Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready has dropped some hints about the band’s upcoming album, and let’s just say, we are excited. In a recent interview with Classic Rock, McCready revealed that the new record – currently untitled – will be a far cry from Pearl Jam‘s recent offerings, boasting a sound that’s “a lot heavier than you’d expect.”
Intrigued? We certainly are. McCready seems genuinely fired up about the band’s newfound heaviness. He describes the album as recapturing the “melody and energy” of their early records, specifically mentioning the raw power of their debut albums, “Ten” and “Vs”.
“It’s a lot heavier than you’d expect. There’s the melody and energy of the first couple of records. We worked with Andrew Watt, who’s a younger pop producer-type guy, but he’s really a rock guy at heart – I think we’re his favorite band. When we were in the studio with him this past year, he really kicked our asses, got us focused, and playing, song after song. It took a long time to make Gigaton, but this new one didn’t take long. Andrew was like: “You guys take forever to make records. Let’s do this, right now.”
But the good news doesn’t stop there. McCready promises a healthy dose of his own lead guitar heroics, reminiscent of his work with the late Chris Cornell on Temple of the Dog‘s seminal track “Reach Down.” This unleashing of pent-up sonic fury extends to drummer Matt Cameron as well, with McCready detecting echoes of his powerhouse drumming days with Soundgarden.
“For better or worse, you’re gonna hear a lot more lead guitar from me, stuff I haven’t done in a long time. I went crazy, like with Chris Cornell and Temple Of The Dog on ‘Reach Down’ [1991], all those years ago. I got to do it again. Usually, the first or second takes are best. After that, I start thinking about it and it doesn’t have the feel. But Andrew caught the lightning in a bottle, as they say.” McCready says. “Andrew pushed us to play as hard melodic and thoughtfully as we’ve done in a long time. I feel like Matt Cameron‘s drumming has elements of what he did in Soundgarden.”
If McCready‘s words are any indication, their next album is shaping up to be a gut-punching return to form, reminding us why Pearl Jam were once the kings of grunge.
