The solo career of Eddie Vedder, lead singer of the band Pearl Jam, is not a particularly consistent affair.
On the one hand, he signed "Into the Wild" from 2007, a perfect soundtrack to a must-see film that is considered a musical masterpiece.
On the other hand, four years later he released "Ukulele Songs", an unimportant or particularly successful album, which contains, as its name implies, songs played by veteran rocker Ukulele.
Now comes "Earthling", Wooder's third solo album, and it's hard to catalog either.
It has tracks like "Invincible" and "Good and Evil," which sound like generic Pearl Jam songs.
Those designed for fans who hope to get from Wooder what they are used to getting from his lineup.
"Brother the Cloud" is also reminiscent of Pearl Jam's later albums, with kicking rock and lyrics that some believe are about Chris Cornell, lead singer of the band Soundgarden and friend of Eddie, who committed suicide five years ago.
But it is precisely these tracks, which some define today as "Dad Rock" (rock for fathers who grew up in the nineties) that are the least interesting in this work.
Backed by a supergroup that includes Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Josh Klinghoffer (formerly of the Chillies, now Pearl Jam) and Chris Cheney (Jane's Addiction), Wooder seems to be thriving When he decides to try new things with blown up names.
In "Try" he hosts Stevie Wonder, for one of the fun and happy passages in this collection.
In "Picture" he meets Elton John's keyboards, and the result is great.
"Mrs. Mills" is very much influenced by the Beatles, thanks in no small part to the friend Ringo Starr who is hosted by him, and above the ballad "Long Way" Tom Patty's spirit hovers.
It turns out that even older grandees still know how to do good rock, when they step out of their comfort zone.
Were we wrong?
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