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Title: Complex and difficult
Review: It's hard to describe this record, except that it every bit sounds the product of hundreds of hours of jam sessions and a commitment to experimenting. Every song is a uneasy ride of unusual melodies, angular riffs, abrupt dynamics, subtle experimentation. One could even call this a sort of punk-jazz record, like a Fugazi or Minutemen. At the least, every song has surprises that suggests influences (Who, Fugazi, MC5, Radiohead?, even trip-hop) but NEVER plays to the rules. This record is probably commercial suicide, but for once Eddie Vedder has a band that challenges him as much as he the band. If none of the rockers really gel and the ballads are uneasy, the album as a whole still is a wild ride. Often thrilling, maddening, but always full of music, making Binaural the most committed Pearl Jam album since Vitalogy.
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