This came out in 2002 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Of all the various Pearl Jam side projects that surface from time to time — Mad Season, Three Fish, The Rockfords, and so on — guitarist Stone Gossard’s Brad continues to be the most musically satisfying for the money. Mainly because they sound like a real band and not just some rich rocker’s vanity project. And because they don’t sound a damn thing like Pearl Jam.
On their third CD Welcome to Discovery Park, Brad once again traffick in the sort of soft, soulful ’70s rock you might expect from Lenny Kravitz, Prince or even Urge Overkill. Tunes like Brothers and Sisters are built around slow-motion grooves, wah-wah guitars, big haunting piano chords and Shawn Smith’s smoky, whisper-to-a-scream vocals. The retro-production of Butcher Brother Phil Nicolo (who produced Urge’s classic Saturation) only seals the deal. With Pearl Jam losing focus and steam of late, Brad seem more than capable of taking up the slack in Gossard’s schedule.
