Pearl Jam - 'Rearviewmirror'

Formed in Seattle in 1990 by guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament following the break-ups of Green River (1983-1988) and Mother Love Bone (1988-1990) with the idea of playing anthemic arena rock with post-punk spirit, Pearl Jam went on to be come one of the most popular bands of the ‘90s.

Their debut album, ‘One,’ released in August of 1991, cemented grunge’s place in the mainstream, but by the mid-Nineties, the band was perhaps known as much for their politics as for their music, having taken stands against MTV and Ticketmaster. The band refused to release any videos or singles for their second album, 1993’s ‘Vs.’, and two years later, trying to keep ticket prices low for the benefit of fans, stood up to concert industry monopolistic giant Ticketmaster, testifying before a Congressional subcommittee about the company’s business practices, and even attempting to tour without using Ticketmaster. This proved difficult due a lack of suitable venues that were not bound by exclusivity agreements with Ticketmaster), and the band was able to play only a handful of shows. ‘Vitalogy’ followed in 1994. The band then agreed to stand in for Neil Young’s regular backing band Crazy Horse on Young’s 1995 album ‘Mirrorball,’ and Pearl went on to release three more studio albums between 1996 and 2000.

The later material suffers increasing suffered from a growing ambivalence toward the music industry, and from the band’s increasing aesthetic conservatism and Vedder-centricism. In order to combat bootleggers, in 2000, the band decided to begin releasing official-sanctioned “bootleg” live recordings of concert performances as inexpensive CDs. By 2001, Peal Jam had saturated fans with dozens of these live albums, further diluting the popular enthusiasm for the band’s music. In 2002, the band was back in end-of-the-century form with the release of ‘Riot Act.’

Pearl Jam’s new two-disc greatest hits compilation ‘Rearviewmirror’ covers the whole history of the band, from 1991-2003, though it draws 21 of the 33 tracks from the bands first three albums, and also includes non-album tracks "I Got ID," "Man of the Hour," "Last Kiss," and "State of Love and Trust." Rather the presenting these songs in pure chronological order, the set has a gimmick—it divides the tracks into an "Up Side" (the rockers) and a "Down Side" (the ballads), a tactic that only heightens the strangely schizoid energy that enlivened Pearl Jam’s best work.

‘Rearviewmirror’ neatly summarizes a decade of music from one of the biggest-selling bands of the ‘90s.

Playlist: “Once," "Even Flow," “Given to Fly,” “State of Love and Trust”

Matt Parks (December 13, 2004)