The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, November 20, 2002, Page 9, Image 9
CD REVIEW
Pearl Jam crafts new sounds
“RIOT ACT”
Pearl Jam
★★★★ out of ☆☆☆☆☆
BY CHARLES TOMLINSON
THE GAMECOCK
How different can an alterna
tive-rock band be? The formula for
the genre is straightforward: a
singer with a ragged, forceful voice;
a simple, powerful drum beat; and
electric guitars that kick into dis
tortion on the dramatic choruses.
But Pearl Jam hasn’t always
adhered to the typical method.
The band has had its punk mo
ments, such as on “Spin the Black
Circle,” but it has also crafted
countrified times, such as “Off He
Goes,” and moody, almost-emo
songs, sueh as “Wishlist.”
“Riot Act,” the band’s new al
bum, is undeniably Pearl Jam,
and Eddie Vedder’s guttural voice
is unmistakable above all else.
“Ghost” is the essence of Pearl
Jam, with a dirty guitar tone,
rough-sounding drums and a
winding guitar solo, me same
goes for “Save You,” the album’s
only full-group songwriting effort.
Although “Riot Act” is often fa
miliar hard-rock territory for
Pearl Jam (which is by no means
shabby territory), it shows several
signs of the band stepping outside
grunge boundaries again.
“Thumbing My Way” and “All or
None” recall the more subdued
Pearl Jam of “No Code” and
“Yield.” Drummer Matt Cameron
pulls out the brushes to create an
airy percussive effect on the songs
and proves he is capable of the ul
traquiet dynamics he never got to
play in Soundgarden.
Cameron is perhaps the biggest
contributor of the sonic depar
tures on “Riot Act.” He only had
one co-writing credit on
“Binaural,” Pearl Jam’s 2000 al
bum and Cameron’s first studio al
bum with the band. But on “Riot
Act,” he wrote three songs. “You
Are,” which he penned, features
a scratchy staccato guitar and a
deep, AC/DC-sounding snare
drum, creating a thick backbeat
for the band to coast on.
Cameron also wrote the lyrics
and music for “Wanted to Get
Right,” which contains an unpre
dictable Vedder vocal rhythm and
a ringy rhythm guitar playing
harmonics. “Cropduster,” another
Cameron song, however, is closer
to standard Pearl Jam craftsman
ship - which is still well above the
average in rock music.
Taking his role as front man to
the extreme, vedder wrote a third
of the album himself, with the ex
ception of “Love Boat Captain," a
wistful love song he co-wrote with
keyboardist Boom Gaspar.
Vedder, as always, peppers his
lyrics with vivid imagery. On
“Green Disease,” he sings, “And
like weeds with big
leaves/Stealing light from what’s
beneath/Where they have
more/Still they take more.” On
the bluesy “1/2 Full,” which
sounds like a kickback to the
“Ten”-era song “Deep,” he cyni
cally sings, “Don’t see some men
as half empty/See them half full
of... “ Vou can guess the rest.
A spoken-word piece with sung
choruses, “Bushleaguer,” as the ti
tle should imply, seems to be a
caustic criticism of our nation’s
president. Vedder says, “Swinging
for the fence, got lucky with a
strike/Drilling for fear. Makes the
job simple.” And then he uses base
ball terminology to effectively
make a point about the hand-downs
politicians receive when their dads
are prominent figures: “Born on
third; thinks he got a triple.”
“Riot Act” is Pearl Jam, and it’s
rock music. But it’s far from stat
ic. The band explores new tex
tures and, as always, keeps its dy
namics fluid. Pearl Jam knows
how to make a fresh approach to
its music while still sounding like
itself.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com
From left,
Mike
McCready,
Stone
Gossard, Jeff
Ament, Eddie
Vedder and
Matt
Cameron
| make up
Pearl Jam,
which
recently
emerged from
the studio
with a
dynamic new
I album.
PHOTO SPECIAL TO
THE GAMECOCK
BRIEFLY
D’Angelo subdued
during Sunday arrest
RICHMOND, VA. (AP) - R&B
singer D’Angelo had to be subdued
with pepper spray after he resisted
arrest on misdemeanor charges of
aggressive driving and other
counts, police said.
Chesterfield police said they
went to D’Angelo’s suburban
Richmond home after a con
frontation he reportedly had with
a woman at a gas station Sunday.
The singer cursed at the woman
and spit on her after he cut her off
in his sport utility vehicle, police
said.
D’Angelo resisted police as
they tried to arrest him Monday
and had to be subdued with the
spray, Maj. James B. Bourque
said.
The singer was released on his
recognizance pending a Jan. 15 ap
pearance in Chesterfield General
Court.
Bids on Eminem
house hit $1 million
WARREN, MICH. (AP) -
Bidding for one of Eminem's boy
hood homes has surpassed $1
million on an Internet auction
site.
The modest Warren home, list
ed on eBay since Thursday, was
appraised at $91,000. Bidding
opened at $120,000, and by Tuesday
afternoon, the high bid was just
over $1 million.
"It's just amazing the response
we’re getting," said Sebastian
Lucido, a Utica attorney who
bought the house with Roland
Fraschetti, a Macomb County
commissioner and real estate de
veloper.
Eminem’s uncle, Todd Nelson,
sold the house this month for
$45,000 to Lucido and Fraschetti.
The 1,300-square-foot home
has three bedrooms and two
bathrooms. It was built in 1940
and has been in Eminem's family
for at least 50 years, Fraschetti
said.
v. vwm
Audioslave
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8
case can on “Like a Stone,”
“Hypnotize,” “What You Are” and
“Gasoline.” Cornell is even given
the lead guitar in “Getaway Car,”
one of the more Soundgar-den-es
que songs.
The album was produced by
Rick Rubin, whose legendary work
spans decades, back to the creation
of rap label Def Jam, and whose
most recent production credits
were on System of a Down’s 2001
album, “Toxicity.” Rubin has also
worked with the Red Hot Chili
Peppers, the Beastie Boys, and rap
per/poet Saul Williams, develop
ing a penchant to be involved with
more creative projects.
Cornell’s influence on
Audioslave bears the mark of
“Euphoria Morning” more than
of his contributions to
Soundgarden, which might be
disheartening to grunge fans. But
Cornell’s vocal contribution is
superb, and is much more musi
cal than his screaming, which
was overused on Soundgarden’s
last studio album, “Down on the
Upside,” from 1996. Because
Audioslave rarely falls into the
habit of overdubbing vocals, it
has the potential to be incredible
in concert.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockmixeditor@hptmail.com
We II help you get your college degree. The Army National Guard
offers you the Montgomery Gl Bill,Tuition Assistance as well as extra
state benefits. Most Guard members serve one weekend a month and
two weeks a year. Go to college and still have time for a life. In the
Army National Guard, YOU CAN!
SOUTH
CAROLINA
! -800-GO-GUARD • www.l-800-GC-GUARD.com
c
Bunker makes bigotry funny
CHARLES TOMLINSOI
GAMECOCKMIXEDITOR@HOTMAIL.COM
The joke’s always on the
narrow-minded father
in “All in the Family.”
He’s an irritable bigot; he
talks down to his clueless, defer
ent wife; and he calls his son-in
law “meathead.” But Archie
Bunker, played by Carroll
O’Connor, found popularity on
‘70s television as he sat in his
worn-out chair in his Astoria liv
.
mg room.
Any time I hear Archie sing in
his Queens brogue, “Boy, the way
Glenn Miller played,” my eyes
light up. I know I’m in for a half
hour of nothing but laughter.
And when Edith screeches, “And
you knew where you WEEEER
RRE then,” the grating sound
seems like heaven for my
eardrums.
Archie, however, wasn’t so
nice about Edith’s vocalizations.
He once said, “Listen, Edith, I
know you’re singing, you know
you’re singing, but the neigh
bors may think I’m torturing
you.”
Archie Bunker was an intol
erant man with a skewed world
view, and believe it or not,
that’s what made him funny.
Maybe that’s because I always
know how Archie will react
(and not just because I’ve al
ready seen all the episodes on
Nick at Nite). How he’ll flip out
when he sees the picture of his
niece and Lionel, the son of the
Bunkers’ black neighbors, the
Jeffersons.
Yes, “The Jeffersons” was a
spin-off of “All in the Family”; so
were “Maude” and “Good
Times.”
I can also predict how Archie
will react anytime Michael
Stivic, his “meathead” son-in
r law, brings up atheism.
11 And when it comes to religion,
Archie said it best: “God don’t
make no mistakes. That’s how he
got to be God.”
Some of my friends, however,
don’t find Mr. Bunker to be so
funny. One of my friends called
him a bigot and followed it with a
couple of expletives.
I have to agree — yes, he is an
intolerant bigot. A character as
politically incorrect as Archie
would never see the light of mod
em television.
But, as creator Norman Lear
pointed out, the joke in every
episode inevitably fell on Archie.
Edith; Gloria, his daughter; and
Michael al
ways came
off as the
smart
ones,
while
Archie
was the
bumbling
idiot try
ingin vain
to make Caroll O’Connor
his point, played the
Audiences infamous Archie
laugh at Bunker in the
him, not ’70s CBS sitcom,
with him.
He made outrageous state
ments that no one in their right
mind would agree with: “Jesus
was a Jew, yes, but only on his
mother’s side.”
And he tried to defend
President Nixon when speak
ing with Michael: “He didn’t
lie! He just forgot to tell the
truth!”
And he told Mike: “You’re
th? one who needs an American
history lesson. You don’t know
anything about Lady Liberty,
standing there in the harbor
with her torch out high,
screaming out to all the nations
of the world: ‘Send me your
poor, -your deadbeats, your
filthy!’ “
Sammy Davis Jr. once made a
guest appearance on “All in the
Family,” and his exchanges with
Archie were some of the funniest
the show ever saw.
Archie: “I think that, I mean,
if God had meant for us to be to
gether, he’d a put us together.
But look what he done. He put
you over in Africa, and put the
rest of us in all the white coun-'
ix ica.
Davis Jr.: “Well, he must’ve
told 'em where we were because
somebody came and got us.”
Archie’s endless
malapropisms also made him the
butt of the show’s jokes. He just
couldn’t say things right. Here .
are some examples:
♦ Cuisini: zucchini
♦ Groinocologist: gynecologist
♦. Menstrual show: minstrel
show
♦ Terlit: toilet
♦ Trampaloon: trampoline
♦ Weirdwolf: werewolf
One particular conversation
with Michael sums up Archie’s
mixed-up speech.
Michael: “You know, you are
totally incomprehensible.”
Archie: “Maybe so, but I make
a lot of sense.”
O’Connor died June 21,2001,
but his politically incorrect hu
mor will live in infamy as long
as “All in the Family” reruns
grace Nick at Nite every
evening.
Tomlinson is a third-year print
journalism student. His column
appears Wednesdays in The Mix.
PICK UP YOUR COPY OF
_ __
HIV/AIDS
Orasure TESTING
I
No Needles
No Blood
r
_ ___
Quick and Easy j
NOV. 25
1 Oam-5 pm t
Russell House
Room 203 & 204 *
Contact: Maurice Williams
777-1835
^ 777-8248
W>
World AIDS Day: 1
Program held on Dec. 2 at 6pm !
on the State House Steps i
;‘.T , I
f
Sponsored by: Health and Wellness
■w .-ajjf - ■—I Iita I.