Pearl Jam Month: Binaural
by Zane Ewton
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Pearl Jam released Binaural in 2000. After years of wandering in the wilderness, the band finally embraced what they are. A rock band. You cannot add any other genre definitions. They are a rock band writing rock songs performing rock concerts.
They no longer needed to be alternative, and they did not need to get with the times. Nothing would have ended Pearl Jam faster than Eddie Vedder trying to rap over a heavy metal riff.
Just as they were in 1992, Pearl Jam was a breath of fresh air again. Instead of wafting the sea of third rate Aqua-net pop bands; they cleansed the stench of sweaty backwards ball caps and white guy dreads. The scale was much smaller the second time (the album is their first to fail to go platinum), but those who came out for Pearl Jam in 2000 were just as happy to see them.
Binaural is a beautiful, vibrant rock record that stood apart from everything that was going on in popular music at the time. Pearl Jam is a classicist rock band, and this record is a prime example of how well they carry that torch.
No Pearl Jam record is a shocking shift in style. Each record expands or contracts upon the last. They hit the experimental peak with No Code and began to come back to a straightforward approach with Yield, and fine tuning that approach with Binaural. Ex-Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron joined the band, which has proven to be one of the best ideas Pearl Jam ever had.
From beginning to end, Binaural is a seamless album. Much more grand than other Pearl Jam records. Tchad Blake's production inflates the songs and gives them a broad atmosphere to wander in. In another case of the album art being a perfect reflection of the music within, the Binaural art features images of elemental reactions in outer space. Small vibrant explosions encased in the darkness of outer space. Each song fits the bill. The term binaural also fits Pearl Jam's adoration of vinyl records - it is a method of recording intended to be played using headphones.
As has become the ritual across PJ albums, the album launches into a string of taut, punk-inspired songs before smacking into an soaring ballad. Then the second half of the album varies the tempo from slow to medium. "Breakerfall", "God's Dice" and "Evacuation" are the lead-in trio. Cameron is a rock drummer in the best sense, he and Jeff Ament roll the songs along as guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard counter and compliment each other.
The band was in a matter of flux at the time. Cameron was the new kid, McCready was in treatment and Vedder was dealing with writer's block. That may have created some problems, but it also created opportunities. Gossard wrote three of the album's strongest tracks, including the quaint and lovely "Thin Air." Ament wrote "Nothing As it Seems," which is the album's centerpiece.
The middle section of songs from "Light Years" into "Insignificance" is an outstanding and emotional stretch of material. Despite the band's personal problems, the quality of the songs remained high.
Binaural is not a happy album. For a band that could never be described as mindless fun as it is, Binaural is rather dark. It is also an essential stop in the Pearl Jam lineage, standing out amongst the other albums. It is different from their other albums, but still distinctly Pearl Jam.
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