Ranking number one on Rolling Stone's "Greatest Debut Albums of All Time" list, Pearl Jam's Ten album is perhaps the greatest grunge-era album to grace the ears of rock fans around the world. With countless classics, and a wide range of lyrical content, musical style, and subject matter, Ten defies generations to the point where people of all ages can find something they like on the album - if not the album in its entirety.
Ten debuted on August 27, 1991 through Epic Records and Pearl Jam instantly rose to grunge/alternative rock fame. In an era dominated by the sounds of Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden, Pearl Jam stakes its claim as having the best complete album of all the grunge bands of the 90's. Nirvana's Nevermind is perhaps the closest thing to a top-tier album aside from the one we are reviewing this week. Without further ado, let us dive deep into what makes Pearl Jam's Ten one of the best rock albums of all time.
"Once" - The opening song of Pearl Jam's Ten could not be more defining of the grunge generation. The false start of the opening instrumental - which seemingly burbles away pointlessly for the opening forty seconds - prompted listeners to begin fishing for their store receipt. Then a key turns in the ignition and Ten's whip-crack opening salvo leaves the blocks, with front man Eddie Vedder in character as a vengeful maniac with the pedal to the floor and "sixteen-gauge buried under my clothes". A song to make your neck bristle and your fists bunch, it announced Pearl Jam as a band to treasure, right out of the blocks.
"Even Flow" - Pearl Jam themselves seem to have a problem with "Even Flow", generally agreeing that they flogged the spark out the original demo with too many takes. For everyone else, the version that made it onto Ten was a belter, driven by that muscular-yet-snake-hipped opening riff, and managing to sing about homelessness without getting up your nose - a recurring tactic among many grunge bands of the 90's.
"Alive" - With many believing that "Alive" is the strongest song on Ten, it's only a wonder why it doesn't seem to garner as much praise as it probably should. I believe that this song tends to be overlooked for a simple reason - it's played too much. It essentially has become the grunge-rock version of "Layla" by Eric Clapton. Everyone knows it by the opening riff (which mind you, is phenomenal) and it's categorized as one of those songs that's on every playlist, but isn't necessarily the feature act. Nevertheless, the stadium-ready intro lick and the riveting guitar solo pair seamlessly to offer a classic Pearl Jam tune.
"Why Go" - Sandwiched between big-hitters "Alive" and "Black", "Why Go" was, for the most part, overlooked at the time, and that's probably why its furiosity still sounds so fresh. Vedder's spitting-mad vocal was sparked by a news story about a teenager sectioned for minor drug offences, but it's Jeff Ament who deserves the backslaps, for both writing and driving the song on a twelve-string bass.
"Black" - Epic Records seemingly badgered Pearl Jam to release "Black" as the fourth single from Ten, but the lineup dug in their heels, helping the song to its enduring fan-favorite status. It's a bit of an odd one, with "Black" alternative between rock's most jaunty verse and most gut-wrenching chorus, but when Vedder delivers the devastating pay-off, "I know someday you'll have a beautiful life - I know you'll be a star in somebody else's sky, but why can't it be mine?" You'll feel a cold shiver of recognition. An absolutely stunning song which, unlike "Alive", is the star of any alternative rock playlist.
"Jeremy" - When Texas teenager Jeremy Wade Delle shot himself in front of his classmates on January 8th, 1991, the seed was planted for what remains arguably Vedder's most powerful lyric. The blood-spattered MTV video was sensationalist, but the song is deathless, from Amen't opening chimed harmonics to the bereft outro. Strange to think that "Jeremy" almost didn't make the cut for Ten, the band struggling to balance the dynamics of the classic song. "But this was an instance," remembered Ament, "when persistence paid off." And aren't we the better for it?
"Oceans" - A musicologist might argue that there isn't much meat on this two-minute vignette (even Gossard admits "it's just two fingers that come on and off to create the whole thing"). Still, "Oceans" is a work of strange, glowering beauty, and gave Ten's first indication that Pearl Jam could shift gears on a dime. "We thought it was important to pick the weirder moments," noted Ament, "because we wanted to be able to explore those areas further down the line."
"Porch" - Unfortunately, this is where most people either change the disc either because the songs that come after this instrumental are sort of 'lackluster' compared to the rest of the album. If you've ever seen Pearl Jam live, this is the point where Eddie Vedder uses the break to straddle the gantry, swan-dive into the crowd and generally give Pearl Jam's tour management the cold sweats. On the album though, it's simply a two-chord thrasher that doesn't have much body.
"Garden" - The eerie intro riff was required learning for the bedroom guitarists of the 90's, and the way the bass slopes in beneath Vedder's shamanic moan is a moment of malevolent genius. However, by the time "Garden" wraps up, most people are ready for the next song. This song also serves as a sign of Pearl Jam's ability to intertwine somber melodies with the typical thrash sound of the grunge era.
"Deep" - I remember hearing my parents talk about how they used to listen to tracks "back in the day" and they would tell me that they would tolerate "Deep" either because they couldn't afford a Discman, or their Walkman's fast-forward button usually chewed through the tape. However, in the iPod/MP3 Player era that I grew up in, my knee-jerk response to this song was to skip to the next track, or to finally hit the shuffle button to hopefully find another banger.
"Release" - In a flash of rehearsal-room serendipity, Ten's slow-burn finale was born when Vedder improvised his vocal over Stone Gossard's shimmering riff. It's the perfect sun-setter on Ten's tempestuous tracklisting, but, honestly, I could have done without the "Master/Slave" instrumental reprise tacked on the end. Nonetheless, it's a decent closing to an otherwise nearly-perfect album.
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