 'Animal' both feature strong basslines, hard hitting drums, and fast, powerful guitar solos. Both show a more animalistic, primal side to Pearl Jam, with dark lyrics and Eddie Vedder's harsh, screaming vocals. 'Leash' and 'Blood', the remaining hard rock tracks both appear later on the album, and both manage to increase the intensity, especially with the latter, which features Vedder's harshest, most animalistic vocal performance yet. After those three powerful, grungy tracks, 'Leash' comes as a bit of a disappointment with only it's infectious distorted guitar riff saving it from mediocrity. Even the solo comes off as boring on 'Leash', with Mike McCready's soloing prowess being drowned out by the other instruments.
The softer songs here stand out as being some of Pearl Jam's best. 'Daughter' is a great acoustic ballad that builds up with the bass and distortion slowly joining in. 'Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town' is a gorgeous, short, catchy song that contains strange, near cryptic lyrics as well as some pleasant instrumentation. On these softer songs, Eddie proves that he can lower his voice to a calm pitch and deliver great lyrics in a calm, collected vocal style. The final soft song, 'Dissident' is reminiscent of the rock anthems found on Ten, with excellent guitar and a very strong vocal performance. Unfortunately, lyrically the song is not particularly strong, which may hinder enjoyment for some.
As mentioned before, Vs. is a very experimental album, with the band trying a variety of different things. 'Glorified G', an anti gun anthem, contains a very experimental guitar riff and a strange chorus. The strange guitar style is once again used on 'Rearviewmirror', an album highlight that manages to be very catchy, yet quite experimental. 'Rats' is what appears to be a band jam session, and although Eddie Vedder displays some very impressive vocals, the song is not seemingly up to par with the rest of the album. The album's closer, 'Indifference' is, by a large margin, the strangest song here. Light percussion and atmospheric effects, along with a slow vocal show Pearl Jam at their strangest and most mysterious.
Overall, Vs. is a step in an entirely different direction for Pearl Jam. Most of the stadium rock qualities found on Ten have disappeared, leaving a much heavier, experimental side behind. Despite a few rather weak songs, the album as a whole comes across as very enjoyable and energetic, and shows the band evolving and trying new things.
Recommended Tracks
-Go
-Animal
-Rearviewmirror
-Blood
-Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
-Daughter
