Eddie Vedder: Into The Wild Soundtrack (2007)

New Wax


Into The Wild is the motion picture adaptation of Jon Krakuer's novel of the same name, which tells the story of Christopher McCandless, a young man and recent graduate of the prestigious Emory University who abandons his worldly possessions, donates his $24,000 savings account to charity, and hitchhikes into the vast wilderness of Alaska. He was later found dead of starvation in an abandoned bus in the woods. These events took place in the grunge-dominated early 90's, and not too long after the release of Pearl Jam's groundbreaking debut album Ten. It makes sense that Pearl Jam's seminal lead singer Eddie Vedder would make his first solo undertaking the soundtrack for a man's lonely journey into an unforgiving wilderness. An integral figure in the early 90's, Vedder seems to embody the same sentiments of anti-materialism that fueled McCandless's admirable yet naive idealism. That being said, while Vedder shuns the emptiness of materialism on tracks like "Rise" and "Society," songs like "Hard Sun" and "The Wolf" are rooted in respect for the harsh reality of nature. Musically, Vedder veers away from his material with Pearl Jam, relying more on simplistic folk songs built on acoustic guitars and banjos. He's joined by former Sleater-Kinney member Corin Tucker on a few tracks which are undoubtedly enriched by her presence. As far as vocally, Vedder's deeply earthy voice is at home within the folksy jangle of the songs, making Into The Wild a more than worthy solo debut. Let's hope Vedder has a lot more where this came from. Highly recommended. -- Capt. Obvious

Listen:
MP3: Eddie Vedder - Rise
MP3: Eddie Vedder - Society

Tags: Eddie Vedder, Into The Wild, Pearl Jam, Emile Hirsch, Sean Penn