Mirror Ball - Young, Neil (CD 1995)

As 1995 began, arguably the biggest rock band in the world was splintering apart. Fame had taken its toll on the reclusive frontman, the lead guitarist was drinking and drugging, the two founding friends and longtime bandmates felt helpless and unhappy, and the band's most popular member amongst die hard fans, the drummer, had been fired and replaced by the original drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It was not looking good for Pearl Jam.

And then Neil Young came along, and along with Jack Irons (the former RHCP skinsman), the two of them "saved the life of (the) band," if Ed Vedder is to be believed.

Over the course of about 10 days in the studio in January/February 1995, Young recorded a new studio album with Pearl Jam as his backing band. It was a case of the idol making an album with his idolizers, and quite frankly, only a guest appearance on a new Who record could probably get Eddie Vedder off more in a musical sense. The two artists had played together before, giving what many feel was the all time penultimate MTV Video Music Awards performance in 1993 with a ripping version of Rockin in the Free World. But this was all new material, most of it written by Young, some of it with help from Vedder. Needless to say, Mirror Ball was the most anticipated release from Young in a couple of decades. And he had Pearl Jam to thank for it, even if he couldn't name them (they are referred to as "The Band" throughout the liner notes).

At many points, the album lives up to the hype that it got, although to call this album a five star effort is surely misguided. I personally have always considered Young one of the more over-rated songwriters in rock history, and on songs like Big Green Country and Fallen Angel, his flaws become more evident.

That being said, Young sounds invigorated on this record. His own guitar playing is not colored by the repetitiveness that so often seems to overtake him, and both Mike McCready and Stone Gossard have licks and riffs throughout the album that bring extra meat to some songs. This is most notable on the opening two songs: Song X is a rambling rock song characterized by a dichotomy of ringing guitar tones and muddy chords. Dare I say the "g" word may actually apply to this song? Act of Love, a song Pearl Jam would perform throughout their 1995 American tour, is a ripping bit of driving rock and roll, a mix of The Who's blustery R&B grooves and the controlled chaos that marked Pearl Jam's own early days.

Young even scored a video hit with the first (only?) single, Downtown, one of the best Thin Lizzy meets Deep Purple ripoffs ever penned. That being said, is there really a need to just completely APE those two bands? The song is ok, it just sounds really f*cking dated, like Young wrote it in 1976 and brought it to these sessions and said "we can't do no better than this one boys!"

There is still a pretty decent amount to like here though. Peace and Love, featuring the only lyrics from Vedder on the record, is a really just pretty song, if you can get by Young's hippie colored glasses view of the world. It's an example of a song just sounding like it was arranged perfectly: for once, it's ok that Jack Irons drums' sound like he's banging on a trash can (the dude's a great drummer, but his set sounds like cr*p way too much), and the guitars build the perfect backbone, sounding extremely melodic while occasionally be charged up to add emphasis.

Throw Your Hatred Down is one of the more restrained songs on the record, though it never loses its intensity, and it gives Mike McCready an opportunity to show off his fluid lead guitar chops. And Scenery is one of the few times you can actually hear Jeff Ament's bass above the guitars. It's another just gorgeous and melodic song that is somewhat reminiscent of the song Hold On that appeared on Pearl Jam's 2003 rarities release, Lost Dogs. And once again, it features a perfectly placed and timed solo by McCready.

Mirror Ball is by no means a great album, but it is a pretty good one. I think it got such good reviews more due to the fact that the press seemed eager to kiss PJ's a*ses back in the day (probably in the hope they would give a rare interview) than for the quality of the music. Pearl Jam fans will want it because it's, well, Pearl Jam. Young fans will want it because it's, well, Neil Young. This type of collaboration seems impossible today, which is even weirder because this album is not even a decade old.

Mirror Ball stands more as an important part of Pearl Jam history for the goodwill it built up in the band during the recording process, and truthfully, the band would take almost another three years to sort out all of their problems (reportedly the 1996 European Tour was by all accounts almost as low a point as this timeframe). I recommend Mirror Ball, but don't expect anything mind-blowing. It's merely a decent rock album whose songs tend to blend together way too much, and it gets more credit than it deserves for who is playing the songs, and not the quality of the songs therein.

Two other songs surfaced from these recording sessions. Released in late 1995, Pearl Jam's single Merkin Ball is meant as an accompaniment to this disc. By all means, that single IS essential listening.

More on Neil Young:
Greendale

More on Pearl Jam:

ALBUMS:
Ten
Vs.
Vitalogy
No Code
Yield
Binaural
Riot Act
Lost Dogs

SINGLES:
Dissident 3 CD single set
Daughter
Nothing as it Seems-Import
Light Years
I Am Mine
Man of the Hour

DVD/VIDEOS:
Single Video Theory
Touring Band 2000
Live at the Showbox
Live at the Garden

OFFICIAL BOOTLEGS:
10/22/00 Las Vegas (10 Year Anniversary Show)
11/6/00 Seattle
5/3/03 State College

CONCERT REVIEWS:
Boston Garden, 4/11/94
Tweeter Center, 8/29/00
Tweeter Center, 8/30/00
Tweeter Center, 7/2&3/03
Madison Square Garden, 7/8&9/03
Tweeter Center, 7/11/03