'Comatose', the fastest song on the album, and one of the shortest, is rather a letdown after the powerful album openers. This is particularly true of the strange, slow 'Parachutes', with it's rather poor lyrics and awkward beat, the song loses it's interest very quickly. Unfortunately, some songs just manage to be quite bland or of little interest. Strangely, the riff of 'Severed Hand' manages to sound remarkably similar to Nirvana's infamous 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', a fact that demonstrates that Pearl Jam were once a powerful grunge band in the same league as Nirvana and Alice In Chains. The riffs are consistent and often very catchy, propelling many of the harder songs to new musical heights. The solo found at the end of 'Life Wasted' is also quite spectacular, and recalls the earlier days of 'Animal' and 'Why Go'. 'Come Back' has a slow melodic solo at the end that manages to be beautiful, and a definite album highlight. The finished product is some very catchy riffs and many short but sweet solos. The guitar style has once more shifted, with Mike and Stone collaborating very well with one another. The only song that could be considered filler is the short 'Life Wasted Reprise', which actually manages to be very good on it's own despite it's short length and simple instrumentation (an organ). While this may disappoint those expecting a wide amount of musical variety, it helps the album greatly by allowing many of the tracks to have a distinct flow between them. The filler found on previous albums has been mostly cut down, with absolutely no real experimental tracks to be found. His lyric writing skills seem to have advanced as well, making many of the songs vaguely political, but only enough so that the song can still be enjoyed with an open mind. Fortunately, Eddie's ballad voice seems to be more or less intact, which works well in the favor of the slow 'Come Back' or the depressing 'Gone'.

The band themselves seem to be aware of this weakness, and employ backing vocals and synchronizations far more than on previous albums. Although it adds to the aggressiveness and sheer anger of the harder songs, it may be annoying for some. Unfortunately, Eddie's voice has started to deteriorate quite noticeably with age, with his traditional raspy growl taking a far more hectic, whiny style. The first five songs are all quite heavy and furious, which would be great in the earlier days of the band. Indeed, it would appear that Pearl Jam have taken a much more hard rock approach with this album. All of these elements are immediately apparent with the album openers 'Life Wasted' and 'World Wide Suicide', two punky tunes that grab a listeners attention with their furious chorus' and catchy hooks. Eddie Vedder has stopped the smooth vocal approach in exchange for a more aggressive approach. The guitars are in constant distortion, and the drumming and percussion is as furious and powerful as ever. One thing is for certain, and that is that the band have abandoned the art rock approach found on Binaural and Riot Act. It was generally agreed by members of the band and the press that this album would become the classic that Vs. This would mean a much harder sound, with the occasional electric ballad thrown in.

Review Summary: A return to- the- roots album for Pearl Jam, who manage to create one of their best albums in almost a decade.ДЄfter a long variety of albums that had spanned many genres and styles of music, Pearl Jam, for their eighth album, made the career altering decision to return to their roots.

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