Pearl Jam are one of those bands that have defied convention over the past decade. Born when grunge rock was the flavour of the month, Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready and Matt Cameron have consistently and collectively ridden the wave of popular fashion album by album. Now Pearl Jam are back with Riot Act, their seventh and final album for Epic Records as respected champions of their genre, set way above any of today’s flights of fancy.
“The statistics are similar to those used when people talk about getting married,” Ament says. “I think in any sort of a relationship there’s the honeymoon period and then there’s the hard part. If you can get through the stuff that life throws at you, then what comes from that is even better than the honeymoon! We were lucky enough to survive the crap. I’m not really sure how we did it though, to be brutally honest. I think we’ve maybe always been a little older than most people in bands the same age who all get to go through those sorts of things. So perhaps we had a couple more tools to deal with it. We were one of the lucky few to reap the rewards of persistence; because today we are all so connected and committed to this that sometimes it’s difficult for people on the outside to comprehend.”
The new album comes packaged as each before it — in a most impractical but beautifully tailored, band-funded digipack, filled with not only insightful hand-scribbled lyrics and art work, but loaded with more music than any of their six previous releases.
“The experience of making this record was really good,” insists Ament when asked what makes their new album unique. “I think the chemistry was perfect and it felt really easy and right to change or rearrange any of the songs that needed it.”
The recipe that makes Pearl Jam essential way beyond their typically pessimistic sell-by date is, in part, the core of their success and longevity. Never fazed, threatened or intimidated by convention, Vedder and the band have always insisted on pushing against the obvious and expected.
“We have never consciously thought about the process each album insists on. I know we respect it, but for this record we came in probably more prepared than with any of our earlier albums. We had ideas that were more complete and our communication level with one another has grown stronger over the years. All that it’s meant for us is that, by comparing recording our debut album [Ten] to doing Riot Act, the most significant difference between them would be that album one was an arduous task for us, whereas Riot Act came together as a well-articulated and exciting bunch of songs to record.”
Making music that is relevant not only to the millions of fans who have flocked to the sound of near monotone ramblings, gushing guitars and swirling bass loops, but also to scores more who join the caravan of creativity, is never an easy task. To do it for almost a decade and still have all in tow salute and applaud it after each new delivery is truly rare. “At this point it’s a bonus that it all works so well,” Ament admits. “I think we have learned not to put a whole lot of expectations on each other or the band. That in itself has made the whole process a healthier environment for us to play in.”
“For love or money?” stopped being an option right after album one for Pearl Jam. With more cash than your average African democracy, the passion was, and still is, what drives these wielders of rock. “I think whenever a band blows up, people question why they are doing it,” Ament considers. “I don’t think I have ever played music for any reason other than the fact that I love it. To make music with people who love it as much as you do … I don’t know if it gets any better.
“That’s where the weight and the responsibility comes in,” he continues, “because we have a great opportunity and we could just fuck it all away if we wanted to, but why would you do that? Why sabotage something that is that precious?”
Pearl Jam’s sound has evolved over time as the band has matured as a unit, but jointly the individuals that make up the whole have never compromised the core of what the band’s music is and what makes it distinct. “It’s tricky …” Ament defends. “I recently read a review of the record [Riot Act], which also covered our past records. They said that the problem with Riot Act is that the songs are all there — they’re good songs and even better performances, but there is nothing there to challenge the listener. So they gave the album two out of a possible five-star rating. Then on No Code they gave us one star, justifying it by saying that the record was too experimental. So I’m not sure, you can’t have it both ways, can you? We have worked with a great many different people over the years who have all in their own way affected how each record turned out. From producers Chad Blake to Brendan O’Brien, each added different spice and flavour to the mix. Granted, some records worked better than others, but that’s all part of the process and if anything, each reflects growth, which we we’re all for, because without that Riot Act would surely be Ten rehashed for the seventh time.”
So with their last commitment to Sony Music out and selling fast, what does the future hold for one of rock music’s finest examples of what it means to keep it real, not matter what? “We’ve spoken about it, but who knows right now? Our first priority is to get the music on this album out to as many people as possible. Next year we’ll release some new stuff. Whether it’s with a major label or we put it out ourselves, we figure as long as people are keen to listen, we are more than happy to humour and respect their passion for ours.” Always socially aware, always keen to get behind a cause, Pearl Jam are a band aware of where their bread is buttered and continue on, happy to spread it thick when required.
Pearl Jam’s Riot Act is out now on CD.