Pearl Jam 'Given To Fly' (Epic)

Ageing grunge dinosaurs in song writing re-discovery shocker!!!

Yes indeed, Pearl Jam have hiked all the way back from the brink and realised that whichever one of them decided self-loathing, inward-looking, despair-inducing song smithery was the way forward was in fact talking bollocks. Alright, so those qualities haven't entirely deserted them quite yet, but the difference is that they've sprouted wings and started concentrating their attention outwards.

All of a sudden the sky's the limit, the world's their oyster and they don't sound like the walls are closing in on them and they'd rather die than actually express themselves.

James Berry.