Dark Matter

This album has been added to 8 public lists:

• 

  Albums of 2024

  Chris Enns

  I'm hot and cold with Pearl Jam albums once you get past their first 3 or 4, but this one grabbed me again.

• 

  Best, Favorite, & Most Interesting Albums Of 2024

  Mark

  • Genre: Alternative Rock, Grunge, Hard Rock.
  • Influenced by: Led Zeppelin, The Stooges, Neil Young, The Beatles, Black Sabbath
  • Similar artists: Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age
  • About this album: The album showcases a return to Pearl Jam's classic sound, with driving guitars, powerful vocals from Eddie Vedder, and a strong emphasis on melody and dynamics. "Dark Matter" explores a range of themes, including social and political commentary, personal struggles, and the passage of time.
  • Metacritic Score: 81 (universal acclaim).
  • Grammy Nominations: Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song "Dark Matter," Best Rock Performance "Dark Matter."
  • Song To Sample: "Scared of Fear," the opening track, a powerful and energetic song that showcases the band's raw energy and signature sound.
  • Trivia Bonus: Pearl Jam was originally called Mookie Blaylock, after an NBA player.   "Ten" Connection: Their debut album, "Ten," was named after Mookie Blaylock's jersey number. The name "Pearl Jam" came about after the band attended a Neil Young concert where he extended his songs into long, improvised "jams." "Pearl" was suggested by bassist Jeff Ament. "Jam" was added to reflect the extended, improvisational nature of Young's performance that night.
• 

  2024 Top 20

  Adam Wood

  On first listen to Pearl Jam’s eleventh studio album Gigaton, a couple of years ago, I experienced a melange of emotions that felt familiar: a kind of nostalgic glow emanating from beneath a heavy silt bed of acceptance, that what made the band’s early albums special was undeniably in short supply. The reason for the deja vu was that those feelings had been my reaction also to the previous record, Lightning Bolt, almost a decade earlier. I had eventually come to like that record, as I had parts of its predecessor (Backspacer (2009)), and the three records before that. But, if it’s not too dramatic to say so, it’s been a long process of accepting that 21st century Pearl Jam are not the same band who put out five superb records throughout the 1990s.

  Except that they absolutely are the same band, and Dark Matter is the proof. For the two decades’ worth of reasons outlined above, I came to the album with my expectations set firmly to mid. I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Track after track consistently and undeniably amongst their best work since Yield (1998). I could just about put together an equally strong set of 11 tracks from the 79 contained on the preceding six albums, but there wouldn't be much room to spare.

  If one wishes to (unfairly) split hairs, Eddie Vedder’s voice is only at about 80% of its formidable prime these days, and there are a few spots where it shows. What isn’t diminished is the songwriting, or the uncanny ability to pin emotions to swelling grooves and soaring guitars. My goodness what a gift it is to have another record such as this from the last of the great Seattle-explosion bands.

• 

  2024

  Jaime Creixems

  Pearl Jam is my favorite band ever and Dark Matter is a solid release from them.

• 

  Pearl Jam Pearl Jam Pearl Jam

  Nate

  2024

• 

  Best of 2024

  tekphloyd
• 

  Bubbling

  Darby Dixon III
• 

  Vinyl

  Bill Dunbar