While Binaural contains no monster hits like "Alive," "Evenflow" or "Jeremy" from their enormously successful debut album Ten, there is a direct relationship to the band's second outing Vs. in terms of the record's musical diversity.
Like Vs., Binaural moves effortlessly from high-energy grunge tunes like "Breakerfall," "God's Dice," "Grievance" and the punk-tinged "Evacuation" to great lighter-waving acoustic tracks such as "Thin Air" and the subdued "Of The Girl" where Eddie Vedder's gritty but soulful vocals are not only effective, but powerful. However, the tracks that really shine are the mid-tempo rockers like the single "Nothing As It Seems," its B-side "Insignificance" as well as the brilliant "Light Years."
Just when you thought the party was over for Pearl Jam, they come back in a big way, raining on the parade of their detractors. While Binaural is not the best Pearl Jam record ever released, it is a damn good one; certainly one that breathes life into a band that we all thought was slowly passing away.
