īinaural was recorded in late 1999 and early 2000 in Seattle, Washington at Studio Litho, which is owned by guitarist Stone Gossard.
Binaural recording techniques, which employ two microphones to create a 3-D stereophonic sound, were used on several tracks, such as the acoustic "Of the Girl." Regarding Blake, Gossard said, "He was just there for us the whole time, wanting us to create different moods." This was the first Pearl Jam studio album following the departure of drummer Jack Irons, and features drummer Matt Cameron of Soundgarden, who had previously drummed on Pearl Jam's U.S. Instead the band hired producer Tchad Blake, known for his use of binaural recording.
Gossard stated that the band "felt like it was time to try something new," and that they "were ready for a change." Lead vocalist Eddie Vedder called the making of the album "a construction job." Binaural was the first album since the band's debut that was not produced by Brendan O'Brien. Similar to the process for Yield, the band members worked on material individually before starting the recording sessions together. The album's 2000 tour spawned a large collection of official bootleg releases. Although the album was certified gold by the RIAA, it became the first Pearl Jam studio album to fail to reach Platinum status in the United States. Binaural received positive reviews, and debuted at number two on the Billboard 200. The atmospheric tracks, mostly featuring somber lyrics dealing with social criticism, led the band to convey these themes with images of nebulas in the album artwork.
The music on the album featured an experimental sound, evident on songs that used binaural recording techniques. This is Pearl Jam's first album to feature former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who joined during 1998's Yield Tour to replace Jack Irons. During the production of the album, the band encountered hindrances such as singer Eddie Vedder's writer's block, and guitarist Mike McCready's entrance into rehabilitation due to an addiction to prescription drugs. Following a full-scale tour in support of its previous album, Yield (1998), Pearl Jam took a short break before reconvening toward the end of 1999 to begin work on a new album. alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released May 16, 2000, through Epic Records. Then, in between, I think we’ll be recording, because now we’ve got a strong, healthy ambition to do so.”Įddie also added that Pearl Jam will play a lot for a year or two, pandemic permitting, and then slow down a bit and focus on recording their new studio album, the twelfth of their career.Binaural is the sixth studio album by U.S. So one thing we’ll be doing in 2022 in making good on promises to play those shows. Two-thirds of those shows were put on sale, even. You know, the pandemic came right we were leaving for a tour on the Gigaton record,” Eddie said,“ We had a lot of shows planned. “ We’ll make a record with Andrew, I believe. In a recent interview with MOJO, Eddie Vedder revealed that Pearl Jam’s next album will be produced by Andrew Watt, the producer of Earthling, Vedder’s new album due out on February 11th. While awaiting the start of the tour in support of Gigaton, Eddie Vedder revealed to MOJO the next plans for Pearl Jam.
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