The album art is full of photographs from nature photographer Paul Nicklen, including the ice sheet above. The new album is named for the unit of measurement for the amount of greenhouse gases - 1 billion metric tons, or one gigaton - that will be in the earth’s atmosphere by 2030, as well as the amount of ice scientists say will be gone from the globe’s largest ice sheets. “Gigaton,” Pearl Jam’s first album in seven years, teems with the most life the band has shown since 1996’s “No Code.” That album was where the band fully stepped outside of its grunge roots to start on their way to becoming the rock band they’re known as today, and the varied styles and sounds on that album heavily influenced the experimental “Gigaton.” They’re back, they’re more pissed than they’ve ever been - but they’re also finding comfort in hope for a better future.
