Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003

Pearl Jam | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 16, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Epic/Sony
• ASIN: B000669GAI
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (214 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #451 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #39 in Music > Hard Rock & Metal
  • #46 in Music > Music Deals > All Music Deals
  • #55 in Music > Alternative Rock

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

In an era when pop nihilism fulfilled its dark promise all too regularly, Pearl Jam not only survived, but thrived to become one of rock's greatest bands. This 33-track double-disc career retrospective documents the arc of a career that went from arena and radio triumphs in the early 90's (while Nirvana's promise imploded in the wake of hype, Pearl Jam's crowd-pleasing fame only burgeoned) to the uncompromising, core audience-focused tack that carried the band into the 21st century. Shrewdly compiled by the band into an "Up" disc that chronicles the band's driving, Stone Gossard-Mike McCready fueled hard rock dramatics (including such early career landmarks as "Jeremy," "Alive" and "Even Flow" alongside more aggressive fare like "Go" and "Spin the Black Circle") and a "Down" side that focuses more on Eddie Vedder's brooding, often dark ballads ("Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town," "Yellow Ledbetter," their unlikely hit cover of the oldie "Last Kiss"), it's a collection that underscores both the band's range and musical integrity. Though centered largely on the band's pre-Vitalogy studio era and containing no new material, longtime producer/collaborator Brendan O'Brien contributes remixes of "Once," "Alive" and "Black" that offer new insights on the familiar, while non-album tracks like "Man of the Hour" and "State of Love and Trust" considerably enhance the overall listening perspective here. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

193 of 211 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Basically what it claims to be, November 16, 2004

By 

J. N. Mohlman (Barrington, RI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003 (Audio CD)

The trouble with best of compilations is that they can never quite satisfy everyone. Devoted fans are usually disappointed because some of the more obscure favorites inevitably don't make the album. Conversely, the casual fan is often left puzzled by "greatest hits" they've never even heard of. More often than not, it the serious fan who is left wanting, because as a general rule, these things aren't made for the serious fan, as they already own all the songs on the compilation. In the case of "rearviewmirror" this dynamic is rather exacerbated by the fact that it is being produced by Epic, which owns these masters, but no longer has a contract with the band. So, while I don't think Pearl Jam is upset by this release, neither has it received the attention that the incredible "Lost Dogs" did just a year ago.

Actually, to the band's credit, they haven't thrown on one or two new songs for the sole purpose of selling the compilation to their core audience. So there is nothing on these two discs that you can't find elsewhere; even the relatively obscure "Man of the Hour" is available as a single. Plus, the arrangement is nice with the more up tempo songs on Disc 1 and slower ones on Disc 2. There are some that could go either way (like "Breath"), but all in all this set-up makes for a listening experience that feels new. Which brings me to my first point, the package promises re-mixed versions of "Once", "Black" and "Jeremy", but don't get your hopes up. These are re-mixes, not re-recordings, so if you were looking for new arrangements, you're out of luck. Actually, the differences are hardly worth mentioning; I'm by no means an expert, but all I noticed were slightly stronger percussions, with Ed's voice being somewhat more prominent in spots.

So what's good and what's bad? Well, I'm going to try not to be a snob, but there are a few noticeable oversights. I'm sure they didn't want to overload on songs from "Ten", but "Porch" is rather glaring in its absence. Alternately, "Once" in the place of "Porch" might have made sense if "Footsteps" had been included, which is a fairly well known b-side, and which would have also completed the "Mamasan" trilogy with "Alive". From "Vs." "Dissident" seemed like an odd choice as "Blood", "Glorified G" and "Leash" are all absent. However, given the popularity of the eponymous bootleg from the mid-90's, I suppose this shouldn't come as a surprise.

"Vitalogy" is well represented; in particular I was thrilled to see that "Immortality" was included as it is one of Pearl Jam's best songs and is sorely underappreciated by radio. Personally, I would have left off "Nothingman" in order to make room for other songs, but it's a good tune in and of itself, so that's not much of a complaint. As well represented as "Vitalogy" is, I found "No Code" to be grossly underappreciated. While "Hail, Hail", "Who You Are" and "Off He Goes" are to be found, the absence of "In My Tree" is just terrible. Likewise, "Habit" and "Present Tense" at the least should have made it on.

With "Yield" it's the same story, while "Do The Evolution" and "Given to Fly" are eminently deserving of being included, I could take or leave "Wishlist", and "Faithfull", "Low Light" and "In Hiding" all would have been better choices. "Binaural" didn't really have any breakout hits, so it's hard to argue with only including "Nothing as it Seems" and "Light Years", but it would have been nice to see "Insignificance" or "Breakerfall" on Disc 1. The same is true of "Riot Act" although I think "Can't Keep" and particularly "Thumbing My Way" would have been great choices for inclusion.


"State of Love and Trust", "Breath" and "Man of the Hour" are all outstanding non-album contributions and definitely add to the set. The same goes for "I Got Id"; over the years the "Merkinball" single has fallen off the radar, but it was huge at the time. And finally, while I think most of us have grown a little weary of "Last Kiss" over the years, it's hard to argue with its inclusion given the phenomenon it turned into.

One puzzling aspect of this set is that for a band that has made its name playing live, there are no live performances on "rearviewmirror". I can understand why Epic wouldn't have wanted to include a completely different sounding version (i.e. "Jeremy" from Red Rocks) but any number of live versions of "Even Flow" or "Do The Evolution" would have been a real treat for the casual fan.

So, in the end, what is "rearviewmirror"? Well, it's basically what it claims to be, a "best of"; there are oversights, but generally speaking this is a fairly thorough set. While diehard fans (like myself) may bemoan the absence of certain songs, for less than twenty dollars, it's hard to argue with 33 tracks on two discs. And for the fan who loved the band early and lost track of them over the years, this is a great buy. Not only does it reintroduce old favorites, but it offers a smorgasbord of Pearl Jam's newer stuff. In addition, the fast/slow arrangement makes this a good buy even for the hardcore fan, because, as I said before, it creates a new listening experience and saves you from fiddling with discs in the car if you just want to tear through some of your favorites.

Jake Mohlman

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Life beyond "Alive", November 19, 2004

By 

Music Enthusiast "Mark" (Glendale, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003 (Audio CD)

I love all of these reviews which seem to be testimonials as to the degree of one's loyalty to the band. There is a lot of passion in the Pearl Jam fanbase and a lot of discussion around whether such an album should exist. I think this album is great. Here is my review...

SONG SOURCES/DISTRIBUTION

Here is the distribution of songs by album... Ten(5), Vs.(6), Vitalogy(6), No Code(3), Yield(3), Binaural(2), Riot Act(2), From singles-not on an album (3), From movie soundtracks (3).

SONGS THAT WERE (RADIO) HITS NOT INCLUDED

Glorified G (Vs.)
Rats (Vs.)
Tremor Christ (Vitalogy)
Smile (No Code)
In Hiding (Yield)

SONGS I AS A FAN WISHED WERE INCLUDED IN ADDITION TO EXCLUDED RADIO HITS

In My Tree (No Code)

VERSIONS DIFFERENT THAN ON THE ALBUM

Once, Alive and Black come with an asterisk stating they were remixed by Brendan O'Brian. I found them to be clearer and slightly more raw sounding. Like the difference between the Lost Dogs version of "Alone" as compared to the B-side version. Very slight difference from the original in my opinion. Some of the alteration in Lost Dogs versions of songs were drastic as compared to this.

Evenflow is an entirely different take. Another reviewer said it was the music video version. This is not a re-mix, an entirely different recording. Sounds live from a studio. Similar in recording style to Zeppelin's "I can't quit you" from the Coda album.

State of Love and Trust is the most radically changed song. Delay added to the backup vocals, echo added to the guitar solos, vocals more pronounced and forward, mixed louder and clearer. In my opinion, long needed change. The singles soundtrack recordings were not good recordings and this clears it up.

Breath was mixed louder and clearer as it was lower and muddier on the original.

Yellow Ledbetter was cut short on the final note in Lost Dogs. Fixed on this album.

SOUND QUALITY

Very good and consistent. The risk you run with a 13 year span of hits put on an album is having hiss on some songs, not others, different recording levels, etc. This doesn't occur on this collection.

OPINION AND OBSERVATIONS

I think this is a perfect collection. The distribution follows radio hits from the earlier albums, and contains what were released as singles from the later albums. Collectors get cleaned up and some different versions. Casual fans get 30+ great tracks. People who bought Ten and Vs. and then lost interest get to see great things Pearl Jam has done since and may want to get reacquainted. Separating hard rock (disk 1) and softer (disk 2) is good for parties, moods, etc. Put it in and play!

A great companion to this is "Lost Dogs". Fame freaked out the bandmembers and in later years, they decided to manage it by not putting catchy hooks in some songs, excluding songs that were obvious hits, not doing videos, keeping out of the news, etc. Lost Dogs has some of these songs. For example, if "Sad" would have been included in Binaural originally, I bet it would have been included as one of the greatest of hits on this album now. Lost Dogs also has B-sides, Xmas singles, soundtrack songs, and a bone chilling tribute to the late Layne Staley.

The thing "tweaking" me right now is when a song is over, I start playing the next one, from the original album, in my head, but an entirely different song plays instead. I'll survive. Enjoy this one!

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As good as it's going to get!, November 20, 2004

By 

Michael J. Tuccio (Fredonia, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits 1991-2003 (Audio CD)

Pearl Jam is a band who, although they started out selling millions of discs, has survived as a result of their dedicated fans. A lot of their fans will certainly have problems with this compilation because it doesn't carry their personal favorites. That's always going to be a concern when it comes to bands who aren't simply "hit single-formula based." However, most bands put out greatest hits discs, and with that in mind, this is an outstanding collection! All of the big hits are here, as well as "Yellow Ledbetter," which every diehard knows. It also carries the two tracks they did for the movie "Singles," way back in 1992. Those songs, "Breath" and "State of Love and Trust," are excellent. I also like how both discs are in chronological order, with the harder stuff on disc one, the less-hard, but definitely not soft songs, on disc 2. This is a wonderful place for people who don't own any of the full-length CDs to start, and it should satisfy those of us who have been following this terrific group since 1991.