Live On Ten Legs is an 18-track live, comprehensive retrospective of Seattle’s grunge pioneers, Pearl Jam, who are celebrating a 20-year long career. The slow winding pitch delivered in the beginning of the otherwise visceral, utterly cathartic “Porch” instantly stands out.
The romantic, neo-classic “Just Breath” showcases the flexibility of the quintet who never fail to surprise with diverse soundscapes, while “I Am Mine,” off of 2002’s Riot Act, empowers one to regain ownership of the time given on this plane. However, above and beyond containing the band’s greatest hits, Ten Legs is also an abundantly crisp representation of a Pearl Jam concert. Even with a nine studio record deep discography, Eddie Vedder, guitarists Mike McCready and Stone Gossard, bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Matt Cameron still revel in decorating their set list with offerings of gratitude to the giants who influenced them.
As proven by opening track, the rattling and quivering, grease saturated cover of “Arms Aloft” by Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros, and the purely toxic punk venom that Vedder delivers on “Public Image,” certainly does John Lydon proud.
With a synergic flair to mix rock, punk, folk and funk and make it their own, as well as a rarely witnessed perseverance, Pearl Jam righteously celebrate their iconic status on Live On Ten Legs.
In A Word: Thriving
