there's just one word I still believe, and its 'love'." And the optimistic Thumbing My Way ("no matter how cold the winter, there's a springtime ahead") boasts a gorgeous melody. Love Boat Captain contains the lines, "It can't be said enough, all you need is love. That is reflected in many of the songs on Riot Act, an emotionally powerful album which also contains some of their most direct and beautiful songs yet. It was in this homely space Pearl Jam reconvened a year ago to work on what would become their new album, Riot Act, one influenced by September 11 and the subsequent political climate in the United States which the band finds oppressive and anti-democratic. Off to one side an incomplete marquee sign reads "ARL JAM". There are sagging opp-shop couches and high on the wall, in what looks like an impromptu shrine, is a Mother Love Bone poster surrounded by the detritus of rock'n'roll: papier mache heads, a football helmet, cereal boxes, and battered dolls. Their rehearsal space is lined with neatly stacked guitar cases and boxes. He still lives in Seattle but admits spending winters elsewhere, although "this place is good for writing depressing songs. Yet for a man who seemed to make angst a lifestyle accessory he is quietly self-deprecating. His gaze is level and unwavering, his presence one of wariness. In a side room of their large, crowded but orderly rehearsal space-cum-fan club centre he is hunched over his antique typewriter, a frown on the brow beneath his number two cut. In the rehearsal room a dozen international journalists have been assembled and the mood is one of nervousness, in part because Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has a formidable reputation as a reluctant and sometimes over-earnest interview subject. The toilet designated for women has a handmade sign which reads, "Wahine". By GRAHAM REID For a Kiwi transplanted to Pearl Jam's rehearsal room in Seattle's warehouse district, it's easy to feel at home on this warm morning.
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