Rearview Mirror: The Best of Pearl Jam

Two discs that give two very different impressions of the band that kept rock 'alive' in the 90's. Disc One is pure high-energy rock, I was totally made up with the inclusion of State of Love and Trust, one of the best raw edge acoustic rock songs ever written. You have the typical tracks from Ten that made it the best-selling grunge album i.e. Alive, Jeremy, Once and Even Flow. Watch out for the catchy Corduroy on track 11 and the emotion-fuelled Rearviewmirror on track 9, both superb! Something from each studio album except Binaural, sadly. On this disc watch out for McCready's solo's on Alive, Even Flow and Animal - fantastic.

Disc two is alot more mellow, an amazing compilation. The lyrics in Elderly woman are beautiful. Better Man is always a favourite, one of Vedder's early accomplishments. Last Kiss was a suprise inclusion, maybe at the cost of Thin Air but in any case really shows vedder's vocal capability. Off he goes is possibly the most mellow, Man of the hour is a real thought-provoker nad If your after good lyrics, sung beautifully, to some really sweet melodies, on disc two you will find what you're after.

This is definitely one of the greatest rock albums of all time form one of the greatest rock bands.

I'm looking forward to hearing the remixed versions of the Ten Tracks, Not sure why Even Flow has been left out of the remixes, after all on the 2000 live touring band DVD it's done better than ever.

No Best of album ever has every track that fan wants but this is so close, fans will miss the likes of: Brian of J, No way, Greendisease, Smile, the before mentioned Thin Air, Insignificance and Indifference. The selection was always going to be debated, I don't think there has been a better album than this since Ten. I think Pearl Jam threw of the label of Grunge by the end of Vitalogy if not sooner, this is just great musicianship displayed in a broad spectrum of styles that ultimately can be classified as rock. If your after intelligent lyrics, great guitar riff, soft melodies, "face-melting solo's" and the greatest Rock vocals since Paul Rodgers this is where you'll find it.

This album highlights the depth, variation and quality in Pearl Jam's back catalogue. Anyone who dismissed them as grunge bandwaggon jumpers in the early 90's will realise that Vedder and co. have gone from strength to strength since then, building on the stadium rock of their debut 'Ten' via the punky 'Vitalogy' through to the more laid back 'Riot Act'. The songs on 'Rearviewmirror' range from strum-along acoustic ballads such as 'Nothingman' to full on rock beasts like 'Go', all featuring beautiful melodies, expertly played instruments and of course, Eddie Vedder's rich, warm sounding vocals, for me the highlight of all Pearl Jam's music.

The two discs are separated into the band's 'heavier' tracks on disc one, and the more laid back numbers on disc two, which is quite a good idea if you're the sort of person who likes to choose music according to their mood. Also it's nice to hear the tracks from different albums back to back, to get a feel for how the band's music has changed over the years.

The bands earliest tracks ('Once', 'Alive', 'Black' etc) benefit from having been re-mixed for this release. To the trained ear of the Pearl Jam nerd, they sound a lot different and fresh. 'Even Flow' features a different guitar solo take, which I don't think is quite as good as the original, but's it's nice to hear a different interpretation.

I was particularly pleased with the inclusion of some of Pearl Jam's 'non-album' tracks, particularly 'Breath' from the 'Singles' soundtrack and 'I Got S**t', a gritty and sparsely produced rocker owing a great deal to Neil Young (who plays extra guitar on the track).

Anyone who hasn't heard much (or any) Pearl Jam should listen to this to see how a true rock band does it, although I'd recommend this specifically to fans of anyone from Hundred Reasons to Ryan Adams, from Cave In to REM.