Pearl Jam back, of course, doing things their way
By JONATHAN TAKIFF
takiffj@phillynews.com 215-854-5960

It's "their way or the highway" for notable music acts offering new wares today.

Answering only to their own muse, Pearl Jam has taken almost four years to settle into a new recording deal and produce another studio album, though they've put out more than 70 authorized concert "bootlegs" in the interim!

Finally comes the self-titled "Pearl Jam" album for J Records (A), a Clive Davis-steered label usually hellbent on delivering radio-friendly hit singles.

So what has the band given them to "work?" How 'bout a string of bristling, bitter rants on moral decay, death, dismemberment, economic turmoil and the suppression of personal freedom, stoked with a dual-guitar-rocking, blood-'n'-guts-spilling approach.

Some songs are artfully obtuse, as only the band's growling, mush-mouthed singer/composer Eddie Vedder can be. (Who else would write about a "preternatural other flame, with the power to maintain," as he does in the gross-out "Severed Hand"?)

But at least we do get an illustrated booklet of lyrics to help decipher the Allen Ginsberg-like howls. And even without the study guide, it's pretty clear who's given the orders and who's deserving of blame on the likes of "World Wide Suicide," a fiery lament about war dead that's the first single from the set.

Yes, that tune kicked butt on Pearl Jam's "SNL" appearance and agitated a freaky murder scene in "CSI." And how cool is it that the group gave away hundreds of thousands of downloads of the song on their Web site?

So I'm thinking it doesn't really matter if some corporate rock radio stations have a problem playing this Bush whacker. Pearl Jam's playing their own game and winning on their own terms.

It's nice that the reviewer made such excellent use of said booklet