Vedder’s third solo offering is a really distinguished case as this is really the first time that the Pearl Jam iconic singer releases something that it’s not out of context with his band’s trademark sound. So, forget all about ukuleles and mandolins as Vedder fully embraces his Pearl Jam roots. Still…rest assured “Earthling” is a quite personal affair (evidently on the lyrical department). It’s the music, though, that grabs you right away something that it wasn’t common in the two previous solo efforts by Vedder.
Backing him up a stellar line-up and a list of guest artists that absolutely embody the word “legend”, Eddie releases his best record of his career with the punk/garage aesthetic mingling ideally with the classic Pearl Jam melodies. Well, it’s also this divine voice that makes the parallelism even easier. Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Ringo Starr make their appearance on the album while Chad Smith palys his heart out behind the drums. As for the overall style, well…Vedder never hid his love for Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen (as we can clearly listen on the songs “Long Way” and “The Dark” respectively). “Brother The Cloud”, “Good and Evil” and “Power of Right” could have easily fit on “Vitalogy” (yes, you heard me…) with a slightly different production while “Invincible” and “Rose Of Jericho” bring in mind something out of the “Gigaton” aura. Not bad at all, right?
All in all, Vedder comes up with a great record that doesn’t fail to meet our expectations and look straight into the eye the best Pearl Jam albums. Now the stakes are high for Pearl Jam although the Seattlers didn’t have any problem whatsoever…especially after the “Backspacer” era.
Highlight: “Mars Mills” is hauntingly reminiscent of the way that McCartney wrote songs on the latter era of Beatles or even Wings.
