Dark Matter

Before the diehard PJ fans cry blasphemy, I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a diehard fan of this band, despite the fact Vedder lives a few blocks from my house. The only time I've ever seen him play live was on the Hovercraft/Foo Fighters/Mike Watt tour in 1995. I'm mainly arriving at this album a huge fan of Vedder's prior work with producer Andrew Watt ("Earthling"), along with Watt's blockbuster recent albums for the Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop, and Ozzy Osborne. Not sure what Watt's secret sauce is, but he seems able to push his artists to deliver new work that deserves to rank high among their respective Imperial Era/Genius Phase creative and commercial peaks. Similar to how Mark Ronson rescued Duran Duran from decades-long creative doldrums on 2009's All You Need is Now, Watt is a fan of the band that reminds them (and fans) what made Pearl Jam special in the first place. With "Ten", Pearl Jam seemed ready to absolutely own the world, even if having to take the silver to Nirvana's gold. But then both bands released anti-commercial sophomore albums engineered to repel all the fair weather fans. I tried to keep up with Pearl Jam, eventually losing interest five albums in as they explored a Neil Young-style anti-establishment ethos with denser, less urgent, blander, and darker work. Dark Matter is a surprisingly bright album; the band has the energy and chops of a debut album band, eager to take on the world. The melodies, lyrics, and production fire on all cylinders. It's a blast to listen to -- uplifting when you just let the grooves, melodies, shredding solos, and brilliant instrumentation carry the weight, engaging and inspiring when you tune into Vedder and his lyrics. Even the CD's hardcover book with gorgeous band photographs declares this album is going to last the ages, as opposed to low-rent eco paks that look like crap on a CD shelf and age prematurely with creases and tears. Dark Matter is a true welcome home from a band that once again seems eager to be superstars.

Pearl Jam rocks with several great new songs.

There are few bands that compose music this thoughtfully. If you hate rock you’ll love this album. If you love rock you’ll love this album. It has unapologetic pulse pounding songs that will get your head bobbing and thoughtful ballads with depth and meaning. You can tell this album has songs that will stand the test of time. Don’t think about it, just buy it.

On a long road trip just now I heard some of these songs both from the album and recorded live on tour Down Under -- "Dark Matter," "React, Respond," and "Setting Sun" -- on SiriusXM Radio. They sounded good, and between that and getting tickets to see the band on tour in April, I decided to pick up the album.On first listen some of the slower, more melodic songs stood out -- especially "Setting Sun," but also "Wreckage" and "Won't Tell." More spins and the rockers "Dark Matter" and "React, Respond," grew on me, and also "Upper Hand" and "Got to Give." With more spins the only songs I prefer to skip are "Running" and "Something Special."This is a strong Pearl Jam album, and they were great live in ATL 4/29/25!*** *** ***For me, the last great PJ album was "Avocado" (2006). The other albums since then only had one great song each: "Unthought Known" (Backspacer/2009), "Swallowed Whole" (Lightning Bolt/2013), and "River Cross" (Gigaton/2020). "Dark Matter" is the best album since "Avocado"!

Ok, so I may be a little biased because this is my favorite band but that being said ,this is my favorite album by them to date!

Really liking Dark Matter. Only question is why do most of the lyrics to "Got To Give" seem to be missing?

Yes, I bought a CD as I have a portable, rechargeable player I can set up outside when gardening and I don't have to sweat into my expensive airpods. Love Pearl Jam and this is a good album.

Extraordinario