Audio Files

By GINA VIVINETTO, HELEN A.S. POPKIN, SCOTT PALMER and JOHN BELL YOUNG

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 4, 2001

PEARL JAM, THE BOOTLEG SERIES, NORTH AMERICA (EPIC) Leave it to Pearl Jam to do things its own way. These were the guys who had that beef with Ticketmaster, remember?

In another unprecedented music-industry move, principled Pearl Jam last week released the first installment of the North American portion of its Bootleg Series, a collection of 23 live double-disc recordings from the 2000 tour. (Another 24 arrive in stores later this month.)

The band had previously released 25 recordings made during the European leg of that tour. Why? Pearl Jam says because it wanted to give a break to fans shelling out big bucks to underground bootleggers for poor-quality recordings. This way, Pearl Jam provides high quality, low priced -- each disc is around $12 -- professional recordings of live shows.

Cynics say Pearl Jam wants a piece of the bootleg pie. You can argue about that amongst yourselves.

Like the European discs, each in this batch comes in a "plain brown wrapper" cover, simply stamped with the city's name and the date it was recorded. Each disc runs roughly two hours, with set lists wildly altered from night to night, testament to Pearl Jam's dedication to each performance.

The material focuses on everything from the band's 10-year career. You get Jeremy, Alive, Betterman, lots of punchy new stuff from last year's underrated Binaural and dozens of interesting covers, including The Who's Baba O'Riley (Memphis, Jones Beach, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh) and The Kids Are Alright (Cincinnati), and, of course, plenty of PJ versions of tunes by the band's idol, Neil Young. You'll also find a couple of renditions of Pink Floyd's Interstellar Overdrive, one of 'em on the Tampa disc: August 12, 2000.

So, what are the best discs? Well, it may be tough to get hold of and listen to all 47 shows from North American, so we did it for you. The highlights: the entire Tampa show is hot. You can't find a more rocking version of Evenflow. From the west coast discs, released on March 27: the Seattle triple-disc installment finds the band at home and in rare form, while the Las Vegas disc celebrates the band's 10th anniversary, with lead singer Eddie Vedder much chattier than usual, telling stories about Pearl Jam's history and performing a riveting cover of Mother Love Bone's Crown of Thorns.

Check out night 2 of the West Palm Beach shows, as well as Saratoga, Phoenix, and Seattle, first night, for a terrific cover of Timeless Melody by the La's. (Vedder also discusses his, ahem, private parts on that Seattle first disc.)

Let it be known, these "bootlegs" will have to tide you over for a spell: Pearl Jam is taking time off in 2001, working on solo projects until its members reconvene in 2002. Grade: Naturally, it varies from disc to disc, but I'd give the whole kit and caboodle a solid B+.

-- GINA VIVINETTO, Times pop music critic

MEAT LOAF, BAT OUT OF HELL (SONY/EPIC/LEGACY) Meat Loaf, again?

It's only now, 23 years after its debut, that I realize how badly damaged I am because of Bat Out of Hell. Its remastered re-release on a whole new generation of Young & Impressionables could be considered as irresponsible as the DARE program and MTV's Jackass combined.

Not that the platinum Bat Out of Hell inspired me to do drugs and set my friends on fire. (I wish!) Still, its insidious mix of Jim Steinman's theatrical teen-angst opera, the overproduced, bombastic guitar licks courtesy of Todd Rundgren, and Loaf's dramatic vocals infected millions of prepubescents at a time when we were most vulnerable. (Did I mention the saxophone solos?)

What hormone-addled middle schooler doesn't want to "hit the highway like a battering ram on a silver black Phantom bike," as Meat Loaf bellows on the title track? And what girl doesn't dream of her first non-Monkees crush (Dennis Padot) reciting to her the lyrics that followed, "Oh baby, you're the only thing in this whole world that's pure and good and right"?

The sweaty fat man with the red scarf singing on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert sucked us all in, as we came to believe he Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth. By the time my generation had read enough Sartre and Camus to realize the ludicrous nature of Steinman's overblown Springsteenian metaphors, it was too late. The expectations we got from Bat Out of Hell about how love and relationships are supposed to work were so deeply embedded in our universal subconscious via power chord and catchy pop tune, a million lousy relationships couldn't exorcise the influence.

Admittedly, 1977 was a different era. The best year for rock 'n' roll ever, it was probably the last time an American girl could wax poetic about her love of both Meat Loaf and the Sex Pistols without a hint of irony. Kids today, with their Eminem and their Britina Spaguilera, are probably safe from Bat Out of Hell, even with the addition of a live bonus track of the title song.

Believe you were unaffected? Can you sing Paradise by the Dashboard Light word for word (not to mention the baseball play-by-play by Phil "Money Store" Rizzuto) when it isn't even playing on the radio?

Then it messed you up, too. Grade: A+

-- HELEN A.S. POPKIN, Times correspondent

ROD STEWART, HUMAN (ATLANTIC) Call Rod the Mod what you want, but call him a survivor. The 56-year-old British rocker was unable to sing for nine months after having a lump removed from his thyroid gland last April. The lump was benign, but some of the material around it was cancerous. His raspy-raw sounding voice can be heard on Human, his first album in three years.

Human is an R&B effort that has Stewart trying to emulate his idols, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding. This is his first album for Atlantic Records, and it was produced by Rob Dickens, the same UK gent who oversaw Cher's Believe. Guest musicians include Slash on the title cut, Macy Gray on Smitten, as well as Robbie McIntosh and Mark Knopfler. But if Stewart's eager to have a "Santana-fied" or Cher-like comeback, he'll have to do it on his next release.

If you're expecting the Faces or Stewart's 1970s musical style, you'll be disappointed. The best song is a cover of the Mavericks' To Be With You. The other enjoyable cut is Don't Come Around Here, a duet with Helicopter Girl.

The worst songs are when Stewart does his best Michael Bolton imitation complete with top-heavy orchestration and gospel-tinged background choruses. This CD will be best enjoyed as background music at your next dinner party. However, if you're looking for a (still) great voice, smooth love songs and easy-listening soul, this may be the album for you. Grade: C

-- SCOTT PALMER, Times correspondent

ROGER WRIGHT, PIANO MASTERPIECES (ABC CLASSICS) A tall, charismatic and immensely gifted young pianist from Texas creates a furor at an international piano competition and becomes the darling of the media and the public. The fans go wild, the press reports his every move, and a major network offers him a substantial recording contract. Van Cliburn, you say? Not this time.

Now the pianist is Roger Wright, a 26-year-old from Houston who turned heads recently in Australia when he was denied entry to the final round of the prestigious Sydney International Piano Competition. So infuriated were his many fans by the jury's decision not to award him first prize that they stormed the electronic barricades demanding an explanation, if not a recount. In response to this unprecedented outpouring of support, the Australian Broadcasting Co., the competition's principal sponsor, awarded Wright a recording debut ordinarily reserved for the Gold Medal winner.

The result is Piano Masterpieces, a riveting recital of music by Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, Haydn and Rachmaninoff, as well as several engaging works by contemporary composers Peter Sculthorpe, Lowell Liebermann and another Texan, Elisenda Fabregas. Wright is indeed a phenomenal pianist, but he is also a profoundly insightful and imaginative artist who is fully aware that along with a virtuoso technique goes an awesome responsibility: making music. Indeed, what concerns him are not just the notes, but what goes on in between them.

That's why Schumann's eloquent Blumenstuck, Debussy's puckish Minstrels and Chopin's impassioned Funeral March sonata emerge as significantly more than the sum of their parts. In Haydn's C major sonata, Wright navigates its florid rococo embroidery with the deft assurance of a Swiss jeweler, while lending to Rachmaninoff's blustery Etude Tableau in D the grandeur its imitative bell sonorities demand.

The fanciful music of Sculthorpe, Fabregas and Liebermann will alienate no one; on the contrary, it may win devotees to the best of 20th century music. Wright impresses for his magisterial command, abundantly rich tone and intellectual savoir faire, but even more so for having stayed in touch with what really matters: making music with a heart. (If you have trouble finding the CD, it can be ordered through http://www.rogerwright.net.) Grade: A

-- JOHN BELL YOUNG, Times correspondent

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