Pearl Jam

It’s been 20 years—20 years!—since Pearl Jam burst onto the music scene with Ten. Eddie Vedder and crew are the only major group to have survived and graduated the grunge era—gone are the sounds of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden. But Pearl Jam is still kicking, and hard, as is evidenced on Live on Ten Legs, simultaneously a 20-year-anniversary album and a celebration of what fans have come to love from Pearl Jam—their live sets. Each of the songs on this follow-up to 1998’s Live on Two Legs was played live during the past seven years. That’s a lot of shows, and even more songs to choose from, and these are some of the best takes of some of the best songs Pearl Jam has ever performed. There’s the raw, emotional power of “State of Love and Trust” and “World Wide Suicide,” songs written nearly two decades apart but fitting flawlessly together. And the rockin’ cover of Joe Strummer’s “Arms Aloft” adds a little something new to the mix. Naturally, the album—like many a Pearl Jam concert—closes with a beautiful version of “Yellow Ledbetter,” and it’s an appropriate homage to two decades in the biz and in our hearts.