There's a lot to talk about. So many bands are doing this wrong. Like 'the Who', they have released so many compilations that almost none are definitive.
They still have a couple of b-sides that are not compiled on any disc. And they keep releasing deluxe editions, Townshend keeps finding gems in his extensive vaults.
Soundgarden is a band who has done it really well with the release of the 'Echo of Miles' boxset. It just has everything and more! Kim Thayil was involved and he has the same kind of back catalogue OCD that I have.
In a music industry where physical sales are still going down each year it's re-releases and compilation that make most of the vinyl and CD sales. So there is still a market for releasing your back catalogue. However, Pearl Jam is not very good at this. Let's look at their handling of back catalogue. Basically everything that is not considered a normal studio album release can be considered a release from your back catalogue. Any compilation or live-album counts.
GOOD:
Lost Dogs: Sure it's not complete. That makes it less than 'Echo of Miles', but it still is satisfying. They could have included songs like Ángel, Sonic Reducer or Leatherman. But for some reason they choose not to. They could have used different mixes. And the re-recordings are unnecessary. It's really time for Lost Dogs 2!!
Rearviewmirror: Greatest Hits: It does not say 'best of', this greatest hits package does exactly what it is supposed to do. The remixes are nice and it has some non-album tracks.
LO2L: PJ's first live album. A tracklist that gave a really good overview, each studio album had three tracks on it.
COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
Ten/VS/Vitalogy legacy remasters: Finally we have a release of 'Brother' and the live discs are amazing!. But most of these boxes are heavy on memorabilia but not so much on songmaterial. I don't really care about memorabilia. The remasters (or remix) are well done, but these releases could have been much much better. Just take a look at the deluxe editions of 'Nevermind' or 'In Utero'. That's how its done.
PJ20 soundtrack Disc 1 is fine. It's just a soundtrack to the movie. Disc 2 is very very hit or miss. There are some interesting demo's but also unnecessary tracks. 'Chinese' was in the movie but not on this set. They should have released more unreleased stuff on disc 2. Every fan has plenty of bootlegs and could have made a more interesting disc.
TOTALLY UNNECESSARY
LO10L: An official follow-up to the 1998 LO2L release. The artwork is great, and there are some really cool cuts on this. But every track was already released on the live bootlegs series. This release was not anticipated (unlike Lost Dogs 2). What bothers me most is that it's really relying on hits or cuts from the TEN/VS/VITALOGY era. Whereas LO2L was so carefully constructed. They should have followed the same principle and put three tracks from every album since Yield. 15 tracks from Binaural, Riot Act, LD, S/T and BS. Oh..and 'off the earth' should have been on this.
Lets play two soundtrack: The only reason this was released is because people don't buy DVD's anymore. Unlike in 2007 when Immagine in Cornice was released. Fine movie but did not needed a soundtrack.
PJ has yet to release an excellent release from their back catalogue. The Mother Love Bone boxset was excellent, so was the TOTD deluxe edition, the Mad Season deluxe edition or the upcoming Green River remaster. So the PJ organization knows how it should be done
