mad world - Strung Out on Pearl Jam

So I made a trip to Besy Buy to pick up a copy of "Wario Ware: Smooth Moves", Switchfoot's "Oh!Gravity.," and a Gamecube controller for the Wii. On my way through the CDs to get me some Switchfoot I saw the Pearl Jam section. I thought back on all the fond memories of visiting that section when I used to buy CDs more regularly. Something caught my eye as I passed by. There was a cover I'd never seen before, and even in passing I registered that it did indeed say Pearl Jam on it. I did an about face as panic set in. "I'm not that out of touch that I could let a new album or single slip by me could I?"

I practically pounced on it as I scrambled to figure out what was amiss.

"mad world"
"Strung Out on Pearl Jam"
"A string quartet tribute to Pearl Jam"

In the corner there was a sticker that said "File under Pearl Jam," which was what, it turns out, initially caught my eye. I didn't even contemplate not getting it. How could I not?

Here's the thing with Pearl Jam fans. If you recorded yourself taking a hour long dump and released a CD entitled "I crapped for an hour while listening to Pearl Jam on headphones." someone would buy it. Pearl Jam fans just collect things that say Pearl Jam on them, and the more 'obscure' the better.

I thought I would get a kick out of hearing the songs this way. I laughed the first times I heard each song and refused to look at the track titles opting instead to try to guess what songs they were. Then it grew on me. I don't know if the 'relisten' value is through the roof, but this was clearly not just a group of people ad libbing some Pearl Jam sounding music.

I was actually really surprised a couple times as how close to epic some of the songs sounded, yet disappointed there wasn't a whole orchestra involved. There's actually more instruments involved in the real Pearl Jam then on this cd, not to mention one of the 4 instruments on the CD is filling in for Eddie's voice. Still a couple of the songs (ie 'Betterman' and 'Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town') sound like they were destined to be played in an orchestral setting. For a CD I bought to have as a novelty it's been pretty enjoyable. My only wish was that the songs were filled out just a little more.

I know none of you care about this so just make your "Jimmy Johns" comment and move along.