Pearl Jam delivers and strikes a cord for their die hard fans again. With the release of the Lost Dogs set, the Jam collects unreleased, rare and b-side material all in one shot. Since Napster was shot down by the evil of the industry, Pearl Jam has taken a different approach to fighting piracy: they have released a successful series of 72 bootlegs from their 2000 tour, thus sealing their live experience in eternity.

Instead of taking music sharing programs to court, Pearl Jam provided reasonably priced concert bootlegs. They did their best to bring fans back to record shops.

Lost Dogs is no exception to this concept. They have included rare and unreleased songs in this single package format. Fans of the band are sure to recognize tunes like ”Last Kiss,” the now legendary “Yellow Ledbetter” and “Footsteps.” New to mass recording are jams like “Dirty Frank,” which is an ode to a serial killer bus driver. Others are tunes made up of stuff left off their last LP Riot Act, songs like “Down,” “Undone” and “Other Side” all failed to make the cut. Digging deeper in rare Pearl Jam stuff, the band offers up 4 tunes they gave to members of their fan club (the Ten Club) for Christmas. “Strangest Tribe,” “Drifting,” “Let Me Sleep” and “Last Kiss” all made it into the stockings of the band’s faithful followers. On an unlisted track Eddie Vedder pays tribute to his fallen friend Layne Staley, a deeply emotional track that didn’t make the Riot Act cut. The song serves as an emotional and heartfelt goodbye.
With the release of Lost Dogs, Pearl Jam again offers fans more compact versions of their rare material. Why search the net and come up short? , Why not buy the CD? Everyone should have their own set of morals when it comes to how they get their music. Though some material on said bootlegs becomes redundant, it’s fair to say one band has tried their best in offering an alternative to slow Kazaa connections and generic compact discs bought a dime a dozen. A good reason to buy the CD is because you love the band. A better reason to buy the CD is because you love the music, but to each his own.