Last month marked the 20th anniversary of one of the best albums of all time, Pearl Jam’s seminal debut album, “Ten.” Released in August 1991 and featuring songs “Even Flow,” “Jeremy” and “Alive,” “Ten” remains Pearl Jam’s most commercially successful release; jumpstarting the band out of Seattle’s grunge scene and into mainstream popularity.
Today you can enjoy Pearl Jam’s newest release, “Pearl Jam 20,” the accompanying soundtrack to the forthcoming Cameron Crowe documentary celebrating Pearl Jam’s 20-year career. Unlike other “best of” compilations, the 28-track “PJ20” consists entirely of live tracks, rarities and demos that are actually reflective of the band’s decade spanning career.
“PJ20” opens with five live versions of songs off its debut album, including “Release,” the last track off of “Ten,” and “Alive” and “Black,” two of the three first songs vocalist Eddie Vedder wrote lyrics to before joining Pearl Jam. “PJ20” also features songs from Pearl Jam’s other albums. “Vitalogy,” “Yield,” “Binaural,” and the band’s latest studio release, “Backspacer.”
The highlights of “Pearl Jam 20” are also the most biographical. The track, “Crown of Thorns,” is a live cover of Mother Love Bone, the Seattle grunge band guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were in prior to Pearl Jam. Mother Love Bone disbanded after the death of lead singer Andrew Wood, who died of an overdose. “PJ20” also includes “Say Hello 2 Heaven,” a song written as a tribute to Wood, performed by the band Temple of the Dog, which included members of both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden.
Another great track on “PJ20” is “Walk With Me,” which features Neil Young. This song’s inclusion not only reflects Young’s influence on Pearl Jam, but also is representative of the time Pearl Jam spent as Neil Young’s backing band during the recording of Mirror Ball. The last track on the album is a great live version of the song “Better Man,” which was originally written by Eddie Vedder while in the band Bad Radio here in San Diego.
While many hits and memorable songs are missing from this album, “Pearl Jam 20” is perhaps a better reflection of Pearl Jam’s 20-year career than any of their previous compilations. It also contains enough rarities to appease even the most dedicated fans.
