Pitchfork

Meet the new Pearl Jam, same as the Pearl Jam that grungy fuddy-duddies cut bait on once the group became insular and phrenological. Though such a position wrongly excludes more than half of the band's catalog from any sort of love, those fair-weather fans might be in the right when it comes to this song. The group's efforts to quote rock unquote sound pretty flat-- you'll believe that this is the group's eighth album. As for what the lyric sheet holds, Eddie's attempts to zing a certain jug-eared preznit one more time ("Tell you to pray while/ The devil's on his shoulder") are equally lackluster. The belabored baseball metaphors on Riot Act were a better vehicle for beating around the bush than this well-intentioned what-is-it-good-for gnashing. If this single is indicative of what Pearl Jam's self-titled album has to offer, Clive Davis might have to spring for Rick Parashar's magical flange to recoup his investment.