Gigaton (album)

''Gigaton'' is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released March 27, 2020. It was preceded by the singles " Dance of the Clairvoyants", " Superblood Wolfmoon" and " Quick Escape". It is the band's first studio album in six and half years, and their first album since 2006's eponymous album to feature more collaboration for the lyrics, rather than them being written solely by the frontman Eddie Vedder. The cover artwork was produced by photographer Paul Nicklen. Its release was scheduled to coincide with a tour of North America. However, the North American leg was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually rescheduled for 2022.

Background and recording

Producer Josh Evans told ''Varietys Jonathan Cohen that "Seven O'Clock" was pieced together from different portions of a jam early in the recording sessions, and then layered with new elements later on. Eddie Vedder's vocal on the solo acoustic "Comes Then Goes" was captured on the first take, while the 1850s-era pump organ Vedder played on the 2015 demo of "River Cross" was retained for the studio version.

Critical reception

AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine rated the album 4 out of 5 stars, noting that its three highlights were "Who Ever Said", "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Never Destination". ''Rolling Stone'' writer Kory Grow also gave the album a positive review, also rating it 4 out of 5 stars. Grow wrote that ''Gigaton'' is "an admirable, inspiring example of grown-up grunge". ''Spin'' writer John Paul Bullock was also positive toward the album, writing, "''Gigaton'' has a little something for everyone. It's a complex, dynamic album full of earnest emotion and subtle humor". ''Mojo'', in yet another positive review, wrote, "Strong and loose, political and personal, Pearl Jam get the balance absolutely right".

''Kerrang!'' writer George Garner gave the album a perfect score, and wrote: "it's Pearl Jam's most incensed album since 2006. It's their most musically inventive since 1998. And, by virtue of its themes, it is their most gravely needed of their entire career. It is, in short, a triumph". Garner also noted that ''Gigaton'' "often zips along so quickly that on first listen it's easy to miss the details that make it so special".

Writing for ''The A.V. Club'', Alex McLevy gave the album a B, criticizing it for being uneven, but praising the band for musical experimentation and writing that it "stands out in comparison to several more recent Pearl Jam albums due to the improved ratio of hits to misses on the back half". ''Consequence of Sound'' critic Matt Melis graded the album a B+, noting that the three best songs from ''Gigaton'' were "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde".

Steve Lampiris of ''The Line of Best Fit'' considered ''Gigaton'' the band's most experimental album, and gave it a score of 8 out of 10. Tom Hull was less impressed, giving it a B grade and saying that it is "not bad, nor especially interesting, and by the end I was reminded of how tedious Eddie Vedder's voice is."

Accolades

Commercial performance

On the US ''Billboard'' 200, ''Gigaton'' debuted at number 5 with 63,000 album-equivalent units, marking the band's twelfth top 10 album. Of that sum, it sold 14,000 vinyl copies, the second-largest weekly vinyl sales for a 2020 release.

As of March 2024 the album has earned 172,000 equivalent album units in the US.

Track listing

Personnel

Pearl Jam
*Eddie Vedder – lead vocals; guitar, keyboards on "Seven O'Clock", pump organ on "River Cross", production, concept and layout (credited as Jerome Turner), text
*Mike McCready – lead guitar; percussion on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", keyboards on "Retrograde", production
*Stone Gossard – rhythm guitar; bass on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", percussion on "Buckle Up", vocals on "Buckle Up", keyboards on "Retrograde", production
*Jeff Ament – bass guitar; keyboards and guitar on "Dance of the Clairvoyants" and "Quick Escape", drum loop on "Quick Escape", keyboards on "Alright" and "Seven O'Clock", Mbira on "Alright" and "River Cross", programming on "Seven O'Clock", piano on "Buckle Up", production, layout, concept (credited as Al Nostreet)
*Matt Cameron – drums; drum programming on "Dance of the Clairvoyants", guitar on "Alright" and "Take the Long Way", vocals and programming on "Take the Long Way", production

Additional personnel
*Ames Bros. – text
*John Burton – engineering
*Josh Evans – keyboards on "Superblood Wolfmoon", "Never Destination", "Buckle Up" and "River Cross", drum programming on "Alright", production
*Meagan Grandall – backing vocals on "Take the Long Way"
*Bob Ludwig – mastering
*Paul Nicklen – photography
* Brendan O'Brien – keyboards on "Quick Escape" and "Retrograde"
*Joe Spix – layout

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

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2020 albums
Pearl Jam albums
Albums produced by Brendan O'Brien (record producer)
Republic Records albums
Monkeywrench Records albums
Post-punk albums by American artists
Experimental rock albums by American artists