Live on Ten Legs is a classic-packed live compilation album that celebrates Pearl Jam's twentieth anniversary year. The album features 18 captivating versions of Pearl Jams landmark tracks recorded over the course of the bands 2003-2010 world tours by engineer John Burton. Newly remixed by long-time Pearl Jam engineer Brett Eliason and remastered, the material on the record spans Pearl Jams 60 million selling career. Included on the album are live versions of classic songs "Jeremy", "Alive" and "Spin The Black Circle" as well as "Just Breathe" and "The Fixer" from their most recent album, Backspacer. Review Given that alternative rock giants Pearl Jam have released hundreds of concert recordings in their official bootleg series, this live compilation seems a fairly unimaginative way to celebrate the bands 20th anniversary. Hardcore fans can, of course, simply ignore it, but theyre exactly the people who mightve hoped for something more. As an introduction to Pearl Jams on-stage prowess, however, this is a tidy effort. The spiritual successor, and something of a companion piece, to 1998s Live on Two Legs, Live on Ten Legs was recorded around the globe between 2003 and 2010, offering 18 freshly remixed and re-mastered tracks spanning the bands entire career. Eschewing the greatest hits package formula, the emphasis and omission in the song selection tells its own story: five Ten-era tunes, four from their most recent outing Backspacer, nothing from the unpopular No Code and a track or two from the rest. All of which indicates that even if they tacitlyperhaps subconsciouslynow acknowledge that their 1991 debut Ten remains their best album, this is a band moving forward in the firm belief that their greatest work may still lie ahead of them. Kicking off with a rousing cover of Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros Arms Aloft, Live on Ten Legs achieves an odd coherence given its cut-and-paste nature. Its easy to forget the fact that some of these recordings are separated by seven years, and by the time Jeremy rolls around three quarters of the way through, the atmosphere of a single, emotionally-charged event has just about been established. The crowds are uniformly hugeno intimate one-on-one exchanges hereand although the most rapturous responses are reserved for Tens heartfelt vignettes, the band injects every performance with a unique fervour. This is unlikely ever to be regarded as a great live album, but its about as slick a stitched-together affair as youll hear. Pearl Jam took a lot of flak in the early days. Despite their enormous successsome would say because of itsections of the media lambasted their lack of grunge credentials. Seattle scene contemporaries such as Nirvana, Mudhoney and Alice in Chains certainly exuded an air of danger, which Pearl Jam just didnt share. But thats probably why they survived where so many others did not, and in Live on Ten Legs we have another quiet celebration of what this band has always been about: music. --Greg Moffitt This link will take you offin a new window
