# Riot Act (album)
**Riot Act** is the seventh studio album by the American rock band [Pearl Jam](https://www.edgepedia.org/pearl-jam), released on November 12, 2002 through [Epic Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/epic-records).[1](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act) It followed 2000's Binaural and was recorded in 2002 at Studio X in Seattle and Space Studio, produced by Adam Kasper with the band and mixed by Brendan O'Brien.[1](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act) The album's lyrics are among the band's most direct, shaped by the deaths of nine fans at the June 2000 [Roskilde Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/roskilde-festival), the September 11 attacks, and the early presidency of George W. Bush.[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6206-riot-act/) • [3](https://albumreviews.blog/reviews/1990s-album-reviews/pearl-jam/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | November 12, 2002, Epic Records; seventh studio album[1](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act) |
| Length and tracks | 15 songs, 54:09[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/riot-act-mw0000662115) • [5](https://music.apple.com/us/album/riot-act/193238667?at=1000l38Wv&itscg=30200&itsct=music_box_link&ls=1&mttnsubad=193238667) |
| Production | Produced by Adam Kasper and Pearl Jam; recorded at Studio X, Seattle, and Space Studio; mixed by Brendan O'Brien[1](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act) |
| Dedication | John Entwistle, Dee Dee Ramone, and Ray Brown, three bassists who died while the record was being made[1](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act) • [6](https://ultimatepearljam.com/pearl-jam-riot-act-album//) |
| Key songs | "Love Boat Captain" mourns the nine fans killed at Roskilde; "I Am Mine" was the album single; "Bu$hleaguer" criticizes President Bush[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6206-riot-act/) • [7](https://www.lukin.com/Discography/Albums/riotact.html) |
| Critical reception | Metascore of 73 from 20 critic reviews; user score 8.1[8](https://www.metacritic.com/music/riot-act/pearl-jam/details) |
| Reissue | Remastered (not remixed) 2-LP vinyl reissue released November 10, 2017[9](https://shop.pearljam.com/products/riot-act-vinyl-lp) |
## Background and recording
The intervening period was heavy for the band: nine fans died in a crowd crush during their performance at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark on June 30, 2000, and the [September 11 attacks](https://www.edgepedia.org/september-11-attacks) and the new Bush administration reshaped the American political climate in which the album was written.[10](https://mumblingabout.com/2018/08/12/least-to-most-pearl-jam-riot-act/) Unlike earlier sessions in which primary lyricist [Eddie Vedder](https://www.edgepedia.org/eddie-vedder) had struggled with writer's block, no such block surfaced during the 2002 recording at Seattle's Studio X and Space Studio.[6](https://ultimatepearljam.com/pearl-jam-riot-act-album//)
The band's lineup on the record was [Jeff Ament](https://www.edgepedia.org/jeff-ament) on bass, [Stone Gossard](https://www.edgepedia.org/stone-gossard) and [Mike McCready](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-mccready) on guitar, Eddie Vedder on guitar and vocals, and Matt Cameron on drums and percussion, with Boom Gaspar adding Hammond B3 and Fender Rhodes.[1](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act) Cameron, the former Soundgarden drummer who had joined in 1998, made a strong songwriting contribution: he created the pulsing guitar sound of "You Are" by feeding the guitar through a drum machine, and wrote "Get Right".[3](https://albumreviews.blog/reviews/1990s-album-reviews/pearl-jam/) "Save You", the album's heaviest rocker, is McCready's only writing credit on the record.[10](https://mumblingabout.com/2018/08/12/least-to-most-pearl-jam-riot-act/)
The record is dedicated to three bassists who died while it was being made: [John Entwistle](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-entwistle) of the Who, Dee Dee Ramone, and the jazz player [Ray Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/ray-brown-musician).[1](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act) • [6](https://ultimatepearljam.com/pearl-jam-riot-act-album//)
## Songs and themes
The 15-track album opens with "Can't Keep", a song the Johns Hopkins News-Letter described as featuring ukulele and layered acoustic guitars, and closes with the one-minute "Arc" and "All Or None".[1](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act) • [11](https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2002/11/seattle-band-jams-on-riot-act-92973) Vedder wrote or co-wrote most of the material, including the opener, "I Am Mine", "Thumbing My Way", and "Green Disease"; Ament contributed "Help Help" and co-wrote "1/2 Full"; Gossard co-wrote "Love Boat Captain" and "Bushleaguer".[7](https://www.lukin.com/Discography/Albums/riotact.html)
**Roskilde and grief.** "Love Boat Captain" directly addresses the Roskilde tragedy with the line "lost 9 friends we'll never know".[3](https://albumreviews.blog/reviews/1990s-album-reviews/pearl-jam/) Pitchfork's review found the lyrics affecting but the song itself a standard rocker.[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6206-riot-act/) The acoustic ballad "Thumbing My Way" marked a change in direction for Vedder's writing that critics later connected to his soundtrack work for *[Into the Wild](https://www.edgepedia.org/into-the-wild-soundtrack)*.[10](https://mumblingabout.com/2018/08/12/least-to-most-pearl-jam-riot-act/)
**Politics.** "Bu$hleaguer" is a spoken-word attack on President George W. Bush, with Vedder growling lines such as "Swingin' for the fence/ Got lucky with a strike" and "Born on third, thinks he got a triple".[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6206-riot-act/) • [12](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-nme-6824-316525) The song was rarely performed live because of its controversial stance, and the band left it off all released bootlegs of the 2003 tour.[13](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/61859/Pearl-Jam-Riot-Act/) "Green Disease" continues Vedder's anti-wealth themes.[3](https://albumreviews.blog/reviews/1990s-album-reviews/pearl-jam/)
## Release and reception
The album was announced with its final tracklisting in September 2002 and released on November 12, 2002.[14](https://www.nme.com/news/music/pearl-jam-131-1378199) • [1](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act) "I Am Mine" served as the album single,[7](https://www.lukin.com/Discography/Albums/riotact.html) and "Save You" was released as a single on February 11, 2003, backed with the previously unreleased Ament song "Other Side".[15](https://pearljam.com/music/album/save-you) Pearl Jam toured in support of the album in the spring and summer of 2003.[16](https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstreams/45c10261-ed45-4c61-9d04-39a586d3869e/download)
Critical reception was divided. On Metacritic the album scored 73 out of 100 from 20 critic reviews, described as generally favorable, with a user score of 8.1.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/music/riot-act/pearl-jam/details) Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic called it "the album that Pearl Jam has been wanting to make since Vitalogy", a muscular art rock record filled with ragged edges and odd detours.[4](https://www.allmusic.com/album/riot-act-mw0000662115) The Los Angeles Times gave it four stars, calling it an often stunning album and the band's strongest since 1994's Vitalogy.[17](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-10-ca-rack10-story.html) Billboard found its dense, decidedly un-pop arrangements closest to 1996's [No Code](https://www.edgepedia.org/no-code).[18](https://www.metacritic.com/music/riot-act/pearl-jam/critic-reviews?dist=positive) The Guardian's Adam Sweeting was more reserved, writing that the album "isn't one thing or the other", while singling out "Thumbing My Way" and the reverb-heavy "You Are" as its best moments.[19](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2002/nov/08/popandrock.artsfeatures6) Pitchfork's Kyle Reiter was negative, arguing the band had coasted since [Yield](https://www.edgepedia.org/yield-album) and that the record brought them "ever closer to homogenous bar-band territory".[2](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6206-riot-act/)
## Later standing
Retrospective assessments have been kinder than some contemporary ones. Aphoristic Album Reviews ranks it among Pearl Jam's stronger late-career efforts, noting that the hooks are less obvious than on Ten or Yield and that the album drags a little at 55 minutes.[3](https://albumreviews.blog/reviews/1990s-album-reviews/pearl-jam/) A Sputnikmusic review calls it the most underappreciated of all of Pearl Jam's albums.[13](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/61859/Pearl-Jam-Riot-Act/) A remastered, not remixed, 2-LP vinyl reissue was released on November 10, 2017.[9](https://shop.pearljam.com/products/riot-act-vinyl-lp)
## References
1. [Riot Act, Pearl Jam official site](https://pearljam.com/music/album/riot-act)
2. [Kyle Reiter, "Pearl Jam: Riot Act Album Review", Pitchfork, January 5, 2003](https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6206-riot-act/)
3. [Pearl Jam Album Reviews, Aphoristic Album Reviews](https://albumreviews.blog/reviews/1990s-album-reviews/pearl-jam/)
4. [Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Riot Act review, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/riot-act-mw0000662115)
5. [Riot Act, Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/us/album/riot-act/193238667?at=1000l38Wv&itscg=30200&itsct=music_box_link&ls=1&mttnsubad=193238667)
6. [Pearl Jam Reads the 'Riot Act', Ultimate Pearl Jam](https://ultimatepearljam.com/pearl-jam-riot-act-album//)
7. [Riot Act discography page, Lukin.com](https://www.lukin.com/Discography/Albums/riotact.html)
8. [Riot Act Details, Tracks, and Credits, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/riot-act/pearl-jam/details)
9. [RIOT ACT VINYL LP, Ten Club LLC](https://shop.pearljam.com/products/riot-act-vinyl-lp)
10. [Least to Most: Pearl Jam – Riot Act, Mumbling About](https://mumblingabout.com/2018/08/12/least-to-most-pearl-jam-riot-act/)
11. [Seattle band jams on Riot Act, The Johns Hopkins News-Letter, 2002](https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2002/11/seattle-band-jams-on-riot-act-92973)
12. [Pearl Jam: Riot Act review, NME](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-nme-6824-316525)
13. [Pearl Jam – Riot Act review, Sputnikmusic](https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/61859/Pearl-Jam-Riot-Act/)
14. [Another Pearl, NME news, September 16, 2002](https://www.nme.com/news/music/pearl-jam-131-1378199)
15. [Save You, Pearl Jam official site](https://pearljam.com/music/album/save-you)
16. [Rock Brand: The Political and Cultural Economy of Live Rock, University of Minnesota](https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstreams/45c10261-ed45-4c61-9d04-39a586d3869e/download)
17. [Pearl Jam's hope again burns bright, Los Angeles Times, November 10, 2002](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-10-ca-rack10-story.html)
18. [Positive Critic Reviews for Riot Act, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/riot-act/pearl-jam/critic-reviews?dist=positive)
19. [Adam Sweeting, "Pearl Jam: Riot Act", The Guardian, November 7, 2002](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2002/nov/08/popandrock.artsfeatures6)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musical practice and theory › Popular music genres › Rock works, labels, discographies, awards, and infrastructure › Rock studio albums › 2000s onward rock albums*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license