Album Review: Pearl Jam, "Pearl Jam" (J Records)

Is it any shock that " Pearl Jam," the band's self-titled new album, deals with the War on Terror, conservative ideology and the politics of fear? Not really. The real shock is that "Pearl Jam" is actually the band's finest release in years. A satisfying set of smart, powerful rock, "Pearl Jam" is more Pearl Jam than "Riot Act" and "Binaural" combined.

The album is raw--its guitars are grimy and bare; Eddie Vedder, v. 2006, is rough; and these songs have spaces and cracks in them, moments when they sound as if they're about to collapse. But the disc is disarming, those cracks revealing more with each listen.

"Marker in the Sand" confronts religious fundamentalism over a turbo-fuzz riff and a big-time, arena-ready chorus. It ends in a Sunday-morning fervor, with Vedder announcing, "God what do you say? / I'm calling you out!" The gorgeous, twangy ballad "Come Back" is as mournful as a Nashville romance on the rocks, and instantly among the group's most touching songs.

Old-school fans will appreciate the teeth rattling "Severed Hand," with its "Evenflow"-style climax, courtesy of Mike McCready's hyperventilating guitar. Pearl Jam even re-establishes its love of the Great Last Song with "Inside Job," a stark, acoustic epic about faith, insecurity and soul-searching.

Although it's not perfect--opener "Life Wasted" sounds like surplus Stone Temple Pilots, and "Big Wave" is nothing but power chords and pomp--"Pearl Jam" is nevertheless an album of deep, true music from a band that finally lives up to its reputation.