2003: Riot Act: Tokyo Japan: M [Best of, Live]

Pearl Jam dives into their more well known catalog with "Evenflow" following "Release" and "Can't Keep," but the band's Ten-era rocker seems to have lost its intensity -- the vocals just don't have the same edge they used to have, and its played faster than usual to boot. This results in a weak version of an otherwise powerful fan favorite.

"Save You" off of Pearl Jam's latest studio album "Riot Act" recieves the same treatment and is played faster than usual, but sounds great all the same. Vedder's more 'reserved' scream on the studio version of the song doesn't appear here -- its a no-holds barred shout that sounds superior to a concious scream worried about its tonal quality on Save You's studio counterpart.

Renditions of "Hail, Hail" and "Dissident" off of Pearl Jam's earlier works sound great, "Hail, Hail" definitely a highlight with its memorable riffs.

"Lukin" is weaker than its studio recording on "No Code," as if Eddie Vedder doesn't have the voice to sing the song anymore. However, it does roll into a fantastic version of "Not For You."

"You Are" and "I Am Mine" off of Riot Act also make appearances. While "I Am Mine" is a suitable live rendition of the song, "You Are" features somewhat weak vocals, as if Vedder were uninterested. It just sounds a bit too low and lazy for me.

"Betterman," a song from Eddie Vedder's pre-Pearl Jam days that first appeared on "Vitalogy" sounds great -- a number that starts with a lone Vedder singing the song without the rest of the band, who come out after the first few verses. Normally a more interested crowd would drown out Vedder in the singing of the first few verses of "Betterman," but no such luck with the crowd at the Budokan that night.

The real highlights of the show open up the second disc. Pearl Jam's "Corduroy" still sounds strong with its straight forward message of love.

It's followed by Pearl Jam's "Do The Evolution" which is another fine live preformance by the band. It's a bit of a letdown compared to other official bootlegs, though with no improvisation at all on the part of Vedder. Most of the other times the song is preformed, its lyrics about "I am the first man to make plans" are substituted for something more humorous. No such thing on this boot. Not to say "Do The Evolution" sounds weak at all on the Tokyo show, just that better recordings of it exist.

Vedder's vocals sound fantastic on "Blood," an angry song about the media looking for dirt on rockstars and other icons. He hasn't lost it at all in the +10 years since the song was first heard.

In my opinion, "Bushleaguer" and "Know Your Rights" see their finest renditions of all of the 2003 tour on the Tokyo, Japan bootleg. "Bushleaguer" doesn't sound calculated at all -- it just flows and sounds fantastic. While Eddie Vedder once again sounds reserved on the studio version of the song, his vocals are more laid back and fluid live. Plus, its got some great opening guitar work from Mr. Mike McCready.

"Know Your Rights" is the same way -- a Clash cover, all the other appearances of the song (notably on the Madison Square Garden two-night stand) sound too calculated and it seems as if too much care has been taken in how Vedder's voice sounds. The Budokan sees a straight preformance of the song -- once again, it just flows and doesn't sound unnatural at all.

Other highlights of the second disc are a fine preformance of "Black," a Pearl Jam b-side "Breath" that's an absolutely amazing song with a fantastic riff, "Alive," "Yellow Ledbetter" (another b-side) and the attempt at a sad song on a ukulele, "Soon Forget." Seemingly one of the rare times "Soon Forget" appears live, it's a halarious song to hear as the attempt at making it sad are completely thwarted with the first few notes from Ed's uke.

While not the best live recording released for retail put out by Pearl Jam, it's got enough highlights that make it worthwhile for purchase.