Customer Reviews
I don't know much 
2008-06-20
I love the movie. I didn't want to watch it; it didn't interest me. I watched it. I loved it. I watched it again. I loved it more. A huge part of what I like about the movie is the music. I tell everyone the movie reminds me of Harold and Maude. They are both about young men and focus on their outlook on life and the world. And then there is the music. Cat Stevens and Eddie Vedder. The stories are incredibly similar; the music in both is amazing.
Come to fine out Hard Sun is a remake. I am DESPERATE for the original, based on what I've read. Not knowing the original, I think the version here is simply amazing. Thank you.
Aside from this one song... the soundtrack is beautiful. I've always appreciated Pearl Jam from afar, but the music in this movie spoke to my soul immediately.
OK... at a loss for words. Love this music; love the movie.
Almost as good as the movie 
2008-06-20
This soundtrack is great, especially if you saw the movie, because than it brings back the images. Some songs are a little rough for me, but overal it's beautiful music. Just as you would expect from Eddie Vedder.
"Happiness is only real when shared with others..." 2008-06-16
This is great music. Rise, Hard Sun and Guaranteed are favorites but the entire soundtrack is really outstanding.
Not a movie score but a series, almost a suite, of songs that perfectly capture McCandless' tragic but inspiring wanderlust. Trust the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to utterly get it wrong again by not nominating at least one of the songs; they apparently forgot two great songs from Brokeback Mountain, too, but then the Academy have a three-week attention span, and a terror of all things new.
Vedder and company have made some great sounding stuff here, to drive to, to think to, to wander to. A beautiful accomplishment.
Terrific 2008-06-13
You don't have to like Pearl Jam to like this soundtrack because it is so different. Very nice.
Disappointingly short, but still full of goodies. 2008-06-09
Having greatly enjoyed the film "Into the Wild", as well as Eddie Vedder's musical contributions to the film, I was really looking forward to this album. However, the album by itself doesn't have nearly the same kind of resonance as in context with the movie.
The album is all Eddie, achieving a much more stripped-down effort than this work with Pearl Jam (something along the lines of Nick Drake meets Neil Young). Musically, there's a lot of great stuff here, consisting largely of acoustic-driven ballads, and of course Eddie's signature vocals.
However, the problem lies with the fact that this album is WAY too short. Most of the songs don't top 3 minutes, and many don't even top 2. I'm guessing the intended effect here was something similar to a "Pink Moon" experience, but at times it comes off more like an old Napalm Death album, with songs whizzing by as quickly as they begin. There are exceptions, such as the hugely epic "Hard Sun", which serves as the album's centerpiece, and some other great songs, like "Guaranteed", "End of the Road", the haunting "Society", and the nice instrumental piece "Tuolumne", but many of them, like "No Ceiling" and "The Wolf" just feel way too brief to amount to much of anything.
Overall, I'd give this album about a 3.5 out of 5. Musically, there's nothing wrong with it, I just find myself wishing there were way more to it. Still plenty of great melodies here though, and everything fits in really well with the movie (seriously, if you haven't seen this movie, go see it, it's so damn good). The packaging is nice too, with some cool photos taken from the movie included in the booklet. I'm definitely not sorry I bought this, but to really appreciate the music here, you have to hear it in combo with the movie. Believe me, it makes a big difference.
Oh, and you might have possibly heard somewhere that Kaki King played on this album, but unfortunately this is not true. Like Vedder, she did contribute some music to the movie, but none of it was included here. She does make an awesome appearance on the new Foo Fighters though, so definitely check that out.
So yeah, recommended, but maybe don't expect too much...
Eddie Vedder is the real deal 2008-07-23
Lovely music and Eddie's soulful vocals, as well as meaningful lyrics with substance - what more can you ask for? I love what these songs say and the way Eddie conveys these emotions. It's music that I find very poignant and honest and - for personal reasons - impossible not to connect with.
On a side note:
Like me, Eddie Vedder is a huge fan of the australian rock group The Church - a band that I highly recommend. Begin with After Everything Now This.
Great companion to the movie!! 2008-07-17
This has got to be one of my favorite CD's from the Pearl Jam universe. But make no mistake... it's NOT PJ (DUH...), despite being in the same neighborhood. It's merely PJ's lead singer taking a temporary step out of his magnificent band to write and record a few short songs for old buddy Sean Penn, as a soundtrack to Penn's latest directorial accomplishment, Into The Wild (which by the way, is an incredible movie). The songs on here are short, but oh so sweet, and most of them are 100% from Vedder's mind. It's not a loud, in your face assault like you'd expect from PJ, either. These songs are for the most part very reflective, and focus on such themes as greed, materialism, inner peace, and happiness; much of what the movie is all about. In my opinion, this is the greatest soundtrack out there... it matches the feel and purpose of the film to a T. "Long Nights" sends shivers down my spine every time I hear it, and "Hard Sun", though not an "all-Vedder composition", has CLASSIC written all over it in every sense of the word. "Wolf" reminds me very much of PJ's "Arc" off Riot Act. All the songs here are stellar, and are even better once you've seen the movie. I don't think you have to be a total Pearl Jam fanatic to fully appreciate this soundtrack, either. Very good tunes.
Our collective search for meaning in life, and being true to ourselves 2008-07-11
The music and the words of every song are beautiful. Hopeful. Inspiring. Thinking. Living. Breathing. This is soul; this is art. "Rise" is one of the prettiest songs I've ever heard.
Into the Wild 2008-06-28
The most awesome CD I have. "Hard Sun" is a classic as well as "The Wolf" which has no lyrics but needs none.
Amazing 2008-06-23
This is an absolutely amazing soundtrack. Eddie Vedder did an outstanding job on it.
