For a band as prolific as Pearl Jam, their latest release, Lost Dogs, should come as no surprise to ardent followers of the group. The double-album collection of b-sides and outtakes captures a band in the midst of the creative process. The 30 tracks and hidden bonus track undulate between rough garage rockers, bluesy jams and emotionally tinged outcries.
Adding a bit of depth on the songs, the CD booklet offers snippets of commentary from the members of the band on the meaning behind songs, why they weren’t included on major releases, why they were selected for this collection, and so on. While the arrival of the holiday season usually spawns a mass outbreak of greatest-hits collections and watered-down compilations, Lost Dogs is not one of those collections. In fact, it only seems natural for a group that has released seven studio albums and an innumerable amount of live shows and singles to release this collection for their bloodthirsty fan base.
Disc one has a rougher, more rock-oriented edge than the second disc. Among its gems is a track called “Hold On,” a song too good for its status as an outtake. The Vs. era track oozes love and has all the hallmarks of Pearl Jam’s early hits. A smoother, less crunchy distortion, arena-sized drums and lead singer Eddie Vedder’s unmistakable croon punctuate a song that lifts you from wherever you are and plants you right back at the place where you first realized that a great rock song has the ability to change your whole way of being.
“All Night,” a song from the No Code sessions in Chicago during the deadly heat wave of 1995, sounds like the Pearl Jam of the present. After all, it was during the No Code era that even casual followers of the band could notice a shift in recorded tone and presence from the group. The song itself sounds sweaty and humid, every bit a reflection of the sweltering environment it was recorded in. The gritty, chord-heavy guitars and Vedder’s soft vocals provide a contrast that has served Pearl Jam well over the years, allowing them to release what they want, when they want, and how they want.
“Sad” tiptoes with quiet precision and a decidedly Middle-Eastern guitar tone, making it one of the better mid-tempo tunes on the first disc, finding company with the stomping, “In The Moonlight” and the bouncy “Undone.”
Lost Dogs also features a couple of tracks that are not fronted by Eddie Vedder, including “Don’t Gimme No Lip,” the first song guitarist Stone Gossard recorded and sang specifically for Pearl Jam. The song, recorded during the No Code sessions, didn’t make the final cut but still has an enjoyable simplicity to its rhythm.
Disc one concludes with the essential recording of “Yellow Ledbetter,” a Ten-era track that might have highly-debated origins, but one thing is for certain, wherever the riff for this track came from, Pearl Jam made it their own, constructing a song that will withstand and has withstood the test of time. A modern classic, “Yellow Ledbetter” is one of those songs that your kids and their kids will listen to. It is certainly one of the legacies that Pearl Jam will pass on to future generations.
Disc two starts on a more somber note with “Fatal,” an outtake from the Binaural sessions that sets the mood for act II of the compilation. Acoustic guitars and a sit-down ambience provide a bridge to the Middle-Eastern influenced “Hard To Imagine,” a longtime fan favorite. The song, heralded by many of Pearl Jam’s core followers has floated around in various bootleg qualities over the years, but the crisp studio version on Lost Dogs is another one of the album’s highlights.
Of the undeniable gems in this collection, perhaps the most stark, haunting and poignant is “Footsteps,” a Ten-era track that served as a live b-side to “Jeremy.” Stone Gossard strums a two-chord guitar line as Vedder offers vocals that crack and sound as though he’s been singing non-stop for days. It’s a rare event when a song stops you in your tracks, but the occasionally played live number is among the most coveted of Pearl Jam’s outtakes, and it’s no wonder why. The song is so bare, so heartfelt, and so real that it can’t help but command your attention. One of Pearl Jam’s very best tracks. Period.
The hidden and uncredited “4/20/02” follows album closer “Bee Girl” and is a tribute from Eddie Vedder to Layne Staley, former lead singer of Alice In Chains, who passed away last year. In the deeply personal song, Vedder, uncharacteristically pointed and aggressive, pays tribute to his comrade and takes aim at the plethora of wannabe WJJO rockers who cop Staley’s style with pathetic results. Vedder sings, “So all you fools who sing just like him/ Feel free to do so now, because he’s dead.” It’s not all bitter though, as Vedder reaches out one last time, singing, “Lonesome friend/ We all knew/ Always hoped, you’d pull through.” Unfortunately, as friends and family of Staley knew all along, there was nothing they could do for the deeply troubled and irreparably damaged singer.
Lost Dogs constructs a bond between songs that have almost nothing in common. Edgy rock tunes somehow find common ground with experimentation and deeply affecting ballads that very few bands can and have been able to replicate. Pearl Jam’s refusal to spend a year and a half pouring over Pro Tools in order to get that perfect, disposable sound is what makes the group such a prolific, undeniably important band. Raw, heartfelt and always enjoyable no matter how eclectic the mix of songs, you’re never lost when you’re listening to Pearl Jam.
Grade: A/B
