In an era when pop nihilism fulfilled its dark promise all too regularly, Pearl Jam not only survived, but thrived to become one of rock's greatest bands. This 33-track double-disc career retrospective documents the arc of a career that went from arena and radio triumphs in the early 90's (while Nirvana's promise imploded in the wake of hype, Pearl Jam's crowd-pleasing fame only burgeoned) to the uncompromising, core audience-focused tack that carried the band into the 21st century. Shrewdly compiled by the band into an "Up" disc that chronicles the band's driving, Stone Gossard-Mike McCready fueled hard rock dramatics (including such early career landmarks as "Jeremy," "Alive" and "Even Flow" alongside more aggressive fare like "Go" and "Spin the Black Circle") and a "Down" side that focuses more on Eddie Vedder's brooding, often dark ballads ("Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town," "Yellow Ledbetter," their unlikely hit cover of the oldie "Last Kiss"), it's a collection that underscores both the band's range and musical integrity. Though centered largely on the band's pre-Vitalogy studio era and containing no new material, longtime producer/collaborator Brendan O'Brien contributes remixes of "Once," "Alive" and "Black" that offer new insights on the familiar, while non-album tracks like "Man of the Hour" and "State of Love and Trust" considerably enhance the overall listening perspective here. --Jerry McCulley
