I remember the release of this album well and all the steps Eddie Vedder took to distance himself from the massive stardom that seemed to threaten his identity. People forget that Pearl Jam was eclipsing Nirvana in popularity at the time and they eventually succeeded in becoming more of a niche band for hard core Rock fans. Not my favorite of the series, but a decent snapshot of an interesting time in Grunge history.

This is a deep dive into the Vs. record and Pearl Jam's history at the time of it's recording and release. A fast, easy read that helps to explain Pearl Jam's activism and longevity in the music industry. If you have read a lot of Pearl Jam info in the past/watched PJ20 etc. then most of this information will not be new to you and you may notice a few factual errors - most notably that Lucinda Williams did not write Crazy Mary - Victoria Williams did. Still, I enjoyed the look at such an important record.

This is my first time reading one of the 33 1/3 series, and I was pleasantly surprised. As a teenager in the 90s, grunge provided much of the soundtrack to my school life. I remember listening to Pearl Jam's Ten on my journies on the school bus and desperately waiting for their second album.

As I said, I loved Pearl Jam. I wore the t-shirts, saw them live and constantly listened to their CD. But I didn't know that much about the band (probably as it was a pre-Internet era). So I was intrigued to read this book and get a glimpse behind the scenes.

33 1/3 Pearl Jam Vs is a great book for the fans of the band. Or for anyone looking to relive the grunge years and Seattle scene.

I always enjoy going behind the scenes of my favorite albums with the 33 1/3 series, but I was especially excited to read Vs. by Clint Brownlee. Pearl Jam has been one of my favorite bands since the early 90s, and Vs. is probably my favorite Pearl Jam album. So you can be sure I cranked up the album before curling up with my kindle, ready to relive the "olden days".

Of course, as a longtime fan, there was a lot in this book I already knew, but there was a lot of new information for me about the making of the album and the band dynamics. The book flowed nicely, with similarly themed songs grouped together for discussion and lots of information about the inspiration and development of each song.

This is a solid addition to the 33 1/3 series, and I thoroughly enjoyed spending an afternoon with one of my favorite bands and albums. I'm grateful to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Academic for giving me that opportunity. If you love Pearl Jam, grunge, or music in general, don't miss Vs.

"Vs." has an incredibly special place in my heart. I discovered Pearl Jam in high school and instantly became a huge fan. I've seen them live a few times (and hopefully soon once concerts resume!) and their music found me at an opportune time.

I liked this one, but not as much as the Carole King book. Maybe it's because I'm such a big Pearl Jam fan, but none of it was new information to me. I also wished the interpretations of the songs were a bit more fleshed out; I felt they were lacking a bit.
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Thank you Net Galley and Bloomsbury Publishing for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

An interesting read and well researched. Missing a lot of new information, but a good chronicle. Worth a read from the hardcore or casual fan.

I really enjoyed this book. Getting to relive moments of that ear of Pearl Jam, coming off the huge success of TEN and reemerging with VS (my favorite record by them). I remember them showing up at the MTV VMAs performing "Animal" and being blown away by how aggressive and awesome that song was. Then, I remember hearing "Elderly Woman..." on the rock station later that year and loving the range the band had musically.
I definitely share Brownlee's love for the record and this period.
While reading this, I rented and re-watched Crowe's 20 Pearl Jam doc, and picked up vinyl copies of TEN and VS. (as well as TEMPLE OF THE DOG). Yeah, I own all three on cassette (the same copies I bought in my youth) and I own both PJ albums on CD, but nothing beats the sound of vinyl.

If you're a Pearl Jam fan or someone that was a teen during the glory days of the early-mid-90s, you will enjoy this trip back to a different time in rock music history.
5 stars!

The books in this series are engrossing, but I find that albums I listened to and loved resonate more with me.

I don't have a lot of familiarity with the Vs. album. I was a kid when it was out and definitely heard some of the songs. But it didn't become a big part of my life. I was a member of the Nirvana contingent. I did find the discussions of the rivalry between the two bands. But I just couldn't get into this book.

I really recommend this book for fans of Pearl Jam.

I have been enjoying the 33 ⅓ books for a while now, most all of them about albums I barely know anything about. I like to pick titles of music that has been on my radar but not on my playlist. This gives me the reason and opportunity to explore different great albums and listen to new artists and genres. Pearl Jam’s <em>Vs. </em>is not one of them.

When <em>Vs.,</em> Pearl Jam’s sophomore album came out, I was sixteen. I had listened to <em>Ten</em> a little over six hundred and thirty nine thousand times by then (only a slight exaggeration), and so I was interested in this album before it even came out. I was a teenager filled with new hormones and angst, and the only thing that helped was hours and hours of music. I bought <em>Vs. </em>&nbsp;close to the release date and listened to it nonstop. I am reading this book with an intimate knowledge of the album, the time period, and I remember some of the details when they were brought up by Clint Brownlee, like the (media exaggerated) “feud” between Eddie Vedder and Kurt Cobain, how they released the album on vinyl a week before it was on compact disc (My teenage self actually made fun of this at the time because who will ever listen to vinyl again?), and of course the boycott of Ticketmaster. I knew these things but did not know the deeper meaning behind these events. Brownlee does a great job getting to the bottom of the emotion and pressure on the band to make an album greater than <em>Ten</em> and how they did not let it destroy them, even though it came very close. The entire book brought up so many memories and also enlightened me on some of the turmoil around recording it that makes me have a better understanding and appreciation of this album.

I like the structure of this book, the way that Brownlee lumps the songs into chapters by theme or meaning. I also like the exploration of the more political songs, like “Rats” and “W.M.A”, which I always knew was a major statement about racism, but I did not think much about how they were a mainstream act using their popularity to talk about justice and the unfair disparity between white and black men. I knew that I liked these songs and that they were important, but I did not know how important they were to the band, to be able to use their platform to address issues that are important to them.

There are some interesting stories filtered through the book about Vedder's attitude and behavior, about the dynamics of the band, and about the reception of the album. I listened to Vs. a few times while reading this, and I will say that reading about it opened my eyes to how much depth Eddie Vedder’s lyrics are, and I felt like I was learning new things about an old friend. This is a great addition to the 33 ⅓ books. 

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Clint Brownlee's contribution to the 33 1/3 series reviewing/telling the story of Pearl Jam's Vs tells/retells the story of the remarkable 2nd album from one of America's greatest rock bands. While the early 90s had a huge influx of 'grunge' bands, Pearl Jam had continued to make music with a social and political voice.

Telling well known and lesser known stories about the making of this album, Brownlee is able to interject the voice and heart of Eddie, Stone, and Jeff. The stories of their rally against Ticketmaster and fame are legendary and this is a nice overview of their efforts.

Vs. is the first album that changed my music taste. I was deep in the boy bands of the late 80's and then someone played me "Daughter" on a Walkman while sitting in the football stands in my hometown. Nothing was ever the same. I never looked back.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

My thanks to NetGalley an Bloomsbury Academic for an advanced copy of this book.

The 33 1/3 series features some of the best writing and criticism on the creation of some of the biggest albums in musical history, from Miles Davis to The Velvet Underground and The Flaming Lips. Pearl Man's Vs. by Clint Brownlee continues that fine tradition.

Mr. Brownlee begins with his discovery of the band, Pearl Jam, his Mom telling him about a video she saw on MTV with this guy who just was amazing. From then on he was a fan paying scalpers for tickets to his very first show.

From there Mr. Brownlee covers the band, going from guys who were still learning about each other doing small shows, to opening for the biggest bands at arenas. The pressure weighed on the band especially lead singer Eddie Vedder, and carried over to and effecting their second studio album Vs.

There are plenty of behind the scenes stories, trivia and minutiae with nerdy fan information. Each song on the album is given its moment, how it was created,what it might mean, or even who it might reference. For a Peal Jam fan, the book is a must-have. However as a music fan or historian, or just for a person intrigued by the creative process I highly recommend the book also.

The amount of errors in this book is ridiculous (e.g., Victoria Williams wrote "Crazy Mary," not Lucinda Williams; "Vitalogy" was the album that Pearl Jam released on vinyl before its CD release, not "Vs."). Does anybody check these books for mistakes? In any event, this is a fairly pedestrian summary of Pearl Jam's first few years, with some post-"Vs." history tacked on at the end. There is a lot of factual information about the recording sessions--all of which can be found elsewhere--and some of the author's points of view on the meanings of each song, which is fairly interesting. But for even the mildest of Pearl Jam fan, there is no new information or perspective and, as a result, nothing to recommend here. At least it's very short, should you choose to give it a try--it takes ~90 minutes to read from front to back.