In celebration of more than twenty years as a band, Pearl Jam released Pearl Jam Twenty on September 20^th to accompany Cameron Crowe’s documentary of the same name. More than just a compilation of the band’s most popular songs or material that didn’t make it onto earlier albums, this collection truly chronicles the band’s history as completely as possible.

In addition to newly-released live recordings of Pearl Jam songs ranging from “Alive” and “Rearviewmirror” to “Just Breathe” and “Bu$hleaguer,” Pearl Jam Twenty includes nods to groups like Mother Love Bone and Temple of the Dog that were extremely significant to the band’s formation. The collection also includes demo recordings by individual members of the band, such as Matt Cameron’s “Need to Know,” a track noteworthy for the use of a guitar riff that would later appear in the single “The Fixer.” Among the live recordings, the performance of “Black” is especially striking for its display of vocalist Eddie Vedder’s tendency to alter the lyrics of songs while performing, adding to the raw emotion of the song. As a whole, Pearl Jam Twenty contains great songs from several different eras in the band’s career, collected in a fashion that can please both casual listeners and die-hard fans.

Released September 13^th, Blitzen Trapper’s American Goldwing blends country rock with the slightly dreamy sound of bands like Modest Mouse. The record generally sounds similar to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s newer and less heavy material, but the slight use of reverb and other subtle effects give it a more modern sound. Whether a listener enjoys American Goldwing is mostly subjective to personal taste; people who generally don’t like country aren’t likely to become fans just based on a little indie rock influence, but anyone who appreciates Blitzen Trapper’s style should like this album. In addition, even people who can’t get into most of the album might be able to enjoy the more blues-influenced harmonica solos that appear in several songs, and the song “Street Fighting Sun” is worth listening to for fans of garage rock.

Just over 35 years after the 1975 release of his classic concept album Welcome to My Nightmare, Alice Cooper has written a sequel entitled Welcome 2 My Nightmare. The title is practically the same, but the two albums are incredibly different in a musical sense. Although Welcome 2 My Nightmare does show a return to the Beatles-inspired music that Alice Cooper was playing in the early 1970s, a sound that was absent in his previous album Along Came a Spider, at many times it is clearly a product of the 21^st century. Among other things, the album contains heavy use of auto-tune on “I Am Made of You,” prominent use of a synthesizer on “Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever,” and an excellent collaboration between Cooper and pop singer Ke$ha on “What Baby Wants.” With the exception of the auto-tune, these things work surprisingly well, even amidst the throwbacks to the sound of the 1970s. Although it cannot quite compare to the classic 1975 record, Welcome 2 My Nightmare is certainly enjoyable and very creative.