Return of Vedder

For those not in the know, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam fame wrote and performed the soundtrack for the movie Into the Wild. The film is based on a book by Jon Krakauer which chronicles the life of Christopher McCandless. Leaving the greatness of the movie and book aside I focus on the superb work done by Vedder in this endeavor. Vedder's work and contribution, easily matched the expectations of Director Sean Penn, as well as, the quality of the film and the book.

Many of you may be Pearl Jam fans from way back and may have been dismayed at the falling off that the band has had in recent years in terms of mainstream commercial success. While Pearl Jam still has the ability to sell out arena venues, (as I witnessed last year when they came to the Verizon Center in DC), rock radio and mainstream airplay seem to have left the band in the last millennium with the other faded away bands of the Seattle glory days.

However, what this new effort by Vedder proves is that not only can he still bring it artistically with great sound and lyrical genius, he is still relevant in a world watered down by American Idol pop music drivel driven by pure commercialism and money over substance and talent. Like one of his own iconic heroes, Neil Young, Vedder continues to produce quality, meaningful, and inspiring music well after the so called experts have stated his prime has past.

Vedder's accomplishment on Into the Wild is hauntingly good when understood in the context of the story that inspired the music. He is able to mix sadness, joy, fear, pain, and bravery into a lyrical and acoustic masterpiece that one could reasonably believe McCandless would have listened to himself had it been available on his expedition into the wild.

Taking off on an expedition of his own, Vedder recently went on his first ever solo tour in support of his Into the Wild album. The tour was only on the west coast and lasted a month, but I hope that two things will come of it. The first being more solo efforts by Vedder in similar intimate small venues and the second being that the full contingent of Pearl Jam will play the new songs from the soundtrack on their national tour this summer to give fans who may not be familiar with the film and the solo project exposure to the magnum opus.

Do yourself a favor and check out all the offerings of Into the Wild, the book, the film, but especially the soundtrack. If only to discover for yourself that music can still mean something profound.