The first thing a bootleg fan would notice about these recordings is their superior sound quality. But no one has ever done this in such immense proportions as releasing twenty-five concert recordings at one time by such a popular band. The Grateful Dead have their "From The Vault" bootleg series. Aerosmith released a raucous live album in the same spirit and called it "Bootleg." Frank Zappa released a collection of live recordings in the '80's, a "beat the 'boots" project. Pearl Jam was not the first to bootleg their own records.
Pearl Jam has been acquiring a fan base of the same type for this, their 10th anniversary year. These records and CDs remain much sought after items. Big bootleg bands were The Who, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, and more currently, Phish.
Listening to these boots one cannot help but think of recordings from other bands (mostly from the '70s) that hard core fans collect. They are for fanatical listeners who listen to their favorite band's recordings over and over, focusing on minute details.
Playing one of these new bootlegs released by Pearl Jam is a modern day equivalent to listening to the Who's "Live at Leeds." One enters a world of energy expressed in burning and screaming guitars, wah-wah pedals, tape echoes, feedback, vintage Les Pauls, guitar walls, thumping and pounding drums, intricate bass lines, and the greatest remaining singer from the splintering Seattle scene, Eddie Vedder.īootlegs aren't for everyone.