Pearl Jam's bootleg chart success

Pearl Jam: Chart success with live CDs

American rockers Pearl Jam have made musical history by having five of their newly released double live albums in the US charts at once.

In an attempt to beat bootleggers, Eddie Veder's band released 25 albums last week, each recorded directly from the soundboard at a different stop of this year's European tour.

A gig recorded at Katowice in Poland entered the Billboard charts at Number 103, followed by recordings of shows in Italy, Germany and England.

It means Pearl Jam has become the first band to have more than one live album in the Top 200 at the same time.

But they fell short by two albums of having the most records in the chart at one time. This record is shared by the Beatles, the Monkees and U2.

Bonanza for fans

Roskilde gig not featured on the CDs

The release of the live recordings are a bonanza for fans. Pearl Jam are known for being unpredictable in their live shows, and the CDs feature a varied selection of tracks.

Pearl Jam played more than 80 songs during their European tour, including covers of artists such as Neil Young and Tom Waits.

The Seattle-based band are now planning to follow up the release of the albums of their European gigs with recordings of their North American tour, which kicked off in Montreal on 4 October.

The one show missing from the European package is the band's performance at the Roskilde Festival. Nine fans were crushed to death during the band's set.