I've never been a Pearl Jam fan. I've admired the band's willingness to thumb collective noses at authority, both commercially and artistically, but I always found the Seattle act's stadium-ready brand of rock too pompous and ponderous. Had Eddie Vedder and company begun recording 15 years earlier, they might have found themselves opening for Boston.

So I'm as surprised as anyone.

The band's new, self-titled CD finds Pearl Jam annoyed, insistent and playing with a natural ease that always eluded them.

Polemic without pointing fingers, the famously left-leaning band, who headlined Vote for Change dates in 2003, has produced an album that puts partisan politics aside. Instead of the expected Bush-baiting, the album is a call to participate, to engage. Instead of rocking the message of the right is wrong, the set sermonizes that inactivity and apathy are the real crimes.

Such an even-handed, diplomatic approach to political rock might seem like soft-selling the message were it not delivered so insistently. Sounding more raw and ragged than they have in years - if ever - Pearl Jam members seemingly have rediscovered the power of rock. Gone, for the most part, is the Vedder croon, the affected Mel Torme delivery that so often robbed the singer's stringent lyrics of much of their sting.

Also absent is most of the instrumental bombast. Too often, Pearl Jam has built a solid wall of sound that all but imprisons any subtlety or dynamic invention. This time, they break it down, letting the dueling guitars of Stone Gossard and Mike McCready soar over the rock-solid rhythm section of Matt Cameron and Jeff Ament. Even more notable is the contribution of Mr. Vedder and his more naturalistic, and far more appealing, approach.

There are jarring moments when the Pearl Jam I so often criticized makes an appearance. On the slow-build ballad Gone, the velvet-voiced Mr. Vedder returns and pretension scars what might have been a fine emotional piece of songwriting. Still, it's difficult to argue with the one-two-three-four punch of the opening salvo of Life Wasted, World Wide Suicide, Comatose and Severed Hand, or pure acoustic pop of Parachutes.

Consider me impressed.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com.

LISTEN UP
THE BAND: Pearl Jam
THE DISC: Pearl Jam (J Records)
THE VERDICT: * * * * out of * * * * *
HEAR IT: Hear part of the track Unemployable from the CD Pearl Jam. [MP3 format]