Into The Wild
by Eddie Vedder
Metascore
67

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Hot Press
    85
    In truth, Into The Wild doesn’t sound like a first solo album. It radiates a confidence and maturity that Pearl Jam have lacked on their recent albums.
  2. Billboard
    80
    Vedder effectively conjures the endless possibilities of the open road with sparse, never morose, tracks.
  3. The Boston Phoenix
    80
    Working with producer Adam Kasper, Vedder played nearly everything on the album. And that gives Into the Wild a cozy, intimate feel.
  5. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    Though the album is flawed (some tracks on the 33-minute disc are so brief that they never leave the ground), there is still something here that's compelling enough to stand alone, even without its real-life inspiration.
  6. Rolling Stone
    70
    Vedder, free from the noise (and outrage) of his day job, disappears into the sublime beauty of the simple, banjo-plucked 'No Ceiling.'
  7. Sputnikmusic
    70
    The brevity of this soundtrack makes for an overall calming effects with a few great moments.
  8. PopMatters
    70
    Satisfyingly, Into the Wild is filled with the hallmarks of such solo detours: sparse, moody crooning, more rising and falling than he allows in Pearl Jam and a surprising amount of ukulele.
  9. Spin
    70
    Vedder's incantatory vocals and campfire instrumentation evoke the eerie beauty of untouched lands. [Nov 2007, p.126]
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  10. Blender
    60
    It's the sound of a 24-year-old accepting death, as imagined by a lifelong misfit aging gracefully. [Nov 2007, p.158
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  11. Uncut
    60
    The lyrics to these songs are themselves sketchy, enigmatic, quietly rousing, windily romantic, redolent of majestic vistas, vast horizons, a landscape of personal liberation.
  12. Mojo
    60
    Lyrically, he may occassionally jar but it's hard not to be uplifted when he lets rip on the opener 'Setting Forth' or when he and Sleather-Kinney's Corin Tucker chime on 'Hard Sun.' [Dec 2007, p.100]
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  13. Q Magazine
    60
    'Society' suggests therr's always been a hippy survivialist under the grunge plaid. [Dec 2007, p.124]
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  14. AllMusic
    50
    These songs all feel like a score, and that's not necessarily a good thing. They all seem to be of a piece, but musically there isn't enough imagination to distinguish them, to set the tension of dynamic in motion.
  15. New Musical Express (NME)
    50
    It's accomplished but occasionally overbearingly earnest and calls to mind the Foos' acoustic alter-ego, bolstered by Sufjan Stevens-ish banjo plucks and, in 'Hard Sun', the kind of play-it-again chorus made for credits rolling over a stunning landscape.

Awards & Rankings

63
#63 Most Discussed Album of 2007
72
#72 Most Shared Album of 2007

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 101 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 90 out of 101
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 101
  3. Negative: 4 out of 101
  1. TeriW
    Jun 24, 2009
    10
    This is the most beautiful music I have heard for a very long time. What a voice, what poetry and the raw but clear, jangly music. This is the most beautiful music I have heard for a very long time. What a voice, what poetry and the raw but clear, jangly music. Mesmerising. It gives me the same feeling as a long bushwalk.… Full Review »
  2. ArasB
    Oct 1, 2007
    10
    Great song....society is a phenomenal song.
  3. fG.
    Sep 20, 2007
    0
    Sucks balls.
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