If you want to think of something scary, all you need to do is remind yourself of the fact that it was almost fourteen years ago that Pearl Jam released "Ten" onto an unsuspecting world. If that doesn't make you feel old (it sure makes me feel old), then consider the fact that of most of the grunge bands that made it big around that time, Pearl Jam are the only survivors. Nirvana are of course long gone, as are Soundgarden and Alice In Chains. Where have the years gone?

With so much time passed, it's only natural that a "Best of" was on the cards, and right on schedule, right before the holiday season, the Pearl Jam one has arrived. "Rearviewmirror" bypasses the dedicated fans, who are probably already satisfied on the band's extensive collection of "official" live bootlegs, and takes aim squarely at the casual fan who has heard Alive on the radio, but didn't know what album it was actually on. For these people, this two-CD collection might be just a little bit too heavy, because not only does it contain all of the radio hits, it also contains a whole bunch of other album tracks that either bombed as singles, or were never even released on their own. On the other hand, these extra tracks are likely to be of little interest to dedicated fans, since there's nothing especially rare here, and they probably already have them on the albums anyway.

Which sort of leaves me a little bit bewildered about the target audience for this collection. Perhaps Sony have aimed for a middle ground of sorts, hoping to snare the casual Christmas buyer, and perhaps pick up a few dollars on the side from those who have kept the Pearl Jam flame burning all of these years. I guess it's not my place to question the label's intent, but it would make reviewing this album a hell of a lot easier if I knew who it was being aimed at.

Questions of confused market placement aside, the selection here is quite good. All your radio hits are here, like Alive, Evenflow, Better Man and Daughter. Some of the better tracks that the band produced that didn't make such a huge impact on the charts, like Given To Fly and Do The Evolution also find their way on. A few select B-sides are also thrown in to pad things out, like Yellow Ledbetter. Of course, with such a wide selection of songs included, it was inevitable that a few duds would creep in, like Immortality and the sappy, syrupy cover of Last Kiss.

"Rearviewmirror" is a pretty comprehensive collection of songs that does a reasonably good job at cataloguing Pearl Jam's career to date. If you're looking to get into the band a bit deeper than just the singles that your local rock radio station played ten years ago, then this compilation should be just what you're after.