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Pearl Jam has made some of the most vital music of its career.
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Those waiting for another record as challenging as 'Vitalogy' will be left disappointed. But 'Riot Act' is the sound of a band entering a powerful middle-age. They still deserve your attention.
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From its downbeat organ opening to its exhilarating climax, it's almost the sound of a garage band taking on 70s prog-rock excess - all the ambition and none of the flabby indulgence.
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The most quietly adventurous, intriguing document the group has assembled in ages.
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Sticking to a formula -- a formula that works for them -- the band sounds fiercer than ever on Riot Act.
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In some ways, Riot Act is the album that Pearl Jam has been wanting to make since Vitalogy -- a muscular art rock record, one that still hits hard but that is filled with ragged edges and odd detours.
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Eddie's heartfelt lyrics rarely cohere... [but their] grooves still sound taut, emotive, and world-class.
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The frequently acoustic guitars and the frontman's mumbled ramblings on death, politics and love make this a fairly quiet, and deep, Riot.
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'Riot Act' may be neither 'the-best-album-since' nor 'a-brilliant-return-to-form', but neither is it more-of-the-same-but-less-so.
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MojoThis album has plenty of ideas and plenty of 'moments.' [Jan 2003, p.92]
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With its restless spirituality and dense, decidedly un-pop arrangements, Riot Act perhaps most closely resembles that first album (No Code) of the post-Vitalogy years.
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Alternative PressIn mood, style and tone, Riot Act sounds like every other Pearl Jam record, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. [Dec 2002, p.89]
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SpinLike their last three records... [Riot Act] balances emotive bombast with a taut, sweaty hard-rock attack. [Dec 2002, p.137]
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 75 out of 93
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Mixed: 12 out of 93
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Negative: 6 out of 93
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Nov 6, 2022
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Apr 7, 2014
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Jun 30, 2012