Album · 20 years old this year
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam's eighth studio album, often called the "avocado" record, arrived on 2 May 2006, almost four years after Riot Act. It was their only release for J Records and the last to come out through Sony Music. The band worked on it at Studio X in Seattle from November 2004 until February 2006.
After the more reflective moods of earlier records, this one pushes back towards the band's roots, with quicker, more aggressive songs. Many lyrics are written from the viewpoint of characters, taking on American political concerns of the time, including the war on terror. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, went on to outsell Riot Act and spawned three singles: "World Wide Suicide", "Life Wasted" and "Gone". Kerrang! writer George Garner called it "criminally underrated", and it is a good place to hear the band sounding urgent again.
Pearl Jam: tracklist, credits and charts
13 tracks · 49:43Tracklist
- 1Life WastedStone Gossard and Eddie Vedder3:54
- 2World Wide SuicideEddie Vedder3:29
- 3ComatoseGossard, McCready, Vedder2:20
- 4Severed HandEddie Vedder4:30
- 5Marker in the SandMike McCready and Eddie Vedder4:23
- 6ParachutesStone Gossard and Eddie Vedder3:36
- 7UnemployableCameron, McCready, Vedder3:04
- 8Big WaveJeff Ament and Eddie Vedder2:58
- 9GoneEddie Vedder4:09
- 10Wasted RepriseStone Gossard and Eddie Vedder0:54
- 11Army ReserveAment, Echols, Vedder3:45
- 12Come BackMike McCready and Eddie Vedder5:30
- 13Inside JobMike McCready and Eddie Vedder7:09
- Produced by
- Adam Kasper, Pearl Jam
- Recorded at
- Studio X (Seattle, Washington)
- Recorded
- November 2004 – February 2006
- Mixed by
- Adam Kasper
- Engineered by
- John Burton, Sam Hofstedt, Adam Kasper
- Label
- J Records
- Length
- 49:43
Line-up
- Jeff Ament · bass guitar
- Matt Cameron · drums (drum set), percussion, guitar
- Kenneth “Boom” Gaspar · organ, Hammond organ, piano
- Stone Gossard · guitar
- Eddie Vedder · guitar, vocals
- Gary Westlake · organ
Singles
- “World Wide Suicide” · 14 March 2006
- “Life Wasted” · 28 August 2006
- “Gone” · 4 September 2006
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 2006 | 2 |
| UK Albums Chart · 2006 | 5 |
| Italian Albums · 2006 | 1 |
| Portuguese Albums · 2006 | 1 |
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2006 | 2 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2006 | 2 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2006 | 2 |
| Dutch Albums · 2006 | 2 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2006 | 2 |
| Swiss Albums · 2006 | 2 |
All 25 charts
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2006 | 2 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2006 | 2 |
| Austrian Albums · 2006 | 3 |
| German Albums · 2006 | 4 |
| Ireland 2 · 2006 | 4 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2006 | 4 |
| Scottish Albums · 2006 | 5 |
| Swedish Albums · 2006 | 6 |
| Danish Albums · 2006 | 7 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2006 | 12 |
| Finnish Albums · 2006 | 13 |
| Spanish Albums · 2006 | 13 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) · 2006 | 19 |
| French Albums · 2006 | 21 |
| Hungarian Albums · 2006 | 28 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia · 2006 | Platinum |
| Brazil · 2006 | Gold |
| Canada · 2006 | Platinum |
| New Zealand · 2006 | Platinum |
| Portugal · 2006 | Gold |
| United Kingdom · 2013 | Silver |
| United States · 2006 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
66.9
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.1k
ListenBrainz listeners
66k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
42k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
More from Pearl Jam
Full discography →
Ten
1991
Vs.
1993
Dissident (Live in Atlanta)
1994
Vitalogy
1994
No Code
1996
Yield
1998
Live on Two Legs
1998
Binaural
2000
2000-05-30: Wembley Arena, London, UK (#5)
2000
2000-06-08: Bercy, Paris, France (#10)
2000
2000-08-29: Boston, MA, USA (#43)
2001
2000-08-25: Jones Beach, NY, USA (#41)
2001
2000-10-22: Las Vegas, NV, USA (#62)
2001
Riot Act
2002
2003-07-08: New York, NY, USA
2003
Lost Dogs
2003
2003-10-22: Benaroya Hall, Seattle, WA, USA
2004
Rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003)
2004
Live at Easy Street
2006
Live at the Gorge 05/06
2007
2007-08-05: Lollapalooza, Grant Park, Chicago, IL, USA
2007
Backspacer
2009
Live on Ten Legs
2011
Pearl Jam Twenty
2011
Lightning Bolt
2013
Vault #6: 1998-07-13: Great Western Forum, Inglewood, CA, USA
2016
Let’s Play Two: Live at Wrigley Field
2017
MTV Unplugged
2019
Gigaton
2020
Give Way
2023
Dark Matter
2024
The Last of Us
2025
The best of 2006
All of 2006 →
10,000 Days
Tool · 2006
Saturday Night Wrist
Deftones · 2006
A Matter of Life and Death
Iron Maiden · 2006
Christ Illusion
Slayer · 2006
Skin and Bones
Foo Fighters · 2006
Let Love In
Goo Goo Dolls · 2006
Kiss of Death
Motörhead · 2006
Yeah!
Def Leppard · 2006
Underground 6
Linkin Park · 2006
Greatest Hits 1970–1978
Black Sabbath · 2006
Operation: Mindcrime II
Queensrÿche · 2006
The Essential Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains · 2006
More on J Records
The label →Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 2006-04-28 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 28 April 2006 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 2 May 2006 | |
| Wikidata | 2 May 2006 | |
| US release | 2 May 2006 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 1 May 2006 | earliest UK or European date |
15 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | US | J Records | 888837148528 | other |
| 28 April 2006 | DE | J Records | 828767146720 | original |
| 1 May 2006 | AU | J Records | 0828767146720 | other |
| 1 May 2006 | GB | J Records | 888837148429 | other |
| 2 May 2006 | ID | J Records | 828767146744 | other |
| 2 May 2006 | US | J Records | 828767146713 | other |
| 2 May 2006 | ZA | J Records | 6007124468338 | other |
| 2 May 2006 | XW | J Records | 828767146720 | other |
| 2 May 2006 | US | Ten Club | other | |
| 2 May 2006 | US | J Records | 828767146720 | other |
| 2 May 2006 | CA | J Records | 888837148429 | other |
| 24 May 2006 | JP | BMG Japan | 4988017639078 | other |
| 10 November 2017 | US | Epic | 889854091415 | other |
| 10 November 2017 | — | Epic | 886446613987 | other |
| 26 January 2018 | AU | J Records | 889854127428 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 1500x1500
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 1500×1500 | native: native 1500x1500 |
| coverartarchive | 1645×1482 | rejected |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |