By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorOne of the great, long-running mythologies in popular music is the one surrounding the integrity of the Original Lineup. There's a long-held belief that, the instant a member leaves a band, that band's work is… more »

By Andy Beta, eMusic ContributorWith his 79th birthday behind him, Willie Nelson is pondering his mortality on Heroes. A duet with fellow septuagenarian Merle Haggard on ruminative opener "A Horse Called Music" examines memory and loss. And then follows… more »

By David Raposa, eMusic ContributorAs the soundtrack to a warts-and-all documentary about Pearl Jam's 20 years together, PJ20 sometimes reflects its source material a little too well. The album begins with the 2006 version of the band, offering a… more »

By Kevin O'Donnell, eMusic ContributorWhen Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was released in 1991, it changed the face of rock music forever and helped pave the way for road warriors like Pearl Jam (who are celebrating their own 20th… more »

By David Raposa, eMusic ContributorWith more than 25 million copies of the first three Pearl Jam albums in circulation, it's safe to say that even the most casual fan had an in-depth knowledge of their discography up to that… more »

By eMusic Editorial Staff, eMusic ContributorWhen Pearl Jam finally compiled a catalog-skimming greatest hits collection in 2004 - a decade after the demise of Nirvana, six years after they stole Soundgarden's drummer and nearly 15 into their platinum-lined career -… more »

By J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-ChiefComing after the surly, restless Vitalogy, No Code finds Pearl Jam continuing to expand their sonic palette. As its name implies, the band is operating without deference to any kind of sonic rulebook; thusly, the… more »

By David Raposa, eMusic ContributorWhile this album is the first time that the core members of what would become Pearl Jam — former Mother Love Bone members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament, guitarist Mike McCready, and surfer-dude vocalist Eddie… more »

By Maura Johnston, eMusic ContributorListening to the scant amount of material recorded by the Seattle glam-punk act Mother Love Bone can often trigger feelings of, "What if?" What if, instead of passing away of a heroin overdose shortly before… more »

By David Raposa, eMusic ContributorAs an actual front-to-back listening experience, Lost Dogs makes like a decade-spanning collection of outtakes, B-sides and other ephemera. It takes until the start of the second disc for any semblance of flow to emerge.… more »

By David Raposa, eMusic ContributorIn terms of song selection, the biggest surprise on Live On Two Legs (the group's first of many officially sanctioned live releases) might be the relative lack of Ten representation: It only gets two slots… more »

By David Raposa, eMusic ContributorIt's no coincidence that, after 15 years, Pearl Jam waited until Album No. 8 to go the eponymous LP route. With the releases of rearviewmirror (a generous, albeit flawed, two-disc best-of) and Lost Dogs (an… more »

By Jayson Greene, Managing EditorRiot Act is the most contemplative, insular record of Pearl Jam's career; for the first time, they seemed to be speaking almost entirely to themselves. As such, it is the most overlooked, underappreciated moment in… more »

By Jayson Greene, Managing EditorBinaural is a solid record hobbled by two drawbacks: 1) mortifyingly two-dimensional production that nearly flattens McCready and Gossard's guitars into dueling sine waves, and 2) the soft-fall sensation that Binaural represents the moment where… more »

By Jayson Greene, Managing EditorIn which Eddie Vedder finally realizes he can't make fame disappear by glowering at it. Yield marks the denouement to the tortured first chapter of Pearl Jam's story — for millions of fans, it was… more »

By David Raposa, eMusic ContributorMost bands welcome fame. As Vs. proved, Pearl Jam is not one of those bands. When Ten hit it big, they opted to retrench. Instead of building on the messianic sonic cathedrals constructed by Ten… more »

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By Dan Epstein, eMusic ContributorBaseball and music are the twin obsessions of my life, but beyond drunken 7th inning renditions of "Take Me out to the Ballgame," I've always been fairly dubious about the wisdom of combining the two.… more »