Pearl Jam publish finally Give Waytheir legendary live recording from March 5, 1998 in Melbourne Park, in a very official way – but with a rather ambivalent aftertaste.
What on the one hand (of course!) with the appearance as Record Store Day– Release has to do: that Pearl Jam the record on the Monday after the “Vinyl Holiday”, which (almost) always falls on the third Saturday in April Ten Club to put it on again as a limited color version, when a good number of fans have already gotten the regular version at an expensive price, just sucks.
But more important is: Why were 8 of the originally 25 songs simply left out for the release (still)? Porch, Indifference, Rearviemirror, Go, Off He Goes, Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town, Daughter and Wishlist missing – without comment, without reason. Which is just unspeakably annoying (and extremely unnecessary given the fact that all the songs from the performance were recorded and even broadcast in Australia at the time).
In this respect, a historic opportunity was simply given away – because even with the first near-appearance of Give Way these songs were already missing.
Keyword history: Originally it was supposed to be part of the Yield-Tour, by the way, already in 1998 as a free promo add-on for buyers of the Single Video Theory DVD to be distributed. But because label and band had not clarified the release, stamped EPIC Records which produced 50,000, from the Best Buyshops confiscated copies without further ado – with the exception of those few pieces that went through the net and are still sold under the table at horrendous prices.
Be that as it may: The remaining 75 minutes of Give Way are beyond any doubt! In the first-class sound, the over-hits and favorite songs come together with an unparalleled intensity; the air is ablaze with energy, pressure, power and passion demonstrating that Pearl Jam in the last few days with drummer Jack Irons – of what Give Way Incidentally, is the only official release and should therefore not be missing in any fan collection – were in absolute top form. You have more urgency Brain of J. at least rarely heard, too In My Tree, Spin the Black Circle, Do the Evolution or Black have preserved the immense passion of the band even two and a half decades later, which is a pure joy, while more intimate scenes like Release or Immortality raise the goosebumps.
The completist may still not be able to avoid appropriate bootlegs – but we are dealing with one of the best here Pearl Jam-live records at all (which, if the circumstances of the release hadn’t upset you so much, might even have earned the rounding up between points).
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