When I heard that Eddie makes the soundtrack to the new film by Sean Penn, I had already realized that I buy him blind. Despite - or perhaps because of it - I did not expect anything at all. How beautiful the surprise was: loud gems, played to the point, no frills, "just" great songs that were recorded reduced to the most necessary instruments. So here comes to its best advantage what one usually gets to hear well only with Pearl Jam's live performances: Eddie Vedder's versatile, sometimes painfully expressive voice. To find a better rock singer, you would have to travel far. Setting Forth is a wonderful entry, evokes urgency vast land and a new start. No Ceiling is a casual stroll accompanied by a stumbling Banjo, Far Behind shows Eddie's love of The Who, Rise is the most wonderful folk. In Long Nights can almost hear the crackle of the campfire and see the strange, frightening forms in the surrounding shadows, Tuolumne is then folky, sunny, if slightly wistful acoustic guitar picking. Hard Sun offers a successful cover version, as well as Society, which acts incredibly vividly by Eddie tremulous timbre. The Wolf is then a lonely howl at night, End of the Road one arriving in the knowledge that the road will go on tomorrow. Well, and then comes Guaranteed, the weakest for me song of the plate - just this is a Grammy award, which says more about the Grammies than Eddie Vedder. But even weak Eddie Vedder is miles better than what is usually left on the Grammy stage. A short, small masterpiece that a hungry leaves because of its scarcity.
