While I was in the midst of mourning the loss of former Allman Brothers’ guitarist/singer/songwriter Dickey Betts, who passed Friday – which required me to listen to the entire early Allman Brothers’ catalog over the weekend including “Mountain Jam” – Pearl Jam released their 12th album Dark Matter. My apologies for the delayed reaction to this new Pearl Jam, but everyone mourns in their own way. I hate to be one of those guys who say, “This is Pearl Jam’s best record since…” but this is Pearl Jam’s best record… well, in a long time. It’s only been four years since their last LP, the uneven Gigaton, which of late is rather quick for Pearl Jam. They’d gone 7 years between Lightning Bolt and Gigaton prior to that. That seven year gap didn’t see Pearl Jam disappear. They toured almost every summer. It began to feel like Pearl Jam was treating the studio pretty casually… like they were old buddies from high school who got together every summer for a “guy’s trip.” Only in this case the “guy’s trip” was a world tour.

I began to wonder if they even cared about making studio albums any more which is unfair. Any of us who were fans of their early work – Ten, Vs, or Vitalogy – tend to have very high expectations of any new Pearl Jam release, not dissimilar to the expectations that surround any new U2 release. It’s just that Pearl Jam’s early stuff was so earnest and it touched an emotional chord in so many of us and I think we all long for a similar dopamine hit like we got from those early records. Those expectations were probably a drag for the band. But as everyone knows, Pearl Jam started to change their music – perhaps like a lot of bands it was to shun the fame and attention they’d garnered – and their albums sold less and less. For me, Riot Act was the album where Pearl Jam almost lost me. It may have been “the record they always wanted to make,” but man, it was a grim affair. Although, like every Pearl Jam record there were a few stone cold classic tracks.

It seemed like they’d really re-dedicated themselves on the self titled 2006 LP, Pearl Jam. A lot of bands try to make a major statement with a mid career eponymous album but that record didn’t really take off and was seemingly overshadowed by the Chili Pepper’s Stadium Arcadium at the time. They continued putting out really strong albums every 3 or 4 years since then – Backspacer (2009) and Lightning Bolt (2013) – and I really liked those records. But I don’t know if the sales or the attention were what they expected. So they did what a lot of bands did, they went on tour a bunch and kind of ignored the studio work. Gigaton dropped right before COVID hit so I feel a bit like that was a “lost album” of sorts. I still like “Superblood Wolfmoon.” But I have to admit, I’ve liked all of those Pearl Jam records since Pearl Jam, so it’s hard for me to pin down the “best Pearl Jam album since…” conversation. Pick your last favorite Pearl Jam LP and use that one in that sentence.

Dark Matter is simply put, the best Pearl Jam album I’ve heard in ages. Song by song, it’s their most consistent, strong album in perhaps decades. They just seemed so focused on this record. And while there haven’t been a lot of changes in approach, everything seems to be taken up a notch. Much of this may be because of the presence of producer Andrew Watt who worked with Vedder on Earthling. He’s also worked with Ozzy (Ordinary Man and Patient No. 9), Iggy Pop (Every Loser) and the Stones (Hackney Diamonds). Some of the ol’ audiophiles complain that Watt-produced albums sound “brickwalled” (highly compressed to sound louder), but I’m a huge fan of Watt’s. He seems to pull the best out of the artists he works with by getting them to do what they do best, to “be themselves.” The record was recorded quickly over a three week span, where as the band says, “Watt kicked our ass.” I love Pearl Jam, but if there was ever a band who needed an ass kicking in the studio…

Pearl Jam remains Eddie Vedder (vocals/guitar), Stone Gossard (guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), Jeff Ament (bass) and former Soundgarden member Matt Cameron (drums). Watt also added some guitar and keyboards. The band also brought former Chili Pepper Josh Klinghoffer who has been touring with them – and who was in Vedder’s backing band on his tour for Earthlings – into the studio to play some keyboards and guitar.

With that same personnel, the band sounds like Pearl Jam, but as I said, it’s all taken up a notch. The first thing I noticed was Vedder’s vocals. On their most recent albums, I’ve liked the ballads and slower tracks better because Vedder – who has one of the best and most emotionally expressive baritones in all of rock – actually sings on those songs. On the recent rockers, which often sound very punk influenced (“Mind Your Manners” for example), Vedder almost barks the lyrics, like he’s mad at us for listening. Not so on Dark Matter. From the title track to the ballads, Vedder is emotively singing and that is a very good thing for a Pearl Jam record. And might I say, Watt seems to have just completely unleashed Mike McCready’s lead guitar. I just love it every time he solo’s on this record. With those two stepping up, it makes this a great record, but Gossard/Ament/Cameron lock in the riffs and grooves and create a great foundation for each song.

There’s so much to like here. I loved the title track, “Dark Matter,” but have already posted on that one, I’ll add no more here… While I had to listen to “Scared Of Fear” twice before it clicked, it’s a great Pearl Jam rock song. McCready just shreds. I love the riff and the bouncy nature of the song… “We all like control, I surrender to you, dear,” Oh, yes. “React And Respond” is another tough rocker that may require a little more time to grow on me. I like Ament’s bass on that one. It’s a twitchy, punk thing. “Running” is a meet-me-at-the-finish-line, full tilt rocker. But again, here Vedder sings vs barks and I like it. It’s a heavy track. “Got To Give” competes with “Dark Matter” for my favorite rocker. It starts with some lovely acoustic guitar and then Cameron comes hammering in on the drums (in a good way). It’s an uplifting track and I believe will be sung along to in many a stadium near you this summer.

“Wreckage,” a track I saw someone compare to Tom Petty which I don’t hear, is another personal favorite. It’s a midtempo ear worm that I can’t stop listening to. “Won’t Tell” is another gorgeous tune. I’m calling it midtempo but it’s got a nice riff and beat. I love Eddie’s vocal here, but I’m starting to gush… “Waiting For Stevie” is epic rock at it’s best. It’s a track that must be listened to loud… not to improve it, I just like it loud. “You can be loved by everyone, And not feel, not feel love.” A lot of these lyrics seem to center around loss of some kind – loss of a relationship or the loss of American democracy, it’s hard to tell.

I will admit there are no ballads that hit me as hard as say, “Sirens” or “Yellow Moon” (the Rock Chick’s favorite) that were on Lightning Bolt. But the ballads here are all still great tunes. “Upper Hand” is the first one coming roughly in the middle of the album. It’s probably my favorite of the slower tracks. “Something Special” is another great one. “Setting Sun” ends the album on an atmospheric, acoustic note. They’re all three really good ballads but for the first time in quite a few Pearl Jam albums, my favorite songs are the rockers not the ballads.

Pearl Jam remains one of the greatest American bands ever. It’s nice to see them dig a little deeper, try a little harder, and come up with such a stunning late career album (or it maybe mid-career, one never knows about longevity). A good friend of ours procured a couple of tickets to see these guys on their upcoming tour and the Rock Chick and I couldn’t be more thrilled. It’ll be great to see our good friend and the lads in Pearl Jam as well… they feel like old friends too at this point. In the interim, I’ll just continue to keep Dark Matter on high rotation.

Play this one – one of the best albums of the year so far – up loud. Cheers!