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122 of 126 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Into the Wild: The Straight Dope (bonus tracks), September 27, 2007
For all those Pearl Jam fans out there, the release of what is essentially a solo acoustic Eddie Vedder album is manna from heaven. Of course, most PJ fans out there these days are in their 4th or 5th decade of life, and there are many young folks who view PJ as outmoded and other naysayers who have grown tired of Ed's gruff, mumbly baritone. But I belong to the first group, so I think this little album is pretty great.
"Into the Wild" is a 30-minutish album that has Eddie playing a variety of acoustic instruments over 11 short tracks. It's classic Vedder, but stripped-down and bare, kind of in the balladic "No Code" or "Binaural" vein with more acoustic strumming and minimal accompaniment. The tunes were written as a movie soundtrack, and having seen the film, it's hard not to picture Emile Hirsch traipsing over hill and dale during the songs. On the other hand, most of the numbers do have lyrics, which is a bit unusual for a soundtrack, and was sometimes distracting for me in the theater. But this review is about the music...
Many of the tunes are upbeat, rocky-mountain-high, kind of anthems, as on "Setting Forth," "Far Behind," and the all-instrumental "Tuolumne." The other half are more introspective, balladic numbers (in keeping with the kind of celebration of freedom/wasteful tragedy duality of Chris McCandless' tale), as on the banjo-inflected "No Ceiling," "Rise" (the ukelele invokes Ed's "Soon Forget" from Binaural or "Goodbye" from A Broke Down Melody -- I'm thinking an all uke-vocal album by Ed would be pretty great), "Long Nights," "Society," and "The End of the Road." "Hard Sun" is a stand-out in a number of ways -- clearly the one number that might either get radio-play or be released as B-side single. Also, it's written by Robert Peterson (aka Indio) and features some backing chorus vocals by Sleater-Kinney frontwoman Corin Tucker (it would be awesome if Ed made a proper single out of "Modern Girl" and released it with "Hard Sun"). It's definitely the big anthem of the album and the only tune over 4 minutes long. "Society" is the other track not written by Ed -- in this case, the author is Jerry Hannan who also sings back-up underneath. "The Wolf" features Ed doing his Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan inspired vocal howling (reminiscent of "Arc" without the overdubs) over an organ drone. And then there's "Guaranteed," a great tune that really has two versions embedded in the same song -- first the vocal version that has Ed singing over acoustic guitar (this was played during the end credits of the movie) and later, in a "hidden track," the "Humming Version" that starts around 4:40 after a minute or two of silence (who invented hidden tracks anyway? why would I want to endure two minutes of silence or have to press fast forward to get to more music?). The humming version is what opens the film, and features Ed humming the sweet soulful melody over the same guitar rhthym. So for me, the standout tracks are "Hard Sun," "Guaranteed," "Setting Forth," "Far Behind", "Rise," and "The Wolf." That's half the album, so you can see I think it's all pretty great and will leave fans itching for a real solo album someday.
This review wouldn't be complete without some discussion about iTunes. iTunes has available, for $2 more, the "deluxe version" of this album (NOT sold here at Amazon), which augments the original soundtrack with 4 more numbers -- "No More" (a cover) and "Photographs" (a short instrumental) lifted from the soundtrack to the documentary 'Body of War,' a live version of "No More," and a live version of "Here's to the State," one of Ed's concert staples that has him railing against various operatives in the Bush administration. iTunes also sells "Guaranteed (Humming Version)" as a separate track, but it's just the "hidden track" from the 7-minute "Guaranteed" that isn't available as a single downloadable track. Since the original soundtrack is only about a half-hour long, most fans will welcome the extra 12 minutes of music, but the truth is the tunes don't completely fit with the rest of the album and some will no doubt find the strong political messages of "No More" (War) and "Here's to the State," typical of Ed, tiring.
And so, "Into the Wild" is a short little album written as a movie soundtrack that is loaded with little gems by Eddie Vedder on vocals and acoustic strings. If you like Ed and can put up with the brevity of the songs themselves and the album as a whole, it's sure to please, and leave you wishing there were more. And there is a little more, only if you're interested you'll have to get it from iTunes... or somewhere else ;).
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57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Film Soundtrack, September 18, 2007
This album written directly for the Sean Penn directed film "Into The Wild" (based on the best selling book by Jon Krakaur) is an excellent representation of the film soundtrack. It is not a mis-mosh of gathered songs that just happen to evoke, or hopefully evoke, the emotion and sentiment on screen. These are carefully crafted songs - deliberate in their sparce space, their tone and stripped down production.
Take a listen to the excellent "Society" - my favorite track on the album. It has a discord and yearning that is unlike most other songs I've heard. It rings, in sentiment and proper placement, much like the Bruce Springsteen penned "Streets of Philadelphia". No, it is NOT like "Streets of Philadelphia" but it fits much like that song does - the song fits the film, fits the emotion, fits the conditions. That is not an easy thing to do.
Finding the correct songs to fill a soundtrack, is not an easy thing and kudos should be sent to those involved with asking/requesting/pleading with Eddie Vedder to make a departure from Pearl Jam and try his hand. His take on the emotions - his vision of Sean Penn's vision - is very true to the film (and to the book, actually).
I can whole heartedly recommend this cd. It is NOT a Pearl Jam rocker - but it is a deeply moving accompanyment to a wonderful story. Much as the story goes, so goes the music - whimsical at times, stripped to the bare, reaching, searching, etc. It's a very well done soundtrack.
I can honestly say that several of the songs on this collection might be Academy Award worthy. Let's hope others feel the same way.
Highly Recommended.
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49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Music..., September 24, 2007
When I was a teenager I read Into the Wild. The book has haunted me ever since. While I have yet to see the movie, I can say that the music is worthy of the story it serves to help tell.
The story of Chris McCandless touches on something locked deep in the heart of almost every young American male that has ever lived. It is about the search for freedom, for the wild, for truth.
The songs on this disc are echoes of those goals/thoughts.
In a disc of strong songs, I find Rise to be my favorite. It is not the longest or most profound song here, but it reaches out. It calls us on.
Eddie Vedder was a great choice, maybe the pefect choice, for this CD. He takes a step sideways from his usual Pearl Jam fare. He has made a GREAT CD.
I give the Soundtrack for Into the Wild my highest recommendation.
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is one of Eddie Vedder's 
