Vitalogy
Vitalogyreaffirms the Seattle quintet's status as the principled, proudly confused voice of a generation. On their third album, they've found their footing as a raw, forward-looking '90s rock act that fearlessly tackles the Biggest Questions. Lead track "Spin the Black Circle" celebrates the healing power of Eddie Vedder's LP collection, but it is overshadowed by such masterstrokes as "Immortality" (which can be read, right or wrong, as a reaction to Kurt Cobain's suicide), the Lennonesque "Tremor Christ" and a thrilling anthem for the pro-choice movement, "Whipping."--Jeff Bateman