Rating: 
Summary: Black
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. After I was through, my vision of Eddie has changed. Not to say I think he is the most sociable soul when it comes to interviews (evasive is a good word). Eddie comes across as a contradicting, manipulative control freak who influenced the band to release Dave because he was the only one who didn't click with him. I would of given this book five stars if there were more interviews with the rest of the band, and their decision regarding Dave's forced departure. Maybe Eddie has a tightrope on them from speaking out. If you are a Pearl Jam fan, or a fan of rock history, then I highly recommend this book. It offers a lot of detailed information that you usually do not see in music publications such as Rolling Stone and SPIN.
Rating:
Summary: A good, solidly well written book.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Kim Kneely wrote a book that is insightful, and she maintains an objective distance. She does not pander to the band, is not fawning but also does not overlook a lot of the good things about the band. She tries to maintain an even-handed approach to the subject and I think she succeeds. My only mild complaint is the couple of chapters that deal only with Vedder. While he is the basic focal point of the band and therefore it was neccessary to write about him I thought it detracted from the rest of the band and the flow of the book seemed to stop when the book came to these chapters. The No Code era also seemed a little rushed. Some of the principle people were not interviewed, but she did a fine job of putting together what she did have to form a coherent story of the band. Recommended reading.
Rating:
Summary: a great story about the best band currently making music
Review: I thought that this was a very well written account of the history of Pearl Jam. It went into details of not only the birth of Pearl Jam it also gave a great summary of the whole alternative explosion that came out of Seattle in the early 90's. I don't think that you have to be a Pearl Jam fan at all to appreciate this book and the way Pearl Jam is where they are today. It hits hard onthe reality of drugs and the heart felt loss of a dear friend. It gave a good recalection of Pearl Jam's fight with the big franchise Ticketmaster. And how the band did not react well to the new found fame they all were hit with. It also gives a good recount of the struggle the band went through when they were first starting out and how they are currently closer than they've ever been.I think that this book shows a good fun loving side of all the band members that people usually can't see dew to the corporate battles they are constantly fighting to protect the "little people" I think if you are music fan and you are partial to alternative, this book is a must.
Rating: 
Summary: Flawed and Biased Coverage
Review: I was a huge PJ fan in their early years, stuck with them in the "middle" years, and became a huge fan again recently when they released the 72 live bootlegs (I have 'em all and am still trying to listen to all of them). With this new interest I decided to read this book. I loved learning more about the history of the band, but the way the author constructed the book is flawed and biased. First of all, the only band member to make significant contributions is former drummer Dave Abbruzzese, who's a cool guy but he got fired from the band back in 1994. Some very old interviews with Stone, Mike, Jeff, and Eddie are used as background, but clearly the author did not consult them extensively, or else they chose not to participate (more likely). Thus you get extensive coverage of Abbruzzese but nothing about key group members Jeff, Stone, and Mike except some very vague personality descriptions and second hand opinions from other people.Then there's the coverage of Eddie Vedder, who clearly did not make any direct contributions to the book. Kim Neely's only direct contact with him were some early interviews she did for Rolling Stone. Neely's attitude toward Vedder is difficult to comprehend and is a major flaw in the book. Early in the book, despite calling Vedder a "shrimp" at one point, Neely seems to like him and thinks he's a great guy. But as the book progresses, Neely increasingly tries to belittle Vedder and is determined to cut his public image down to size. This is especially true in the section on Eddie's upbringing, in which his painful family life is described. About the only source used for this section is Eddie's stepfather Peter, whom Eddie has often vilified in the press. I feel that Peter is a good guy and that Eddie has been unfair to him. But then again, Neely is attempting to research the past to create a true psychological thesis on Eddie's personality and emotions, and it is downright irresponsible to try to do this without talking to the person you're writing about. So Neely has failed to illuminate Eddie's lyrics and public persona with this so-called psychological research, and only comes across as a muckraker with some sort of score to settle. I wonder what Eddie did to Neely in real life, besides ignoring her. Plus, why not get into the backgrounds of the other guys this extensively? Aren't they interesting enough? Another big flaw is the problem that sinks many biographies and history books - ignoring recent history and glorifying the good old days. The period of the band's formation, and up to around 1993, is covered in ridiculous detail, while everything since then is glossed over so quickly that you'd think nothing interesting happened. The best evidence of this is Neely's descriptions of each PJ album. Every single song on "Ten" is described in detail, including the sound, the lyrics, and the songwriting process. Most songs on "Vs" are described, and a few on "Vitalogy" are detailed while the rest are sped through in a few vague sentences. And then the albums "No Code" and "Yield" (the most recent at the time of the book) are given just one paragraph each with very brief descriptions of just a few selected songs. The story is mostly entertaining, but it is hard to take the writer and the structure of the book seriously. And if you're interested in the band's recent history in any way, you're gonna have to go elsewhere.
Rating: 
Summary: Wanted the Pearl Jam Story: Got anti-Vedder story
Review: I was hoping to read a book about Pearl Jam and their music, but ended up with a slam of the lead singer. It started out good, with background of the Seattle scene, but the last half of the book seemed to be dedicated to Vedder. Unfortunately, the stories and quotes were all from people that have grudges against the singer, making the whole book slanted and prejudiced. I couldn't enjoy it after that without a grain of salt. Basing most of her information on quotes from the drummer that had been fired and blamed Vedder, and the step-father after a bitter divorce from Vedder's mother is not what I consider good journalism. Pearl Jams music, along with the other band members, or anything that has happened since Vs. was released was barely mentioned. Not a well rounded or informative read.
Rating:
Summary: like pearl jam this book can make you mad and happy
Review: i've always been a pearl jam fan and a seattle scene fan. this book talks about the history of the band with uncanny detail while still distances itself from other details. I like how it tells of eddie's struggle with stardom, mikes of alcoholism, and jeff of homosexual tendicies. The main problems with the book is the focus on eddie and at times eddie and daves confrontations. I sincerely regret to inform all potential buyers of the negelect of the stories of mike, stone and jeff. I like eddie but love mike mccready and any guitarist would aggree he is one of the modern best. i am not happy with the absence of mike and his herion habit. this book starts off good and then suddenly you spend about a third of it on eddies life i would prefer to see this in and spotligt on eddie vedder book but this saved me the trouble of buying another book. it should have been titled five against one the pearl jam and eddie vedder story. so as it takes you rolling through the years right as you reach the no code era the writer seems to grow tried of her project i dont know if she had become infactuated with another book on eddie or what ever its kinda like alright no code had no promotion sold bad and then came yield and she describes yield as three pages i think. With the other albums she told the meanings of songs and the meanings. not with the last two albums. i wished she would have told of how the hundreds of imports and bootlegs out there are being taking advantage of the fans. i mean take for instance i bought a import of the concert i went to in my home town so would that make it an import? any way i bought it for 40 dollars more than i actually paid for the ticket. but dont get me wrong not a bad book gave inciteful humorisms and what i call eddieisms so buy this book and then you'll find yourself a graduate of pearl jam university. if i could contact the writer i'd say make a public apology for shunning the last three years of pearl jam. and in afterthought i wished she would have talked about mike's side band mad season who bassist just died. but of course that would take up time from eddie and his half of the book
Rating:
Summary: An informative book
Review: Interesting reading full of facts that may enlighten you and give you better understanding to the band.
The thing I didn't like about the book is that although it covered the early album and tours, explaining every song in detail, it says less and less about the other albums. It is good the book has a chapter about Eddie Vedder, but where are the chapters about the rest of the band members??. Pearl Jam is formed by 5 guys not just one!
Rating:
Summary: After reading this I knew TOO much about Pearl Jam.
Review: It took me about 3 days to read Kim Neely's book about my all-time favorite band. From a journalist's perspective, the book was well-written, and I have enjoyed Neely's articles in Rolling Stone. There are a few parts that are misleading, as the eager Dave Abbruzzesse (former drummer) is always ready and willing to talk about his departure from the band and how his bandmate Vedder mistreated him. However, the comments from the band are not as plentiful, so the entire case is not presented. The early sections prove interesting as Neely details what the Seattle music scene was like. Even more intriguing are the chapters concerning Pearl Jam's early tours and what an emotional strain they were on their singer. After reading those parts one can come to more of an understanding of what this band had to deal with to get their music heard. These excellently detailed chapters of the early years lead the reader/fan to a sort of letdown at the end of the book, where the band's last two albums were barely spoken about. "No Code" and "Yield" are key albums that represent the transition of the band's mindset and music. The book annoyingly focuses on the negative parts of their career rather than the postitive parts where the whole band seemed to be in good spirits in the time that the last two records came out. Neely makes Vedder's life seem like a soap opera as she devotes a whole section entitled "Blood" to detail his life. This is good writing. But that's all it is, because while I read it, I felt uneasy about knowing everything about Eddie Vedder's life...I realize that he is just a common guy like myself, and I probably wouldn't enjoy having the bad parts of my life written up into a book. A question comes to mind when I read this part, like where's the Stone Gossard detailed life story at? or the Jeff Ament? Mike McCready? Jack Irons? These are members of the band also, just as important as Vedder is, and if you're going to call a book "The PEARL JAM story"--then u should deliver upon that promise and equally report about the members. The book does bring to light a few themes in the music and trivia that I was not aware of. As far as books go, this isn't a bad read... but if u do read it, be sure that's not your only source and that u educate yourself furthur about Pearl Jam, this book leads u to a greater understanding of some of the aspects of the band, but not all of them. --Kirk Robinson
Rating: 
Summary: Open your eyes, this book is NOT the "unvarnished truth"
Review: It's a shame that so many of the reviews here are by people who have confused negativity with the truth. Neely's book is not well researched, nor is it especially accurate. All of her sources were slanted against the band, and I noticed a number of factual errors in the text. Maybe someday someone will write a bio of Pearl Jam that tells the real story, but this isn't it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book, but a sequel will be needed
Review: Kim Neely is one of the best music writers out there and has been for years. Although she spends much of this book going for the heart-strings and maybe a quick tear which doesn't always work for the average Pearl Jam fan. She tells a brutally honest story bashing vedder when and where she felt she needed to and cuddling Dave all along. It is chock-full of great stories including one "I'm going to F--- Opus," story which is worth the price of the book alone and is laugh out loud funny if you've never heard it. However, there seems to be a little resentment between Neely and Eddie Vedder which is too bad because it kinda wrecks up a great read, then again she does free-lance for Rolling Stone which explains a lot. This causes her to briefly talk about Mike's drinking problem in a line or two and skip out on Stone all together other than the the fact he wears hats and cries when he has to fire people. I'd like to see in the coming years a few chapters added on the book including updates on Mike and the Roskile tragedy, but if you even remotly like Pearl Jam pick it up it is totally worth the cover price.
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