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.

Customer Reviews:

Flawed and Biased Coverage

By doomsdayer520 - July 31, 2001

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... read more

An informative read

By A Customer - April 28, 1999

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... read more

Open your eyes, this book is NOT the "unvarnished truth"

By A Customer - October 9, 1999

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.