Binaural (album)
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| Binaural | ||
| ||
| Studio album by Pearl Jam | ||
| Released | May 16, 2000 | |
| Recorded | October 1999 - February 2000 at Studio Litho, Seattle, Washington | |
| Genre | Alternative rock | |
| Length | 51:58 | |
| Label | Epic | |
| Producer(s) | Tchad Blake, Pearl Jam | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Pearl Jam chronology | ||
| Live on Two Legs (1998) | Binaural (2000) | Riot Act (2002)
|
Binaural is Pearl Jam's sixth studio album, released on May 16, 2000. This is the first Pearl Jam studio album following the departure of drummer Jack Irons, and features Matt Cameron, formerly of Soundgarden, which at that that time had recently disbanded. Several tracks on the album were recorded using binaural recording techniques, hence the title. These can usually be identified by a warm sound to the music, such as the acoustic "Of The Girl" as well as an asterisk next to the name on the track list.
Binaural sold 226,000 copies during its first week of release and was the first Pearl Jam album to fail to produce any major Billboard hits, though the haunting "Nothing As It Seems" managed to reach #3 on the Mainstream Rock Charts. However, the hard-hitting "Grievance" was nominated for a Grammy in 2001, and the album's 2000 tour spawned an enormous collection of official bootleg releases, thereby setting the record for the number of albums one band sent to the Billboard Top 200 simultaneously.
The intro to the opening track "Breakerfall" uses the riff from the song "I Can See For Miles" by The Who. Additionally, the track, "Soon Forget," which is played solely on a ukulele, is heavily influenced by The Who song "Blue, Red and Grey" (from The Who By Numbers LP). Eddie thanks Pete Townshend on the lyric sheet.
The cover art features the Hourglass Nebula. This is the band's first album not to contain any swear words in the lyrics, despite the ferocity of some of the music and subject matter.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
- "Breakerfall" (Vedder) – 2:19
- "Gods' Dice" (Ament) – 2:26
- "Evacuation" (Cameron, Vedder) – 2:56
- "Light Years" (Gossard, McCready, Vedder) – 5:06
- "Nothing As It Seems" (Ament) – 5:22
- "Thin Air" (Gossard) – 3:32
- "Insignificance" (Vedder) – 4:28
- "Of the Girl" (Gossard) – 5:07
- "Grievance" (Vedder) – 3:14
- "Rival" (Gossard) – 3:38
- "Sleight of Hand" (Ament, Vedder) – 4:47
- "Soon Forget" (Vedder) – 1:46
- "Parting Ways" (Vedder) – 7:17
- Contains the hidden track "Writer's Block"
[edit] Original Tracklisting
When the tracklisting for Binaural was first released in late March 2000, it was quite different from the final version. Some tracks that were originally on the album were dropped and not released until the Lost Dogs complilation and "Gods' Dice" was added to the final version. The original version looked like this:
- "Breakherfall"
- "Insignificance"
- "Evacuation"
- "Letter To The Dead"
- "Rival"
- "Grievance"
- "Light Years"
- "Of The Girl"
- "Thin Air"
- "Nothing As It Seems"
- "Fatal"
- "Sleight Of Hand"
- "Soon Forget"
- "In The Moonlight"
- "Parting Ways"
- "Education"
[edit] Singles
- "Nothing As It Seems" / "Insignificance" (2000)
- "Light Years" / "Grievance" (Live) / "Soon Forget" (Live) (2000)
[edit] Album charts
| Album | Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
|
| 2000 | The Billboard 200 | No. 2 |
| 2000 | Top Canadian Albums | No. 2 | |
| 2000 | Top Internet Albums | No. 2 | |
| 2000 | Irish Albums Chart | No. 6 | |
| 2000 | UK Albums Chart | No. 7 |
[edit] Chart trajectory
| Irish Chart Trajectory | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chart position | 6 | 9 | 13 | 17 | 41 | 44 | 67 | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
[edit] Singles charts
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | "Nothing As It Seems" | Canadian Singles Chart | No. 1 |
| 2000 | "Nothing As It Seems" | UK Singles Chart | No. 22 |
| 2000 | "Nothing As It Seems" | Irish Singles Chart | No. 27 |
| 2000 | "Nothing As It Seems" | US The Billboard Hot 100 | No. 49 |
| 2000 | "Nothing As It Seems" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | No. 3 |
| 2000 | "Nothing As It Seems" | US Modern Rock Tracks | No. 10 |
| 2000 | "Light Years" | Canadian Singles Chart | No. 13 |
| 2000 | "Light Years" | US Mainstream Rock Tracks | No. 17 |
| 2000 | "Light Years" | US Modern Rock Tracks | No. 26 |
| 2000 | "Light Years" | UK Singles Chart | No. 52 |
[edit] Certifications
| Organization | Level | Date |
|---|---|---|
| RIAA | Gold | June 21, 2000 |
[edit] Credits
Pearl Jam:
- Eddie Vedder - Guitar, Vocals, Ukulele
- Stone Gossard - Guitar
- Jeff Ament - Bass
- Mike McCready - Guitar
- Matt Cameron - Drums
Additional musicians:
- April Cameron - Viola
- Justine Foy - Cello
- Mitchell Froom - Keyboard, Harmonium
- Pete Thomas - Percussion
- Wendy Melvoin - Percussion
- Dakota - Canine vocal
Additional Personnel:
- Produced by Tchad Blake and Pearl Jam
- Mixed by Brendan O'Brien and Tchad Blake
- Engineered by Matt Bayles
- 2nd Engineers - Ashley Stubbert, Adam Samuels
