...is a word over used when trying to describe good music, but it could not be more apt here.
I went to see the film and pretty quickly picked out Vedder's unmistakable vocal on top of what, at the time, seemed some largely inoffensive middle of the road folky rock music. However, having enjoyed the film I was given the soundtrack (this album) for Christmas and I have to say it is one of the best things I have heard for some time. The songs are well crafted and perfectly encapsulate the feelings of hope, independance and achievement associated with the film. In fact this is so good that only a couple of factors stop it from nudging into the "all time classic" territory: namely the length (33 mins) as some of the tracks are incidental music (Wolf, still brilliant) and others are very short, and also the fact that arguably the two standout tracks (Society & Big Hard Sun) were not penned by the man himself. Maybe that is nit-picking, but if he'd written the whole album it would have added to the resonance of the whole piece.
Anyway, buy/borrow this album and sit down over the next two cold & dark months with a drink and listen to this a few times (at 33 mnins it won't take long) and I promise you that songs like No Ceiling & Society will be emblazened in your memory for some time to come.