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

Photos: The Rise of Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam and More

“He Will Break Your Heart”

A lightly swinging Latin-influenced, almost cha-cha groove and close harmonies decorated Jerry Butler's early soul hit "He Will Break Your Heart," delivering a stately warning that his rival would never love his girl like he did. The melody came to Butler as he was driving on the highway from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Philadelphia with Curtis Mayfield, and as Butler told Rolling Stone, "I just sang the melody and Curtis put the chords to it." The song's premise, Butler added, "was something that I'd lived ...The lyric was an experience rather than a revelation. Whereas music is usually a revelation."