The leak of "World Wide Suicide," Pearl Jam's first single off their upcoming album Pearl Jam, forced the Seattle band to push up the song's Internet release date. To hype the May 2 release of their first album for J Records, Pearl Jam planned to make the single available, without restriction, on March 8 with radio airplay to begin March 14. In response to radio stations acquiring and playing the new tune early, Pearl Jam made the track immediately available for download on their Web site.

"World Wide Suicide" departs from the morose, meditative elegies that have become associated with Pearl Jam's last couple albums. If the rest of Pearl Jam follows the lead of the initial single, the move to a new label may mark a return to the sound that earned them prestige as one of Seattle's grungiest exports.

Labels: Pearl Jam