Five against One
Five against One
More than any other band, Pearl Jam embodies the alternative style that dominates rock today. From their early days as fame-ducking grunge pioneers, through their headline-making battle with Ticketmaster, to their current status as self-assured survivors, Five Against One brings to life Pearl Jam’s tumultuous ascent to superstardom in rich detail. A compelling portrait of the band’s elusive leader Eddie Vedder and family photos never seen before by the public make this a must-have for every Pearl Jam fan.
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Flawed and Biased Coverage,
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.
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|An informative read,
Although Five Against One is the only Pearl Jam book I have ever read I would still recommend it to any hardened Pearl Jam fan. Written by Kim Neely(a reporter that knows what she’s talking about) the book covers Everything from Jeff’s upbringing to the release of the ‘Given to Fly single. The book devotes two chapters around about mid-book to the complete life story of Eddie Vedder. This basically answers all the questions you have about his past which is shrouded in mystery. The only negative thing about the book I found was that although it covered the release of their first album ‘Ten’ and the following European tour, it says less and less about each successive album as it progresses, No Code only has about a page written on it! Apart from that it is full of lots of interesting facts like how the noise of drumsticks clattering at the end of ‘Rear View Mirror’ is really when Dave Abbruzzese chucks a tantrum, and that the band is not really named after Eddie’s Grandmother. What really enlightened me about reading the book was how poorly Dave was treated by the rest of the band and how it is perhaps the greatest shame that he was ever dropped. If you want to know all about Pearl Jam’s battle’s with Ticketmaster, their relationship with Nirvana etc. I suggest you pick up a copy of this fabulous book. Hadleigh Brownie 28/4/99
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|Open your eyes, this book is NOT the “unvarnished truth”,
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.
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