RainDogJr
Pearl Jam is definitely one of my favourite bands of the 90s, I like a lot Nirvana (their MTV unplugged is also great) and Soundgarden but I prefer any day to listen to Pearl Jam. I have never been really into Alice in Chains or Stone Temple Pilots, I love some songs of those bands though, or any other band you may relate with those. However my love for Pearl Jam music is relatively very new, in other words when Pearl Jam visited Mexico City for second time I didn't care that much, I just remember few months later I was regretting for not attending those shows, certainly I listened to their stuff and I was very glad for doing it. As for today I have listened pretty much all of their stuff and I love pretty much all of them; a week and a day ago I purchased the deluxe version of the reissue of their debut album Ten. A really beautiful edition, amazing package, great booklet, 2 CDs (Ten remastered and Ten "Redux" plus 6 bonus tracks), both are great and a DVD with the unplugged performance. The first Pearl Jam album I purchased was Ten and later I remember I got what is today their latest album (a new one is coming!), Pearl Jam, and the greatest hits double CD rearviewmirror (Greatest Hits 1991–2003), with the greatest hits album I listened for the very first songs that now are some of my favourites including "State of Love and Trust". That song is the only one not from Ten that we get to enjoy with this DVD (one of the bonus tracks from the reissue is the version of "State of Love and Trust" of the Ten sessions) and after it we have pretty much the most famous Pearl Jam song, the classics "Alive", "Black", "Jeremy" and "Even Flow". If you go to the official website of Pearl Jam and check the set list of this unplugged performance you will find that is this: "Oceans", "State of Love and Trust", "Alive", "Black", Jeremy", "Porch", "Even Flow", "Rockin in the Free World". Encore: "Garden" and "Leash"". We don't have the quintessential cover of the Pearl Jam live shows (they have played that Neil Young song 208 times being the cover that they have played the most) and I don't think the encore was filmed but anyway what we have in the DVD is simply a flawless performance. The magnificent "Oceans" opens the show, is Eddie with his White Sox cap, both guitar players Mike McCready and Stone Gossard with long hair and this time of drummer Dave Abbruzzese, this is classic stuff. The performance of "Porch" is probably my favourite, it's the last one, Eddie gains the applause of the audience in the middle of the performance since he "falls" from the bench and starts getting a little crazy just like bassist Jeff Ament, Eddie writes on his arm "PRO-CHOICE!!!", Eddie after the song ends "threats" to smash one of Stone's guitars but well he sees Stone and leaves the guitar alone, while more songs were later played this was the intended end of the show (previous "Porch" we have "Even Flow" and we can see in the hand of Eddie the "!!!" that he wrote on his arm during the previous the number), an awesome show, Eddie shines, the whole band shines.
MisterWhiplash
Pearl Jam live rarely disappoints and this collection of songs straight from their first smash Ten (save for the State of Love and Trust song which you'll recognize if you've listened to enough rock radio over the years but for some idiotic reason was left off the album) is one of their classic shows. They're so into the swing of things, as are the audience, that nothing goes wrong. It's one of those cases where the only real flaw is a typical limitation of television: it's only 35 minutes long! Even on the recently re-release on DVD (it comes with the deluxe package of the Ten reissue) there are no extra songs, no extra pieces of fat like when Nirvana or Alice in Chains had their unplugged performances released. It is what is is, and gives the MTV folks perhaps TOO much time for commercials.And yet, for 35 minutes, Pearl Jam fans or just anyone looking for a solid rock show get their minutes worth. We get, for example, one of the finest and most energetic performances of any song of the 90s, with their number Porch. But of course it's impossible to neglect the classics like Alive, Even Flow or Jeremy which after being played out on radio for so many years still pack a wallop when given the ferocity and harrowing spirit of the live performance. In fact just looking at Eddie Vedder's face is a show unto itself: he's a lead singer to rank with the greats, aside from the vocal power from projecting so much on his face (you don't know whether he'll kill someone, have an epileptic fit, or just pet a sheep), and he has a lot of joy in his performance, at one pointy riding a wave or something on his stool! This is what fans want to see, and circa 1992 the most versatile and perhaps just flat-out talented Seattle band deliver the goods. Seek this out!
