Eddie Vedder made a wise choice and dropped the long-ish story songs that began to show up increasingly in the early to mid ’90s.   This new album sounds incredibly fresh, vibrant and provides an urgent blast to your senses.  Very similar to R.E.M.’s Accelerate, Backspacer doesn’t waste time in getting to hooks and putting the point across. 

Pearl Jam have always been a great live band and have never been afraid to take risks, often deviating from set-lists to throw in covers from the many bands who have influenced them (usual suspects being The Who, Ramones and Neil Young).  This past Halloween, they added Devo to the list and closed down Philadelphia’s Spectrum in full Devo-regalia.

Whip it – Pearl Jam (Devo Cover)