Riot Act

Grade:

C

Pearl Jam have been through more changes than the nation's national security. 1998's Yield was the last real turning point in the band's career, getting people excited again after the experimental Vitalogy and the mixed feelings on No Code.

However, if there was ever a "falling off" record for a band, it was 2000's Binaural, in wihich Eddie Vedder let the rest of the gang take a bigger part in writing duties to ambiguous results. "Thin Air," anyone?

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Now, Seattle's surviving grungers return with Riot Act, a low-key affair that begs the question, "Why so restrained, Ed Chedder?"

Good news: It is not anywhere nearly as scattered or irrelevant as Binaural. Not that every PJ record was relevant, but for a band that battled most of their career attempting to make social statements, PJ are careening dangerously towards a lost audience and identity.

The only real overtly political rant is "Bushleaguer," an abstract manifesto about Washington. How original. And Ralph Nader is the messiah, Mr. Vedder?

The main complaint about this mood-setting road piece is that the usually outspoken Vedder and Co. say nothing about the events of or since Sept. 11.

Eight years ago, one could count on PJ jumping up and down, waiting to vent on anything this politically monumental.

Here, they sound like a bunch of Rumplestiltskins.