The words "all-star jam" have struck fear in rock fans' hearts since the '60s, but there's nothing star-crossed about this multi-artist set, recorded in New Zealand last April. Longtime Finn-atic Eddie Vedder warbles Split Enz tunes, and Johnny Marr "covers" the Smiths, fronting a band that includes two Radiohead members. But the collection peaks with Finn's opening "Anytime," an exquistely romantic ballad about hope, imminent disaster, and the thin membrane between life and death that's no less devastating for having been recorded months before the date that went down in infamy.
B+