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First of all, despite being responsible for the 'melody' behind Pearl Jam's earlier 'hits' (e.g. «Alive», «Even Flow», «Black», etc.), «Bayleaf» features a completely different kind of sound. So, if you're after a record that sounds like Pearl Jam during its early years (and even now, with «Binaural» and «Riot Act»), this is not it.

I found «Bayleaf» to be a very refreshing, interesting and heterogeneous record, with each song sounding different from the other in such a way that it becomes impossible to label it according to its musical style. The songwriting of «Bayleaf» is really good and the music itself is extremely original being, at the same time, experimental and very mature, with 'Stone Gossard' written all over it. Gossard's musical evolution as a guitarist was already noticeable in his other projects (Pearl Jam and Brad) - although enphazised in this album - but his most remarkable improvement lays on his vocal abilities, since the old days of Pearl Jam's «Mankind» (and the recently released «Don't Gimme No Lip»).

Stone Gossard does a little of everything here, from guitars to leading vocals, not forgeting bass guitar, drums, piano and congas(!!). «Bayleaf» also features some of Stone's friends like Ty Wilman (former Green Apple Quickstep's frontman who does the leading vocals on a few tracks - he also has a high pitched voice like Stone), Matt Chamberlin (former Pearl Jam's drummeer) and Pete Droge, amongst many others.

In terms of styles 'Bayleaf' is about as diverse as an album can get, with the funky "Pigeon" and he heartbreaking "Bayleaf" title track to name but two.
A concern of many fans (and indeed Stone himself) are his singing abilities, he has said himself that he has not got a great voice but what he does have is an individual and highly likeable voice.

I'm going to break this review down track by track to try and give you an idea of just what this album offers.

1.Bore Me 9/10 - The opening track features vocals from Tyl Wilman and not Stone.
The song is your basic rock song with a few unique Stone twists, you'll know what I mean when you here it, the solo here has a wonderful sound to it.

2.Fits 9/10 - One of my favourites on the album, Stone's first track on vocals offers a slow melancholy pace for a song that is very eventful.
The chorus seems to just slide along with the pace of the song, fantastic work.

3.Pigeon 10/10 - This song is just unbelievable and has Stone written all over it, A funky metal like riff ala 'Do The Evolution' which is the perfect partner to Stone's vocals.
This is a song where the style is difficult to pin point, it's almost like pop and metal all in one, excellent track.

4.Anchors 9/10 - A slow paced mellow ballad, the whole song flows so well that you don't ever get an impression of "is it over yet?".
Again as with Pigeon, you won't find anything quite like this anywhere else, a very sad song.

5.Cadillac 8/10 - Tyl Wilman on vocals again for Cadillac, a song which sounds like a something Bob Marley would sing, a very Jamaican vibe throughout this one.
My only problem with it is that it is much more of a pop song than any of the other tracks.

6.Bayleaf 9/10 - Comparisons to Neil Young here are obvious but the self titled centre piece is not to be over looked, a wonderful guitar driven track.
With multiple Stone guitar solo sequences and a wonderful chorus to boot.

7.Every Family 7/10 - Stone on vocals (as with 'Bayleaf') accompanied by an Organ of all instruments.
This song again stretches the musical diversity of the album with it's Gospel like style.
While I admire Stone's ability to create different moods and his talent for styles, with that said this is a style that I am not so fond of.

8.Unhand Me 8/10 - Tyl Wilman on vocals again for a pretty standard rock song, again though with a Stone Gossard edge.
The transition from chorus to verse is wonderfully done each time, with the chorus exploding upon you.

9.Hellbent 9/10 - A very bizarre track here, Stone's vocals again really are a credit to his musical style.
A slow paced ballad (much like anchors) but with a slightly more upbeat mood to it.