Lost Dogs - Pearl Jam (CD 2003)

"Sit down, make yourselves comfortable, we're gonna be here a while..."

For more than a few years now, Pearl Jam fans have been clamoring for the long rumored, never quite done, rarities and b-sides album. This thing has been rumored to be in the works so many times, that when the band themselves promised it to fans earlier this year, many said fans kind of said "yeah, we'll believe it when we see it." And then, last month, came the announcement. November 11th, 2003. 2 Discs. To be released the same day as a 2 DVD set of the band's performance at Madison Square Garden. Christmas came early for us PJ fans this year...

The tracklisting for this thing has been both praised and maligned by internet fans, some who wanted a bit more of the already released b-sides, others who wanted the thing to be all totally unreleased material. So without further ado, here is said tracklisting, with an explanation of a song's origin in parentheses:

Disc One
All Night (No Code outtake)
Sad (Binaural outtake, leaked summer of 2003 as "Letter to the Dead")
Down (B-side to I Am Mine from Riot Act)
In The Moonlight (played live in 2000, Binaural outtake)
Hitchhiker (Binaural outtake)
Don't Gimme No Lip (No Code outtake)
Alone (Ten outtake, B side to Go single)
Education (Binaural outtake, leaked summer of 2003)
"U" (Yield outtake, B-side to Wishlist)
Black, Red, Yellow (No Code outtake, B-side to import Hail Hail single)
Leaving Here (Who cover, originally appeared on Home Alive benefit)
Gremmie Out Of Control (Silly Surfers cover, originally appeared on M.O.M. benefit)
Whale Song (Yield outtake, originally appeared on M.O.M. 3 benefit)
Undone (Riot Act outtake, B-side to I Am Mine 7 inch)
Hold On (Vs. outtake)
Yellow Ledbetter (Ten outtake, B-side to Jeremy)

Disc Two
Fatal (Binaural outtake, leaked summer of 2003)
Other Side (Riot Act outtake, B-side to Save You)
Hard to Imagine (Vs., Vitalogy, and Yield outtake, originally appeared on Chicago Cab soundtrack)
Footsteps (Ten outtake, appeared on Jeremy single)
Wash (Ten outtake, appeared on Alive single)
Dead Man (No Code outtake, B-side to Off He Goes
Strangest Tribe (Fan Club 1999 Christmas Single)
Drifting (Fan Club 1999 Christmas Single)
Let Me Sleep (Fan Club 1991 Christmas Single)
Last Kiss (Fan Club 1998 Christmas Single, benefit CD single, No Boundaries benefit)
Sweet Lew (Binaural outtake)
Dirty Frank (Ten outtake, b-side to Even Flow)
Brother Instrumental (Ten outtake, other versions have vocals)
Bee Girl (played twice live, 10/18/93 and
10/2/94)
4/20/02 (hidden track, Riot Act outtake, Layne Staley tribute)

DISC ONE

Lost Dogs begins with a bit of a fiery rocker called All Night, and while the energy is there, it comes off as well, something that was deservedly left on the cutting room floor. Luckily, the next song, Sad fares much better. A song full of heart and emotion, it would have helped to make Binaural a much better album with its inclusion alone. This folks, is one of Eddie Vedder's strongest songs in years, not to mention one of his strongest vocal performances.

For those not familiar with Down, you should be. It's a cascading bit of rock and roll that is extremely fun and likable, not to mention the fact that it has one of Mike McCready's nicest solos. In the Moonlight has kind of that psychedelic vibe that Soundgarden would sometimes pull off with such aplomb, it is probably my favorite of the stuff I hadn't heard from this record.

Both Hitchhiker and Don't Gimme No Lip are standard mid-tempo rockers, although 'Lip,' sung by guitarist Stone Gossard, has a bit of Evacuation syndrome going on, with that annoying shout along chorus. Christ, shut up already. Here's hoping Gossard sticks to Mankind in live performances.

It's unclear (with no liner notes to go on) whether Alone, one of the most popular b-sides the band has among hardcore devotees, is a new old recording, or just a touch up with new mixing of the old recording found on the Go single. That being said, this song crunches with intensity and fire. When people say they miss the Pearl Jam of old, it's songs like this that they are talking about.

When Education leaked this past summer (along with Sad, then known as "Letter to the Dead"), I found myself thinking "thank God that didn't make Binaural after all." After a few more listens, I'm not as against it as I first was, but you know, it's still not very good.

U was the peppy, poppy b-side to Wishlist, and after about 5-10 listens of this song, you'll be very sick of it and will be able to do without hearing it ever again. It reminds me very much of a Strokes song in that way actually. Black Red Yellow, named after Denis Rodman's ever changing hair color (Rodman has become a good friend of the band over the years), is an ok tune, but again, nothing that really opens your eyes or makes you say "wow!"

With Leaving Here, the band makes a quick romp through one of The Who's earliest songs. Then again, Pearl Jam was in many ways a band built to cover the Who. You can't say the same for their cover of Gremmie Out of Control, an odd song that is grating and genuinely annoying. No wonder the band buried it on the first Music For Our Mother Ocean compilation disc. The other song the band gave to that cause, the Jack Irons on lead vocals Whale Song, isn't nearly as bad, it's just not very interesting or intriguing either. It's still worth a few listens, but I can't picture myself playing this song over and over again with joy.

The first disc ends on a high note though, as Undone is yet another solid track from the Riot Act sessions. But what I was sure to be one of the album's biggest disappointments ends up being quite possibly it's biggest highlight. Hold On is bluesy, powerful, and inspirational. Hell, Creed should really thank Pearl Jam for not releasing this until now, cause otherwise the comparisons REALLY never would have stopped. It's an even better surprise because I was quite p*ssed off that this was not the same Hold On improv/song that the band performed at Boston Garden in April of 1994. Once I found that out, I expected this song to suck spicy goat a*s, but I was very pleasantly surprised.

Disc one closes with a b-side that can hardly be considered a "rarity" at this point. The classic blues guitar scale, the indecipherable lyrics, it can only be the SRV/Jimi Hendrix tribute Yellow Ledbetter.

DISC TWO

Disc two opens with the last of the three Binaural session songs that got leaked this summer. Fatal is a nice song built on simple acoustic chords and electric guitar backwash. It's a bit more on the "let's try this out" side of things, but it works pretty well. As for Other Side, I kind of think of that as a more rocking-ish Low Light, although it is not anywhere near the same league as Low Light (which is more of a compliment to Low Light, but I digress).

What follows next is probably 4 of the band's best known, and purely best, b-sides and rare tracks. Hard to Imagine is an amazing ballad, and quite honestly, I don't know if there exists a better recorded performance of it than what is on this disc. It was demo'd for 3 different albums, but this version, most likely from the Vs. sessions, just sounds amazing. The production on it is rather lo-fi, and it kind of adds an aura to the song. I love this song, it's the one song I had to have on this compilation (I refuse to shell out $15 for it on the Chicago Cab soundtrack), and you know, mp3 quality doesn't do it for me.

Footsteps, meanwhile, is a song that has lived in the annals of PJ history forever. Besides being the conclusion to Vedder's 'Mamasan' mini opera, the music was also the basis for the Temple of the Dog track Times of Trouble. This song, featuring the protagonist of Alive and Once on death row, is f*cking chill inducing in a way that Coldplay could only wish to be. Again, this song is an example of a track that Ten fans hear and say "why can't they be like that again?"

Wash is a Ten era ballad that has become quite a cult classic for some fans. They love the way the guitars truly seem to wash over them as Vedder asks for someone to "wash my love." This again, is a song that sounds to be either re-recorded, a different take, or a remix. This is followed by Dead Man, a haunting acoustic number by Vedder with sparse (if any) backing. It was originally written by him for the movie Dead Man Walking.

At this point, we hit the fan club Christmas single portion of the set. No, not every Christmas single, just some of them. First up is the entire 1999 single. Strangest Tribe is a number I've never really cared for, it feels too distant, too I dunno, cold I guess would be the word. Driftin on the other hand, is just the opposite. So what if it's a bit of a countryish strum with only Vedder appearing, it's endearing if nothing else.

The next Xmas single is a gem. It's the very first single (only 1500 of the actual printed seven inches exist, good luck finding one on Ebay), Let Me Sleep (It's Xmas Time). Basically just bongos, some acoustic guitar, and Vedder's voice, it's a holiday song that has come to be quite popular on many modern rock stations around the holidays, and with good reason.

And then of course we have Last Kiss, the surprise 1999 hit that was in fact, the 1998 fan club single. Do I REALLY need to get into what this is?

You know what we hit next folks? Pearl Jam hip hop mode, that's what. No, I'm not shi*ting you. Sweet Lew, sung by bassist Jeff Ament, is a bit funky and even finds Ament rapping some of the verse. I guess you have to hear it to believe it...

That's followed by Dirty Frank, a song inspired by Pearl Jam's bus driver from the early days. Yes, Eddie Vedder actually raps a bit on this song, telling the story of "Dirty Frank Dahmer." I honestly feel this song to be the sh*t and I wish the band had put it out on Ten, if for no other reason than to show that even back then, they had a sense of humor about themselves ("where's Mike McCready, my God, he's been ate, Dirty Frank yeah").

The band then becomes complete a*sholes to some of their longtime fans. Brother is a song from the original demo tape the band made back in 1990. They performed it live only twice, and outside of various demo tapes, there was never really a truly good version of it out there in circulation. So many fans hoped this album would change that, and they kind of get that hope realized except for one thing: it's an instrumental track, no vocals. So sorry, you lose!

Closing out the record (or so you may think) is a song inspired by the little Blind Melon video, the one with the Bee Girl. The story goes that Eddie saw the video, was afraid the girl would lose her childhood over her newfound stardom, and so he wrote a simple acoustic song for her. It's an ok song, but without the backstory, it could be a bit confusing.

The last track is a hidden track tacked onto the end of Bee Girl. Dubbed 4/20/02, it is the song Eddie Vedder wrote upon learning of Layne Staley's (of Alice in Chains fame) passing. Decided to be too personal to make it onto Riot Act, and at one point promised to never see the light of official release by Vedder, it is downright chilling to listen to ("the using, the using, the using takes hold!").

WHAT'S MISSING?

Being the Jamhead I am, I think the band did a pretty good job of trying to please everyone. That being said, below is a short list of songs that should have made this release:

Sonic Reducer, 1992 Xmas Single:
This cover of the Dead Boys classic could almost be considered the band's theme song over the years.

Jeremy, 1995 alternate "trance" version: Only performed live, this re-working of the band's biggest hit was a huge success artistically for them. Unfortunately, it disappeared forever after the 1996 tour.

Harmony, Binaural instrumental:
This is an amazing instrumental that appears on the band's 2000 DVD release, Touring Band 2000. The melody and guitar line on this song are unbelievable, and it deserves a wider audience.

Outside of those three, I think the band did a damn good job. For many fans, this will be the first time they will hear Gremmie or even Hard to Imagine. Hell for those not like me (i.e.: OBSESSED), this collection will probably be considered a goldmine. That being said, the tracks that are new even to me range from unbelievable (Hold On, Sad) to experimental (In the Moonlight) to downright blah (Don't Gimme No Lip).

For others, this is a nice collection of b-sides that can replace many many various CD singles and benefits, crappy quality mp3s, and mix CDs and or tapes. If you are a Pearl Jam fan, you owe it to yourself to at least give Lost Dogs a whirl or ten.