Pearly Kings?
Pearl Jam release the follow up single to April's 'World Wide Suicide' on the back of their self titled eighth studio album and some triumphant performances at Reading and Leeds festivals recently.
With 60 million records sold worldwide I know I'm probably in the minority here but I've never been a big Pearl Jam fan, they were always just a bit too American sounding for me. Always prepared to give bands a second listen though I have to say I'm quite impressed with 'Life Wasted'. It has a good raw feel to it, it's pretty catchy and Eddie Vedder's vocals come across as honest and not at all contrived, which is a bonus as that's one of the major reasons that grunge irritated the hell out of me. It's not the greatest track you're likely to hear by any means and I wouldn't imagine it would make that many Pearl Jam fans' top ten but it's solid enough.
Past glories don't guarantee future success, a fact Pearl Jam know only too well after their 2002 album 'Riot Act' only managed to sell in total around half the number of copies that 'Vs' and 'Vitalogy' shifted in the first week of release! I'm not sure 'Life Wasted' is good enough to have a new generation of fans rushing to check out the back catalogue, but on the back of their appearances at Leeds and Reading and with the new album seemingly going down well with the faithful it would appear that Pearl Jam are back in the game.