Live on Two Legs - Pearl Jam (CD 1998)

Releasing live albums always results in quite a quandary for bands (or more accurately, their labels). Should we release one live show from beginning to end or throw together several different songs from random shows? Even more perplexing is the actual song selection if the random version is selected. Covers? Only the hits? Cult favorites? Oh, the decisions!

I was plenty pleased to hear in 1998 that Pearl Jam was preparing to release a live album featuring their previous tour. I didn t have any live Pearl Jam recordings except for a tape of their 1995 Southpark Meadows show in Austin, which I attended, and the Dissident/Atlanta digi-pack collection. Both were great, but one was a tape and the other was three separate discs that were heavily edited. I needed something to fill my ears and Live On Two Legs was just it. The disc took the format that I was wishing against. It does not feature one specific show, but songs from various tour stops. Not ideal, but at the time, it satisfied my palate.

This disc kicks off with Corduroy (Vitalogy) and it s a quality opener and a good way to start things off. It s a rocking song with a great guitar solo and some excellent jamming at the end. The next track follows the same path: Given To Fly (Yield). This is a great version and quite rocking as well. Short and sweet is up next with Hail, Hail (No Code). This is an average song in my book, but this is one of the better versions that I ve heard.

The disc lets up a little in volume, but not in quality. Daughter (Vs.) is next and is one of Pearl Jam s most beautiful songs. This is a great acoustic version and perfect to sing along to (as the crowd does). There is some great jamming and as the song meanders, you ll hear some teases of Neil Young s Rockin In The Free World and WMA (Vs.). Another good sing along pops up next. The longest title in the Pearl Jam catalogue as Eddie Vedder says is Elderly Women Behind The Counter In A Small Town (Vs.). This is a great version of another great song.

Untitled is up next and it s basically a segue into MFC (Yield). This isn t one of my favorite songs and while there is some good guitar work and plenty of energy, it could easily be left off this disc. Go (Vs.) is the next track and while it s pretty heavy and played with a lot of energy, it could also be left off. It s an average Pearl Jam song at best and doesn t add anything.

Finally, we get back on track with Red Mosquito (No Code). The opening guitar riff is awesome and the hard/soft dichotomy nature of the song is wonderful. If you haven t started rocking yet, then Even Flow (Ten) is sure to do it. Vedder s voiced is adequately grizzled in this version and the guitars are out of control. This is clearly a stand out selection.

Off He Goes (No Code) slows down the concert (or manufactured concert) and it s nice to settle down and relax a bit. This is perfect timing after the last two heavy hitters. The relaxed nature of the disc continues with Nothingman (Vitalogy). This is a beautiful acoustic sing along and Vedder s voice wails with pain and passion. It s a great track. Finally things pick up a bit with Do The Evolution (Yield). This tune is loud, loud, loud and good, good, good. It varies slightly from the album version, but that s a good thing.

I assume that the next three songs could be considered the encore. While that s not accurate because of the way the album was put together is makes some sense. Betterman (Vitalogy) kicks it off perfectly. The slow buildup powers into one of Pearl Jam s best songs. There s nothing better than when those drums kick in and the band lets loose. This is a killer version that actually predates the current Save It For Later tag found in most recent versions. What s better than Betterman? Well, if you answered Black (Ten) you would be right. The opening riff is just wonderful and to hear Mike McCready go nuts as he does on the version is just great. The disc ends on a slightly sour note. F*ckin Up (cover, Neil Young) finishes things off. Sure, it s a good version, but the final song needs to be something killer. With Pearl Jam s extensive catalogue of concert closers, something better could have been included. If they wanted to go with a cover, why not Rockin In The Free World or Baba O Reily. Yea, Rockin In The Free World was teased early during Daughter, but that s part of the problem with compilations as opposed to full shows. Even Yellow Ledbetter could have been included. At the time, I figured it would remain unreleased, save the Jeremy single, but after it s inclusion on Lost Dogs, that s clearly not the case.

As great of a band that Pearl Jam is and with the quality of songs on Live On Two Legs, there are some problems with the disc. Two, I have mentioned previously: the randomization of the track listing and the poor album closer. It also would have been nice to list the locations of the specific songs included on the album. Unfortunately, this disc is also overshadowed (deservedly so) by the live concert releases that Pearl Jam has put out during their 2000 and 2003 tours.

There are plenty of positives on the disc. The song selection is excellent and many of the live staples are included: Black, Betterman, Given To Fly and Do The Evolution, along with killer versions of Red Mosquito and Even Flow. Sure, a few classics are missing like Alive and Yellow Ledbetter. However, the inclusions far outweigh the exclusions. The recording quality is also excellent and doesn t fall prey to poor production problems that plague so many live albums.

Adding Live On Two Legs to your cd collection presents quite an interesting dilemma. If you are looking for a greatest hits collection, it might make some sense. The only problem is that many of the hits are missing and nothing released after 1998 is included. If you are a die-hard fan, you probably already have the disc and love it (or at least loved it until the far superior concert discs were released). If you don t already own it, you re much better off purchasing one of the live discs from the 2003 tour. Actually, everyone should own something from that tour. Basically, Live On Two Legs is a quality live cd from a great band that can fit right at home in your collection if you currently have a void of live Pearl Jam. If you don t have that hole, don t feel bad about leaving it on the shelf.