Bootlegs are as old as rock music itself. Whether in the form of an audience concert recording or a leaked studio tape, these unauthorized and not-quite-legal recordings have been and continue to be an indispensable force in the music industry. Buried in the vaults for over 30 years, rock's greatest and most important live recording existed only as a bootleg: Bob Dylan's 1966 performance at the Royal Albert Hall. The bootleg not only documented Dylan's momentous yet controversial transition from folk to rock — the audience can clearly be heard expressing their disgust — but it also propelled Dylan to his prominent place in history.

Recognizing bootlegs as a means for fans to capture the experience of its shows, the Grateful Dead set a precedent by allowing fans to tape and even trade Dead concert recordings. Although such a move might have cut into the group's album sales, it built an amazingly close relationship between the group and its followers. Spanning over generations of fans, Deadheads spread the message and the music of the band through thousands upon thousands of concert tapes, and even after the band's breakup in 1995, Dead tapes continue to be traded at a fervent rate.

Following in the footsteps of the Dead, Pearl Jam, the only band still standing intact from the Seattle "grunge" explosion, has encouraged the taping and distribution of its concerts, as long as a profit was not being made. Avid collectors of bootlegs themselves, the band members hoped that the move would make its concert recordings easily accessible to anyone. Plus it would deter professional bootleggers from making money off their music. However, many concert recordings, some of which were marred by poor sound quality, were still popping up in stores and on Internet sites for ridiculous sums of money.

A band known for taking a stand — the Ticketmaster boycott, its refusal to make videos — Pearl Jam decided to take the matter into its own hands and beat bootleggers at their own game.

In a move never before attempted, the band decided to release every show in its entirety from the 2000 European and American tour, a grand total of 72 different live albums. Mastered by the band's sound-crew, each performance comes as a double disc set, and the album case comes with extremely minimal artwork — the venue, the date and the set-list are the only things printed on the sleeve. However, the band's attempt at reducing costs allows it to offer the "official bootlegs," completely unedited, at a bargain price of around $12.

While even the most avid Pearl Jam fan may be a bit overwhelmed by the immense bulk of material, no show is alike. Nevertheless, every performance is marked by the sheer live energy and passion that is responsible for Pearl Jam being one of the best live acts to emerge from the past decade.

Released last September, the European bootlegs proved to be a major success among fans and critics. Pearl Jam became the first band to debut five albums simultaneously on the Billboard Top 200, even more astonishing considering the little amount of promotion for the European bootlegs. Due to the public's positive response and its insatiated demand for more, the band went ahead with releasing both legs of the summer-fall American tour. Whether the band worked out some of its quirks while in Europe or because they were glad to be back in the good old US of A, there is not a single bad show among the American bootleg set.

Where 1998's Live On Two Legs fell apart (which was more of a greatest hits album than a live album), the American bootlegs comes in, demonstrating that the band's unbridled energy stems from its live shows, not its studio work. Although the days of Eddie Vedder climbing stage towers and plunging into the crowd are long gone, the band now focuses on giving its music the space to breathe and expand, which allows even its most well-known material to explore new territory.

Despite lacking some of the angst and vigor associated with the band's earlier days, Pearl Jam's mature approach to stalwart classics like "Jeremy" and "Evenflow" continues to reach new levels of passion and intensity. On the bittersweet "Black," a frequent closer of the first set, Vedder stands back and lets his band-mates, particularly lead guitarist Mike McCready, draw upon the emotion he stirs up in the song's dramatic conclusion. McCready, who often challenges Vedder for the spotlight with his amazing guitar work, matches Vedder's poignant vocals with extended solos that are equally as passionate.

Newer material from the band's latest album, Binaural, also reveals how constrictive the confines of the studio are on the band. Only in a live environment can such songs like the poetic "Thin Air" and the chilling "Nothing As It Seems" be allotted the necessary room to develop and grow.

After listening to the bootlegs, one has to wonder whether Pearl Jam should test new material live before recording an album. Every live performance of a song blows its studio counterpart away. Though the band's recent work reflects a more pensive and earnest side, Pearl Jam has not lost its ferocious edge. With former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron in the seat, Pearl Jam can still tackle the striking dynamics and the fearless force of its catalogue. From Vs.'s propulsive "Go" to Yield's egoistic "Do The Evolution" to the ever-present and explosive "Corduroy" from Vitalogy, the band steps up the pace and refuses to look back. Even on such covers as Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" and The Who's "Baba O'Riley," Pearl Jam delivers rock standards in such a manner that honor the originals while adding its own unique twist.

As easily as Pearl Jam can push itself to the breaking points of musical chaos, it can also surround itself in the quieter moments of ballads like "Wishlist" and the crowd favorite, "Elderly Woman Behind A Counter In A Small Town." The bootleg performances of such mellow pieces highlight the close relationship between the band and its fans. On "Elderly Woman," Vedder has a crowd of thousands backing him up, and he often steps away from the microphone to let the audience fill in for him. During the extended jam of "Daughter," Vedder teaches the crowd about rock history, singing a verse from a famous song and seeing if the crowd can respond (for example, Pink Floyd's "Another Brick In The Wall, Pt. 2" or R.E.M.'s "The Wrong Child").

In an interview two years ago, Vedder, reflecting upon his career, said, "I'm making music for music's sake, and I have an audience I'm proud of." Not only is he proud of that audience, he is also very generous to them. The task of releasing 72 different live albums was no easy feat for the band, its label or retailers. While other groups would have attempted a huge markup, Pearl Jam decided to minimize costs so fans could afford cheap, high-quality live recordings. Hopefully, other bands will follow this model and realize that fans come first, not profit.

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