Ten
Pearl Jam
1991
Album Summary
Ten is the debut studio album by American rock band Pearl Jam, released on August 27, 1991, through Epic Records. Following the dissolution of their previous band Mother Love Bone in 1990, bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard began rehearsing with new guitarist Mike McCready. The group recorded a five-song instrumental demo tape with Matt Cameron on drums. Copies of the demo were eventually given to drummer Dave Krusen and vocalist Eddie Vedder, both of whom were invited to audition for the band in Seattle. Many of the songs on Ten were instrumental jams or reworked Mother Love Bone songs for which Vedder composed new melodies and lyrics.Despite its reputation as a quintessential grunge album, Ten is often noted for displaying a stronger classic rock influence than other contemporary grunge releases. In a review for AllMusic, Steve Huey asserts that the band's "intricately arranged guitar textures and expansive harmonic vocabulary... especially recalled Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin" and characterizes the album as having an "anthemic" and "warm, rich sound". Huey also praises Vedder for the "highly distinctive timbre" of his vocals and for the "passionate commitment of his delivery".Ten was not an immediate success, but by late 1992 it had reached number two on the Billboard 200. The album produced three hit singles: "Alive", "Even Flow", and "Jeremy". "Jeremy" became one of Pearl Jam's best-known songs, and received nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Hard Rock Performance at the 35th Grammy Awards. The video for "Jeremy" was heavily rotated by MTV, and received four awards at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year and Best Group Video.Beyond its role in consolidating the mainstream success of grunge rock in the early 1990s, Ten is generally considered to have been instrumental in the rise and dominance of alternative rock throughout the decade. The album has since been ranked by several publications as one of the greatest albums of all time. By February 2013, it had sold 13 million copies in the US, becoming the 22nd record to do so in the Nielsen SoundScan era and has been certified 13× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Ten remains Pearl Jam's most commercially successful album.
WikipediaEddie Vedder's impressionistic lyrics often make their greatest impact through the passionate commitment of his delivery rather than concrete meaning. His voice had a highly distinctive timbre that perfectly fit the album's warm, rich sound, and that's part of the key -- no matter how cathartic Ten's tersely titled songs got, they were never abrasive enough to affect the album's accessibility. Ten also benefited from a long gestation period, during which the band honed the material into this tightly focused form; the result is a flawlessly crafted hard rock masterpiece.
Many classics here, Black and Jeremy are 2 of the best songs of the 90s. It lulls a bit towards the end, but thats not necessarily a bad thing given its explosive middle.
First CD I ever owned. Got it for Christmas 1991 - which was the same date that I got my first CD player / stereo. I was 13 years and this played in my room more or less constantly for well over a year. A seminal album in rock n' roll - along with Nirvana's Nevermind, probably THE defining album of the Seattle scene / grunge movement. And, amazingly, it has aged extremely well.
This album is amazing from start to finish. Obviously, Pearl Jam have been copied to death and it's that aspect that I dislike in many copy cat acts. Noone can replicate their authentic sound, which is full ,heavy and gritty.
So. Many. Bangers. This album took me back to middle school so hard I broke out in pimples during the opening chords of "Even Flow." There are a few tracks that didn't age all that awesome but, overall, it's a freaking killer album.
Confession: this is one of my favourite albums. I can more or less sing it front to back. All killer no filler. As grunge-era records go, I prefer this to Nevermind. Don't @ me.
The guitar riffs and amazing, the drums pounding, the vocals spectacular, and most of the lyrics are very good. I will certainly be adding this to my playlist!
One of rocks greatest debut albums. Still sounds as good as it did the day I got it at makin tracks and sat on the bus home blown away. It has no weaknesses and it’s easy to say the big songs are out of the way early and it drops off. If anything it gets better especially once we get Alive out of the way. Give me Porch or Garden anytime over it. And then there’s Black - one of the finest “love” songs ever written in my mind. A stone cold classic album and testament as to why this band remains bigger than ever 30 years later.
The less cynical yet equally disillusioned counterpart to Nevermind, Ten is an undisputed pillar of grunge. At the end of the day, Eddie Vedder just wants to be Neil Young, but the times called for something with more of an edge, and on this record, Pearl Jam makes a hell of case for the music requiring it too, adding darker subject matter (it's pretty crazy to consider there were songs inspired by school shootings as early as '91) and breakneck performances to the kind of storytelling that's more commonly reserved for acoustic guitars and folk rock. The heavier stuff is what resonates with me most—the solo at the end of Alive easily trounces anything prior in the song—but even the record's slower, softer moments shine in large part due to Vedder's unique voice. There's not a lot of weak points here, with even the instrumentals serving well as bookends that don't feel particularly indulgent. It's simply a phenomenal record from top to bottom—okay, I don't like Oceans that much, but that one's not even three minutes long. Key Tracks: Once, Why Go, Deep
I wonder sometimes why they're associated so closely with grunge. They're not nearly so muddy and dark. Their music is emotional and definitely coherent but almost impressionistic, not least because you sometimes have no idea what he's mumbling. Anyway, this is nearly an hour of great riffs and strong writing. The production's a little dated, but there's a remaster from a few years back that just about fixes everything. 4.5 rounded up.
Every song is powerful, raw and hard hitting. Knowing it so well almost made me take the brilliance of this album for granted. Eddie is a force of nature.
Pearl Jam are the kind of band who eat cheese on the toilet. They smother cheese all over their filthy bodies and suck eachother off through cheesy glory holes. You know I'm right.
Guitars sound great but this old man yelling really does not 💀💀💀 🦆🦆 I just wish this man could sing so I could actually enjoy this 😭 The actual music/instruments are really good though, just being ruined! Faves - Even Flow, Why Go, Porch No songs saved or added to playlists Overall - could be a solid rock album, if only someone else sang on it 😭 Would I check out their other music - no Rating 2/5 (the vocals COMPLETELY ruined this for me)
Думаю, этот альбом для меня – светлое лицо 90-ых. Всякие Рванины, Оазисы, Радиохэды и Ню-митольная шляпа – дело, местами, хорошее, но или несёт в себе черты некоторого упадка или недостаточно сильная. А тут оригинальный оптимистичный яркий саунд. Скачал я его в универские годы не помню из-за чего, толи из-за наличия в топе 200 Metal Hammer, толи когда перебирал пятёрки на Allmusic. И прям сразу пропёрся, задавшись вопросом, а хули остальной гранж или ущербный, или кринжовый. Лан, по трекам: 1) Once – сильные гитарные и вокальные партии, мощный припев, тупо хит. 2) Even Flow – впервые наткнувшись в одной из GH, не пропёрся, подумал, очередная бесхребетная инди-поделка. Но в рамках альбома трек неплохо раскрывается, партии довольно интересные, подчёркивают вокальную, которая в куплетах хоть и кажется монотонной, но не надоедает. 3) Alive продолжает тенденцию к чилу. Делает это весьма ленивым образом, через менее внятные куплеты Led Zeppelin стайл и припев с повторяющейся строкой. Но в целом делает, почилить можно в кайф. 4) Why Go пытается вернуться к драйву, сохраняя формулу прошлого трека. Разве что гитарные партии яркие добавляя. Также не то, чтобы сильный трек, но атмосферу держит. 5) Black ну тупо шедевр. То, как я хотел бы REM слышать, и вроде бы слышу, но не часто. Яркие развивающиеся мотивы, лаконичные партии, дополняющие друг друга, пронимающий припев. Вокалёр тащит, и при этом не затеняет инструментал. Бэк-вокальные партии просто идеально вписываются, на уровне электрической версии Дурачка у Опизденевших. 6) Jeremy возвращается к предыдущей формуле. Но в её случае припев вышел более ярким, повторение строки не душит, а воспринимается за должное. Также условный минимализм разбавляется развитием всех партий, добавлением интересных бэков, в итоге складывая отличный трек. 7) Oceans тянет в лирику. И вполне кайфовую. Атмосферная весчь, прям веет какими-то океянами, полётами и мечтами всякими. Напрягли разве что странные смены тональности в моментах, но трек отличный. 8) Porch на контрасте драйву завозит мальца. Гитарные соло интересные, веют олдскулом таким, вокальные партии звёзд с неба не хватают, но атмосферу держат. 9) Garden вновь формулу возвращает, ситуация схожа с Jeremy, разве что контраст внутри трека ещё сильнее, куплеты ещё более аморфные и тихие, припев ещё более яркий, громкий и мощный. Второй куплет переходит в кайфовые бриджи и соло, потом припев, потом снова соло, в общем, прогрессивные нотки даже, одобряем. 10) Deep драйв довозит, но по стандартной формуле. Приятный трек в целом. 11) Release возвращается к атмосфере Oceans. В целом, атмосферу держит, но закрывашку хотелось бы по яркости сопоставимую с открывашкой. Или чтоб глубины залипательной завезли побольше. А так просто хороший трек с отличными вокальными партиями. Да, если по элементам разбирать, то картина слагается не то, чтобы уверенная, яркие моменты чередуются с более слабыми вещами. Но мы на альбом же смотрим. А альбом – это такая плотно набитая банка густой атмосферы и настроения, интересного звука. Которые, в более особо нигде и не встречаются. Даже в дискографии Pearl Jam, которую дальше вообще слушать не смог. Посему альбом стал важным опытом и может быть таковым для многих.
A fantastic hard rock journey. It's easy to see why this album but Pearl Jam on the map. Haven't listened to Even Flow since I played it on Guitar Hero when I was a kid, but the song is still magical.
Really liked this one, from Eddie's voice, to the classic/stadium rock elements, the riffs, just a great overall rock album
More fretless bass than I remember, but the power of that album! Still sounds fresh (bass parts aside) today
Not a bad song. Stylistically the same. This makes it all very similar, but because the songs are good it does not feel too repetitive.
4 superb grunge songs and a bunch of other unfocused tracks that make Pearl Jam one of the weaker bands in grunge's main staple.
I love Vs. and Vitalogy, which makes me think perhaps the wrong Pearl Jam album is on the list. I know the album very well, and revisiting it should tell whether it's a 4 or 5. This holds up incredibly well. If you don't let some of the heavy subject matter get to you, this will always be an enjoyable listen. Bonus points: Sent me on a deep dive through the heap of incredible live Pearl Jam albums (seriously, I stopped counting, there were so many in Spotify alone). Minus point: Realizing my favorite Pearl Jam songs aren't on this album. Actual rating is 4.5.
Harder rock than I usually listen to, but I like Eddie Vedder's voice. Good stuff. My band plays Alive, so I was familiar with that one. Not enough variety in the tunes for me. "Release", though, is a nice change of pace.
LOL just yesterday I was listening to this and wondered if it was on this list, and if so when it would come up. one of the best albums of all time 5/5.
I liked this album a lot more than I thought I would. It was very angsty but it felt so deep and meaningful also. It's definite a super intense album but it really resonated with me.
Really great. I knew a lot of the songs, but had never listened to the whole album.
One of my favorite albums ever, Pearl Jam at its very best--they were young and inspiration was fresh. I go back to this album every now and then and never get tired of it.
A barrage of hits for the first half and great music overall, even if I get tired from Eddies voice after a while. a classic alright
Alternative radio is actually legally required to play all 11 of these songs at least once a day
High school flashbacks. Hard to imagine that era without this album and band. Extremely influential and still kicks ass to this day. Easily one of the top albums on this whole list in terms of “must hear”
Una joya. Este disco es simplemente increíble. Nunca lo consideré grunge, más bien me pareció siempre rock alternativo. El poder de Even flow, Alive y Jeremy es increíble, Black es una poesía hermosa y triste. Las letras están bien trabajadas, cuentan historias y llega a quien las escucha. Es el primer disco que me toca escuchar de los 1001 que ya había escuchado completo y que estoy totalmente de acuerdo que esté en este listado.
So damn good. Loved delving more into the history of the band and the of this album. Eddie Vedder just keeps getting better with age.
Black is my favorite track from the album. Probably an all time top 10.
15. Ten - Pearl Jam. 11 Tracks Is this called Ten cos it's rated 10 out of 5? What an album! Don't think I have ever listened to it sober before. What an album! Have I said that before? Wow. A new bar has been set against which all others will be judged. Mind-blowing! 5/5
the majority of this album is seared into my brain and it should be. unimpeachable. literally the only pearl jam album i think is any good but how do you outdo perfection
One of the biggest most influential rock album of all time and it stood the test of time Best drumming award for the album goes to: Deep
I had forgotten how good this album is. Used to listen to it all the time in the early 90s. Not only is the album 5 stars but just about every song is 5 stars.
1991, ключевой альбом гранжа. Американцы, дебютный альбом. Классный вокал Эдди Веббера. Входят в большую четверку сиэтлского гранжа.
One of the greatest debuts of all time. You must hear that all the time, don't you? Well, typically people say that you an amazing album that just so happens to be a band's debut. But no, here we have the greatest introduction of the band that would shape rock n roll in the 90s. No other band of the era had such a consistent discography with each release just as solid as the last. Whereas Guns n Roses shaped hard rock from the late 80s, Pearl Jam took the genre into an entirely new direction, making way for the more alternative music to come. In fact, I don't think the rest of the grunge movement or even Nirvana would have picked up if not for radio and Mtv support for this album. I'm too young to know for sure, but older rock fans are always raving about Pearl Jam concerts more than any other, how they could extend songs and solos for like 10 minutes, and it's pretty clear by their music videos and audience that they were a leader in live performances. Their influence cannot be understated. Second only to Nirvana in the popularization of grunge culture. And it makes sense when you listen to their songs. The vocals are crisp and clear, with appropriately poetic lyrics to sing along to. Hell, even when I was 11 I knew Jeremy was about a boy killing someone in front of his class for revenge (although I didn't know it was himself until years later), and that just came from me listening to the song on the radio. Pearl Jam has the perfect mix of everything you could want out of rock songs: impactful vocal delivery, lyrics you can sing to, epic solos, incredible production (although I hear some complain about its rawness), and harmony between band members knowing exactly what to do and when. Album is full of hit after hit. Of course, the four signature songs are perfect in every way. But Pearl Jam isn't sticking by any formulas. The rest of the songs are amazing too. It's just such a shame they all come after the hits because many people won't give them much of a chance, thinking the best is over. "Oceans" is one of the more alternative songs, mellower yet like no other. Creates a dynamic contrast between the two sides of the album to lead back into the action of "Porch." The song "Garden" has this great solo that reminds me of 70s jam bands. I swear the more I listen to the second side, the more I fall in love with them. Even the supposedly weakest track "Deep" is an amazing blend between alternative and their harder grungier material about addiction. I love it when albums get the closing track right, so you can imagine my satisfaction "Release," followed by a bonus track continuation of the first part of the opening track.
Mother father and children of all my favorite music. 5 Sterne reichen nicht!!!
This is a perfect album, start to finish. It holds a special place for me, because most of my life I've been listening to decades-old music and this was probably one of the few times in my life I was listening to the most popular music of the day at the time it was popular. Everything about it is great. I remember Even Flow was the first song I heard off the album and was just blown away by the power and groove of the song. Alive is an anthem. Jeremy was overplayed but still holds up as a classic. The non-singles are all classics in their own right. The music and lyrics are powerful throughout and the band members are all outstanding. McCready and Gossard provide an amazing one-two guitar punch. Always loved Jeff Ament's bass style (especially the fretless aspect - I just learned that he was a fan of Japan's Mick Karn) and the drums drive the album along. Of course, a million people tried to sound like Eddie Vedder afterwards, but he remains an original. I find it interesting that the band members feel the album was over-produced - I still think it sounds great - just the right mix of polished and edgy. This will always remain my favorite album of the grunge explosion.
I still remember first hearing Jeremy and then being surprised to find out Eddie Vedder wasn't 40+ years old. There are very few albums like this that not only have no weak songs but also changed music. I put together best of rock lists for each year of the 90's over the summer and it is amazing how different rock music was in 1990 versus 1992-93 a year after Ten and a few other pivotal albums from late 1991 (e.g., Nevermind, Badmotorfinger). Maybe short-lived, but it stomped out cheesy 80's hair rock / forced rock to be better. No doubt bands like the Pixies, Melvins, and Replacements paved the way for bands like Pearl Jam, but the sound was perfected on Ten. Hard edged, pulsing sounds and lyrics that make you think. Everyone likely knows the first 6 tracks (Why Go and Once are just as good as the mega-hits) but the last 5 tracks are also impressive - if you like the frenetic Even Flow, try Porch; if you like the brooding Black, try Release; if you like the multi-layered Alive, try Garden. An all-time classic.
Flash in the pan. One-shot album, never heard from again. Seriously, I remember when this came out. I was in college and I gravitated towards it pretty quickly. You could not unhear this album; it was everywhere. Even the non-single, album tracks were played ALL the time. I tend to think of the album as overplayed, but every track on there (even Jeremy) is solid. It was their second album that solidified it for me “Go” is just a great opener. But this is where it all started.
Still grows on me even after 20 years since its release with the intersection of grunge alternative and heavy metal. Just solid Rock vocals, beats, energy.
Fantastic album. Probably one of the most well-known albums of the decade. Great polished songs from front to back. The big layered guitars and Vedder's vocals compliment each other well.
Perhaps the power of nostalgia and the space of decades but this was a very enjoyable listen for me which I wouldn’t necessarily have expected a handful of years ago
This is one of the most important albums of my life. If time travel exists, it should be this album. I still remember when I listened to Black for the very first time. I was going through a depressive episode and feeling unable to get out of it. This is also the first album I analyzed with my daughter; I went song by song, read the background of the recording sessions, all the lyrics and their multiple interpretations. It was an attempt to pass the torch to the next generation. It was a father-daughter ritual.... I loved this record...
This is simply a gem. Lyrics, voice, sound, atmosphere - everything is absolutely perfect! Black and Jeremy are the best songs of 90s! Also one of my favourite albums ever! Has been listened thousands of times! Total Masterpiece!
David Browne from Entertainment Weekly 12/13/91: With the release of Pearl Jam’s debut album, the so-called ”Seattle Sound” has become, for better or worse, institutionalized, a lumbering monolith waiting for the Next Big Thing to usurp it. Ten abounds with everything you’d expect from a band from this part of the country — mountain-high guitar riffing that tips its Northwestern hat to Led Zeppelin; misty, elliptical lyrics that only hint at their subject matter; the primordial wail of the wah-wah guitar; and the lugubrious, druggy ambience of a young hippie commune. While there’s nothing wrong with any of that, you’ve heard it all before on records by fellow Northwestern rockers like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and the defunct Mother Love Bone (some of whose members are in Pearl Jam). Like many of its Seattle cohorts, Pearl Jam also flail about in search of a groove and a song. Occasionally, as in the single ”Alive,” they find both. More often, they lose themselves in a sound that only goes to show that just about anything can be harnessed and packaged. B-
This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Perfectly constructed with poetic verses mixed into rock hits and brilliant melodies.
Inarguably one of the best debut albums of all time, regardless of genre.
Perfect, or close enough. Bit of a shame Spotify didn't have the couple of bonus tracks on the UK cd version, but still one of my favourite albums of all time. Loved it!
I tried to stay away from Pearl Jam for as long as I could. Not growing up in the era when Pearl Jam reigned supreme and Eddie Vedder's wavy locks were posted on the walls of teenage girls everywhere, the plethora of Eddie imitators (mainly Creed) had turned me off to the idea of actually ever enjoying them. But on a Sunday at Reading 2006 I couldn't resist their genius any longer. We actually had no intention of watching them but the alternative was Maximo Park and that was miles away! Only knew about 2 songs but they completely blew me away. I then went on to become mildly obsessed with 90s pearl jam for a bit and this is still their finest work. 5/5
Teenage vibes for me, I loved grunge when I was 16, This was one of my favourite albums. I give it 5. For me, this is THE grunge album.