Riot Act

It is now 10 years since Ten, and two years since Binaural. Is there meaning in these parallelisms? Probably not: the Other Seattle Band have never taken time or timeliness too seriously. Still, when Eddie Vedder sings, “Lost nine friends we’ll never know, two years ago today” on Riot Act’s third track ‘Love Boat Captain,’ you have to wonder.

It starts well with ‘Can’t Keep’, a restrained, ominous, gothic piece which serves as a song-long prelude to the album proper. Second track ‘Save You’ sees the gloves come off, up-tempo and fierce with defiant lyrics: “Fuck me if I say something you don’t want to hear from me/Fuck me if you only hear what you want to hear.”

Vedder’s voice still oozes authority, even if he is screaming less and crooning more. The days of gooseflesh-inducing soundstorms like ‘Alive’ and ‘Daughter’ are gone, and the man knows it. Far better that he move on than try and fail to rehash that bygone fury. And in many ways, his new baritone suits him: on ‘Thumbing My Way,’ he enters Tom Waits territory undaunted, and on ‘Help Help’ his mighty growl is backed eerily with a reedy vocoder choir.

There are moments, naturally, when the big bad rock thing sounds dated even to the best-intentioned listener. ‘Get Right’ starts nobly enough, but is roundly sabotaged by its prehistoric wah guitar solo, a tacky metal throwback straight out of Kirk Hammett’s nocturnal fantasies.

Another, lesser problem, is Vedder’s dalliance with politics. ‘Green Disease’ and ‘Bu$hleaguer’ both waste decent melodies and compelling rhythms on the most naive, facile sort of quarter-assed soapboxing.

Riot Act is not a bad album. It’s nowhere near as crucial and vibrant as the band’s first and most earth-shattering two LPs, but it’s far from a turkey. The single ‘I Am Mine’ and the haunting last track ‘All Or None’ are the sound of a mature band making intelligent, emotive music.

Oh, and that line from ‘Love Boat Captain’ is about the nine fans that were crushed to death during Pearl Jam’s set at Roskilde, Denmark, in 2000. So yes, there is some meaning there.