Album · Pearl Jam
Binaural by Pearl Jam
Binaural is an album by Pearl Jam, released in 2000. 6 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 31 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Nothing As It Seems”, on 14 lists with a best position of #23.
Binaural, Pearl Jam's sixth album, came out on Epic on May 16, 2000, and it didn't come easy. After touring Yield the band took a short break and regrouped late in 1999, only to run into Eddie Vedder's writer's block and Mike McCready going into rehab for an addiction to prescription drugs. It was the first album with former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, who had stepped in for Jack Irons on the 1998 Yield tour, and Tchad Blake co-produced with the band.
Binaural recording techniques give some songs an eerie, head-in-a-bubble depth, and the whole record leans atmospheric and somber, with Vedder turning his lyrics toward social criticism, and the nebulas on the cover set the mood. "Light Years" and "Nothing As It Seems" are the ones radio grabbed. It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, but it went only gold, the first Pearl Jam studio album that failed to go platinum in the States. The tour behind it spawned a mountain of official bootlegs.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Binaural on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nothing As It Seems | 14 | #23 | – | 2000–2024 | |
| 2 | Light Years | 10 | #7 | – | 2000–2005 | |
| 3 | Insignificance | 3 | #40 | – | 2000–2005 | |
| 4 | of the Girl | 2 | #28 | – | 2000–2005 | |
| 5 | Breakerfall | 1 | #62 | – | 2005 | |
| 6 | Thin Air | 1 | #76 | – | 2005 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.