Buy These, Not Titanic's 'Track

by Chris Hayes

Starting off, I want to say that it is about time. Finally there are some albums being released that are worth talking about. For some unknown reason, the record industry finds it necessary to take the entire months of December and January off and leave the world of music bare of any notable releases. Why do you think every music column you read has a "Year in Review" in either December or January? No, they aren't that fun to write. I t is because there is nothing else worth writing about.

Finally, your favorite record store's shelves are being filled with fresh albums. Things are slowly getting back on track. To get you back in the swing of it all and thinking about cool rock and roll again,here are some albums that are worth checking out.

Pearl Jam is without a doubt one of the most popular bands today. They are also the most mainstream of bands that doesn't act like one. Even after five full­length albums, they still act and, for the most part, sound like an indie band out of Seattle. They stand by their "small band ethics"­ fighting Ticket Master, not shooting any videos since their debut album, releasing CD's for fan club members only, and contributing to as many charity and tribute compilations as possible.

Despite all these antics that no other successful band would consider trying to pull off, Pearl Jam remains amazingly popular. Absolutely huge. They are close to a religious cult. Rarely does a band of such magnitude possess such a loyal and devoted audience of this size. Devotees who consider themselves "not big fans" still can rattle off the songs Pearl Jam played on their first appearance on Saturday Night Live almost six years ago. It is this devotion that has made Pearl Jam's latest release Yield such an anticipated album despite many unfavorable reviews since their debut of Ten.

Yield will sell a lot. There is no question of that. It will enter the Billboard Top 200 at numero uno and stay there for a few weeks despite how good or bad the album is. That is the comfort of being in Pearl Jam's shoes. The discomfort comes from the pressure of releasing an album and always having it compared to Ten, and then called inferior.

Yield is Pearl Jam's most successful attempt to tackle and overcome that discomfort. In short, Yield is rock and roll in the same realm asTen . Pearl Jam strays away from the world of experimentation to do what they do best. Sure, it took them three albums of hits and misses to come to this conclusion, but the result is a collection of tight rock songs driven by their most rhythmic and energetic guitar playing ever.

Mike McCready and Stone Gossard display amazing talent and growth as song writers and guitar players. The opening tracks "Brain of J." and "Faithfull" provide a powerful look into the energy McCready and Gossard perform consistently throughout Yield. A base like this, combined with Eddie Vedder's unique cry of spirituality and everyday life, allow for an exploration in production that either was not attempted or successful on Pearl Jam's previous work. A careful listen to Yield reveals clever and sometimes subtle additions such as a processed voice of Vedder on "Do the Evolution," jet planes passing overhead on the melodic masterpiece "Wishlist," and the pollution of city sounds on the poetry­like "Push Me, Pull Me."

Yield may just be enough to re­establish Pearl Jam as not just one of the most popular and powerful rock bands of the nineties, but one that is able to find their place back where they are most comfortable. All this while still moving forward.

If one was to open up the booklet and read the lyrics to Sixteen Horsepower's new album, Low Estate, one would swear that they were passages taken straight from the Bible. That is the way the quartet from
Denver wants it. Never in the modern era of rock has a band spoken with such frankness and energy about the truths of God, love, and sin than Sixteen Horsepower does on their latest release. The strange thing is that this technique, unlike the washed out praise sung by modern Christian groups, is truthfully haunting and strikingly beautiful at the same time.

Raised in the presence of a Nazarene minister, frontman David Edwards, combined with three other traditional musicians, brings an old time preaching and traditional southern music to an era often defunct of such power in music. Sixteen Horsepower is as much torn between music genres as it is with spirituality. Stepping both into classic rock and roll and modern beats, 16 HP remains as timeless as the Bible itself. Reminiscent of early Southern and Appalachian jigs and polkas with banjos and washboards, Edwards twists and squeezes out the comfort with his tales of torment and love of God as well as of sin.

Sixteen Horsepower recreates the category of Southern Rock by bringing it all back to basics. There is not a moment in Low Estate that is free of emotion and expert instrumentation. Every strum of the banjo, every pluck of the stand up bass, and every twangy cry of vocals speaks the honesty of living in a modern world while being torn apart by one's belief in traditional religion.

Sixteen Horsepower brings their original sound to the Golden Dollar in Detroit on February 21.

Most people remember Hum for their sleeper hit three years ago. The one that went "She missed the plane to Mars/She's out back counting stars." Yeah, that one. Their album You'd Prefer an Astronaut was enjoyed by the brave souls who could handle the mid­song tempo jumps and roller­coaster ride that the album took you on.

Hum has returned with Downward is Heavenward, the Champaign, Illinois quartet's fourth album and second on RCA. Their style and technique has been left almost unaltered. They attempt to create an atmosphere and mood caught somewhere between space­rock, grunge, and power­pop. Strangely, it seems comfortable and appropriate this time around. The album is amazingly cohesive in its wild ride. Despite rapid and drastic tempo changes, all is kept gelled by thick and fuzzy guitar tones, with Matt Talbott tying it together with his pleasingly simple mid­west accented vocals.

Downward is Heavenward 's complexity is balanced by a strong sense of melody. Although not always noticeable, the memorable melodies keep the songs sounding like songs instead of a disarray of experimentation. Many of the songs make you want to sing and ... you figure out the rest.

However, it would be an injustice to deny Hum's ability to experiment and succeed with that experimentation. They can add breaks in the most unlikely of places and still have the listener follow. They can layer a song with a disgusting amount of distorted and raging guitars and still have fans of Rick's shelling out beer money to buy the album.

Songs such as "Afternoon with the Axolotls," "Green to Me," and "Comin' Home," display the diverse talent of Hum as a group. They all have highs and lows that almost do not make sense, but by being held together by that single thread, makes the album and the band what it is undeniably addictive.

Hum plays St. Andrew's Hall February 21 with the Promise Ring. MR

This article was published in the 11 February 1998 edition of The Michigan Review (Volume 16, Number 7).
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