Pearl Jam: Backspacer

(Self-Released)

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Backspacer is proof that Pearl Jam “has not only returned to form, but has revitalized itself,” said Lavinia Jones Wright in Billboard. On its ninth album, the grunge outfit recaptures the roisterous energy that characterized its music in the mid-1990s. With no record label telling them what to do, Eddie Vedder and the rest of the band decided to record some of the “shortest, tightest, punkiest tunes they’ve ever banged out,” said Rob Sheffield in Rolling Stone. Backspacer “comes out swinging” with “Gonna See My Friend,” “Got Some,” and “The Fixer”—“a nine-minute trio of gut-punchers” played with unrelenting vigor. “Even the requisite restrained ballads feel renewed,” said Josh Modell in Spin. Vedder channels Cat Stevens on “The End,” his heart-on-fire vocals magnified by a string and brass ensemble. For the first time in a long time, Pearl Jam is fully seizing its moment.