Is this finally a throwback to the album Ten? No, not by a long shot, and to the band’s credit, they’ve never really wanted to go back there and never have. Lightning Bolt definitely sounds like older Pearl Jam though, with the rawness of Vitology and with the maturity of where they are now and how much they’ve grown as artists.
Lightning Bolt starts out a ferocious pace with openers “Getaway” and the single “Mind Your Manners”, both feverous almost punk sounding, reminiscent of “Spin The Black Circle”. The next single off the album “Sirens”, a beautifully done ballad about sitting in a room listening to ambulance sirens, slows down the pace poignantly, before jumping back to the grungy title track.
Other highlights include the mature sound of “Infallible” and the staple-opener for their current tour “Pendulum”, a hypnotically slow song to the delight of “Black” fans. Originally on Eddie Vedder’s solo album Ukulele Songs, “Sleeping With Myself” with a band sounds just as good if not better. Closing the album is “Future Days” which really encapsulates what great songwriters and musicians they are; less is definitely more.
Pearl Jam have lost and gained fans over the years but they always stay true to themselves, and even though many of us would like them to write and churn out classics like Ten over and over, Lightning Bolt will at least satisfy some of that.