Arts The Return of Pearl Jam
On May 2, Pearl Jam will release their first new studio album since 2002’s Riot Act; it’s called Pearl Jam. The first single off the album, the cheerily titled “World Wide Suicide,” drops March 14.
I ask in all seriousness and in the interest of determining possible coverage in The Stranger: Do you still care about Pearl Jam in 2006?
Full press release after the jump.
PEARL JAM TO RELEASE NEW, SELF-TITLED, STUDIO ALBUM
MAY 2, 2006
SEATTLE, WA - Pearl Jam announced today that they will release their highly anticipated, self-titled, eighth studio album May 2, 2006 on J Records.
The first single off the album, "World Wide Suicide" is scheduled to be made available to radio March 8, with the official impact date scheduled for March 14. "World Wide Suicide” will also be made available as a free unrestricted download on www.pearljam.com for two days beginning 6:00am EST on March 8. The single will then be available for purchase digitally as of March14.
Pearl Jam's new album marks the band's first studio release in nearly four years and is the first studio album to be released through their new label, J Records.
"It's a very special opportunity for us to work with a band that possesses such an historic legacy,” comments J Records founder and BMG U.S. Label Group Chairman Clive Davis.
The album was produced and mixed by Adam Kasper and Pearl Jam at Studio X in Seattle, Washington. Kasper co-produced Pearl Jam's 2002 release, Riot Act.
Tracklisting for Pearl Jam's new release is forthcoming. Details on Pearl Jam's 2006 World Tour in support of their new album will be announced later this month.
Since their inception in 1991, Pearl Jam has sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide, including millions of live bootlegs. The band has released 7 studio records, 2 live records, one double-disc b-sides record, and one double-disc greatest hits record.
Y'know, I was a Pearl Jam hater from the word go. Couldn't stand them, thought their politics were shit, the guitar dynamics seriously uninteresting and Mr Vedder's tortured act far too contrived.
But in, I believe, 2000, I was dragged along by some cousins to see the band at an ampitheatre in Virginia Beach. I was severely skeptic about the whole affair but figured, hey, Sonic Youth is opening so it may not be that bad.
In short, Pearl Jam fucking blew me away that night, cementing a spot in my top five favorite shows of all time. I walked out of that ampitheatre reconsidering many things. I have never been a fan of their studio albums, but will admit to buying two of those little bootleg things for kicks!
For that night in Virginia Beach alone, I will forever be interested in the band, in hopes that they again captivate me the way they did that night.
However, a single titled "World Wide Suicide" does leave me wondering.