joshcookwriter's review
Hyden's really good on "Jeremy," and the Denmark tragedy, as well as the early day of PJ, but he too often lobs out an opinion and marks it as gospel without backing it up with specifics and/or examples. I got pretty impatient by the end, and I felt like Hyden dialed it in, relying merely on his own opinions and experience rather than sound criticism, research, or interviews.
joebuuz's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
My rating may be more personal affection for the subject matter, I’ve loved Pearl Jam for decades now, but Hyden does a masterful job expanding the perspective on them. Through this book I really became aware of how captured in amber most of the music of my youth is to me. Pearl Jam was the albums Ten, Vs., and the singles I heard on rock radio. There is more to them as a band and it was great nostalgia to see the trajectory from grunge superstars to legacy band. I’ll probably look up more of Steven Hayden’s work from this.
sga's review against another edition
2.0
The first half was good and engaging, but gosh the second half becomes a real slog. The author should have taken a step back, he’s way to close to the subject, and so he loses his objectivity. I felt like I was scrolling the message boards. His book about Radiohead was much better.