The ukulele doesn't allow for the widest range of expression, which makes it a challenging foil for Eddie Vedder, who never met a feeling he couldn't drive through a wall. But this uke-suffused album stands up because he adapts the instrument to his idiosyncratic needs – see the Who-style riff on "Hey Fahkah." He also indulges the uke's romantic side on a ragged duet with Cat Power and on a finale of "Dream a Little Dream." That track could be the disc's theme song: These 16 tracks are that sweetly evanescent.

Listen to "Longing to Belong":

Eddie Vedder on Pearl Jam's 20th and his New Ukulele-Powered LP

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“Let My Love Open the Door”

A peppy, hopeful love song, "Let My Love Open the Door" became a U. S. Top Ten hit for Pete Townshend in 1980, anchored by the kind of repeating synthesizer figures that he'd used in some of the Who's recordings in the previous decade. Although Townshend brushed the song off as "just a ditty" in Rolling Stone shortly after its release, in 1996 he revealed it was about love of the holiest sort. "It's supposed to be about the power of God's love," he remarked. "That when you're in difficulty, whether it's major or minor, God's love is always there for you."