It can be a crapshoot when a legacy band messes around with its back catalog. On one hand, it’s a way to resurface older material and expose it to a new generation of fans. On the other hand, if it’s not done properly, it could reflect poorly on the source material.
Many bands have either re-recorded or reissued their older material to varying degrees of success, and Pearl Jam is the latest to do so. However, instead of reissuing an album attempting to cash in on past glories, the band announced an EP of songs fom its earlier albums that are featured on HBO’s “The Last of Us.”
The four-song EP includes two versions of “Future Days,” one being the version off 2013’s “Lightning Bolt” the other a live version recorded in 2024, the haunting song “All Or None” from 2002’s “Riot Act” and a new version of my favorite Pearl Jam song “Present Tense” called “Present Tense (Redux).”
The original “Present Tense,” by far one of the best deep cuts in the band’s catalog, was recorded for 1996’s highly underrated “No Code” album. The new version, which was recorded this year, gives the song both a somber and sinister feel with different guitar tones and effects used to reflect the dark nature of the hit television program. It could be recency bias, but I almost prefer the redux to the original.
This isn’t the first time the band has used gone the redux route. In 2009 the band reissued its debut album “Ten” as “Ten (Redux).” The reworked version of the record did not include any new recordings, rather it was the entire album remixed by the band’s longtime producer Brendan O’Brien.
Take a listen to “Present Tense (Redux)” and the original “Present Tense” below.
