6B - The Michigan Daily - Friday, December 8, 1995

P,


Pearl Jam
Mirkinball
Epic
No, you're not seeing things, that does
say Pearl Jam and it is new music. O.K.,
so its only two songs, and maybe neither
of Pearl Jam's guitarists (Stone Gossard
- and Mike McCready) actually play on the
album, but it is still Pearl Jam.
The two songs are billed as accompa-
niments to Neil Young's "Mirror Ball,"
which he recorded with Pearl Jam and
released last summer. Young plays both
guitar and pump organ on the tracks,
but you can hear his influence through-
out the songs; they sound more like the
:joint Young/Pearl Jam effort than say,
:Vitalogy." Yet fret not PJ faithfuls,
-Vedser's style still shines through; it
'doesn't sound like a Neil Young song
:with Vedder on vocals.
The EP's first track "I got Id" is vintage
:Pearl Jam angst, sold on the passionate
jgit of Vedder's voice. The guitar work is
thick, yet remains understated, allowing
Vedder's striking melodies to come to the
front and slap you in the face. If this song
doesn't make you embarrassed at the fact
that you thought Bush or Silverchair was
cool, your problems run deeper than bad
.aste in music.
The slower, more introspective"Long
Road" is cemented in the heavy groove
of new drummer Jack Irons, giving it a
.pulsing sensation that drives home yet
.another powerful performance by
Vedder. It reiterates the fact that Pearl

Jam can write thoughtful slower pieces
just as well as they can rock. The great
thing about a Pearl Jam "ballad" is that
1. It's not syrupy love crap, 2. No cheesy
choruses with a catchy hook, 3. It doesn't
want to make you put your arm around
your neighbor and sway back and forth.
They're insightful. They mean something.
With "Mirkinball," Pearl Jam proves
that they still reign supreme. The album
was probably recorded at the same time
as "Mirrorball," so it's more of a coda
to that album than a prelude to a new

Pearl Jam effort. Still, we have new
music to enjoy until they release the
next full-length album and again save
us from the mediocrity that is music
today.
- Tyler Brubaker
Various Art"ists
"GoldenEye " Original Motion
Picture Soundtrack
EMI
Don't go out and buy the "GoldenEye"

soundtrack unless you a) absolutely love
that Tina Turner theme song or b) abso-
lutely love hard-core soundtrack music.
There are no hidden gems on this 16-song
CD; everything you heard in the theater is
here. Two songs have words - the first
and the last - and the rest are string-
laden, orchestrationally dense numbers
that may or may not have stuck out during
the movie.
Eric Serra's score is very well-com-
posed, and some of the lush songs have a
fair amount of beauty to them. Worth
noticing is "A Pleasant Drive in St. Pe-
tersburg" (most likely the tank scene, for
those who have already seen the movie)
which employs a '90s techno update to
the ultra-familiar James Bond theme. It's
one thing that a moviegoer might not
have caught that definitely stands out on
the album.
Other than "St. Petersburg," the most
pop-oriented song on the album is "Gold-
eneye," performed by Tina Turner and
penned by Bono and the Edge. It's amaz-
ing how similar this song sounds to other
opening songs from previous James Bond
movies - there must be some magic
formula to making all of them sound so
Bondlike.
Maybe it's the dark sound the songs
have to them, or the hint of the common
theme occasionally thrown in, the sor-
rowful strings, or the dramatic brass -
whatever it is, Turner, the Edge and Bono
deserve credit for composing a basically
cool song that could work both on the
radio nowadays as well as in nearly every

Sara Chang.

3-

tdeir talent and their sanity. So, in the
sk irit of finals week, I present you with a
v sion ofwhat we arenot andcannot be-
b t of what we can appreciate in our
nmsery. Without malice or jealousy, pick
up. a copy of the newest recording by 14-
y jar old Sarah Chang, a violin prodigy
from the ripe age of four.
lAt this very moment, Chang is either
pl'yming a big gig with some major sym-
phmny, or is preparing for it as a scholar-
ship student at the Julliard School of
M4: ic. At 14, she is the youngest recipi-
ent. ever of the coveted Avery Fisher
Catiner Grant and has played with most
ma or orchestras. She'll perform
Tclaiikovsky with the Detroit Symphony
in ifay. Suddenly, studying for that A
secis a little less important.
P-rforming with Charles Dutoit at the
pod am,Chang plays two stellar, virtuosic
ninekeenth century works on her self-
titltd CD. The Concerto No. 5 by Henri
Vie xtempsisaclassy,showypiecewhich
Cha g plays with flair and amazing dex-
terit '. She is accompanied by the
Philprmonia Orchestra. Edouard Lalo's
"Symphonie espagnole" is vigorous and
techrnitally demanding, and Chang's per=
formnince is all but flawless. Moreover,
the L ikwas recorded live with the Royal
Conc rtegebouw Orchestra.
So we're not all child wonders. Oh
well. .For the price of a CD, you can
escap from exam hell for 51 minutes.
That' music to my ears.
-Emily Lnambert
See RECORDS, fgage 7B

other Bond movie in the past.
But this song is the exception to the
soundtrack, not the rule - there is sone
great music,just no hits. However, ifyou
need some smooth spy music to accpm-
pany that attempt at passing off the fake
ID, or trying to sneak marshmallows into
a football game, the "GoldenEye"
soundtrack was made for you.
- David Cook
Sarah Chang
Sarah Chang
EMI Classics
Ah ... finals week. The unlucky ones
among us with too many exams to count,
are right now questioning their goals,

Four out of five members of Pearl Jam like to party.

mli


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