August 27, 1991 - Pearl Jam and Ten

Two weeks after my last release a new band briefly joins my library when another grunge band broke on to the scene as Pearl Jam released their debut album "Ten" on August 27, 1991. This is the only album I have by these guys, as they are not my favourite among the grunge bands,  but who are Pearl Jam? They are a five-piece band that is also from Seattle, Washington consisting of bassist Jeff Ament, rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard, lead guitarist Mike McCready, drummer Dave Krusen and lead singer Eddie Vedder. Three of these guys were on "Temple Of The Dog" earlier this year and with the addition of Vedder and Krusen, Pearl Jam was formed and joins the throng of grunge bands from the Seattle area, although Pearl Jam have a bit more of a classic rock feel to them than most of the other grunge bands. Let's check out "Ten"!

The albuk kicks off with "Once" and it has a slow opening that fades in and gets louder and has some cool trippy bass by Ament. After 45 seconds or so McCready finally joins in on lead guitar and he shifts things into a new part with some fast guitar and they settle into a nice main riff. Vedder begins the verse and we hear his one-of-a-kind voice for the first time. His voice sounds a little grunge-y, but it has this quality that immediately lets you know that it's Vedder singing. Eddie sings nicely overtop the rockin' music and he shows us in the verse and chorus that he has a decent vocal range, hitting some high and low notes. After another verse and chorus McCready gets his first chance to solo and he does a pretty good job leading the way, but Gossard's rhythm guitar is decent as well and Stone plays a cool short bit that connects the solo back to the main riff. Vedder yells the name of the song lots as they jam things out and I like that he sounds a bit out of breath as he really screams it. The next song was a hugely succesful radio single, titled "Even Flow", and they kick right into a catchy and groovy main riff with some cool guitars and bass. Vedder holds a long note at the beginning of each line and then sings some much quicker lyrics afterwards and he sounds good overtop of this very catchy and cool main riff. When Vedder sings the name of the song you know we've reached the chorus and Gossard plays some nice guitar in this slower but still solid chorus. They nicely shift back to the faster main riff and McCready spices up this verse with several short guitar bits that sound pretty sweet. After another chorus it's solo time and McCready plays a pretty sweet solo that is fast and slow, high and low, and just all-around good stuff. Things get quiet after the solo and we hear Ament playing a cool bass line and McCready slowly builds things back up until they hit a final chorus. McCready gets a few more nice licks in at the and before they end a song that for a single was pretty badass! Track 3 was arguably even a bigger hit and it's called "Alive". It opens with a pretty epic guitar riff by Gossard and the rest of the band builds around it until we have a slow and smooth main riff. Krusen's drums sound loud and epic as they shift to the first verse and Vedder sings in his unmistakable voice, nicely leading the way overtop this light but cool music. The chorus is a perfect example of the uniqueness Vedder brings as he sings "oh I'm still alive" several times, but he stretches that one line out for a long time and puts different accents and "Vedder-isms" on it so that each time sounds a little different. I don't dislike this side of Vedder's voice, but I don't really like it either as it drains on you the more he does it, and this song is nearly six minutes. They play another verse and chorus before moving into a simple but loud and effective part and this leads nicely into a quieter part. Vedder sings a nice quiet part before they build it back up and play another chorus. For the final two-plus minutes of the song, Vedder continues to just "yeah uh-huh" in the background and McCready goes off on one hell of a solo. This last two minutes just keeps getting better and better as it goes as McCready plays a ton of epic guitar. They end things on a pretty great note as well to conclude another sweet single. Up next is "Why Go" and Ament plays a nice bass riff that's the backbone of this song as Gossard adds some cool guitar and McCready plays some cool trippy guitars as well. Vedder comes in to sing another decent verse, but the chorus is just Eddie saying "why go home?" a few times, then it's right back to another verse. When they reach the chorus a second time it's a bit longer and more involved, but still mostly just Eddie repeating that one phrase. McCready erupts out of nowhere for a solo and he plays some pretty cool stuff in a speedy and short solo. The verse in this song was cool, but the chorus isn't that great and they play it two more times to finish off this mixed bag of a song. Track 5 is titled "Black" and it opens with some distant-sounding guitar before they settle into a slow main riff. Gossard plays a decent rhythm guitar riff and Vedder sings a little softer than normal, but it's still very much his one-of-a-kind voice. The chorus gets a little louder as Vedder nicely sings along to some slow but epic music including some piano. Then they quiet it down again and play another verse and after another chorus the same backing riff continues and McCready plays some lead guitar overtop and Eddie does a lot of "do-do-do-do"ing as they continue to jam out this riff all the way until the song eventually fades to an end. The next song was another popular single, named "Jeremy", and Ament plays an interesting bass riff to start it off. Krusen'a drums signal the start of the verse and Gossard plays the same riff as Ament on guitar to carry things as Vedder leads the way with a quick-sung verse that sounds good. Vedder's only line in the chorus is "Jeremy spoke in class today" but he holds the last two words in a typical Vedder fashion and the slightly grunge-y music makes this a perfect example of Pearl Jam's sound. They play another solid verse and chorus before Vedder yells a brief new part that sounds okay, but the song is missing a guitar solo! A dire mistake that I think would've spiced things up, especially since the final two minutes of the song is basically just them jamming out the chorus. Vedder does some "hoo hoo" backing vocals and you can hear McCready's guitar, but honestly not much is going on for this final portion and it's a bit of a disappointing finish for me. Track 7 is "Oceans" and Ament plays another interesting bass riff that sounds cool while Gossard comes in and out with some light guitar and Vedder sings softly along. They slowly move into a quiet main riff as Vedder continues to sing in a hushed but still very Vedder voice. Krusen's drums sound nice and epic in this echo-y riff and this is unlike any song so far, but I like the different style and they make things sound pretty epic and cool for this short song. Up next is "Porch" and the first lyric of the song is "what the fuck is this world?" as Vedder comes flying in singing very quickly and sounding good. Gossard plays a guitar riff that sounds pretty fast compared to what we've heard so far from Pearl Jam, but it sounds good and Ament is playing some cool fast bass as well as they build and segue nicely into a fast-paced and hard-hitting main riff. The verse sounds pretty good and they slow things down a bit in the chorus and then McCready takes over, but not in the way you'd think. It's not a solo, but Mike leads the next part with some solid melodic guitar and even though it wasn't a solo I thought they still used the time well. They return to the fast main riff and McCready spices things up at the end with some nice faster guitar, but Vedder just yells "yeah-heh-heh" over and over and I find he sours it a bit with such boring vocals taking away from the solid music. Track 9 is "Garden" and it begins with some light guitar from both Gossard and McCready as Vedder sings softly overtop. This opening feels like it's taking a while but after a minute things get louder as they shift to the chorus. Vedder holds some long notes as he sings overtop a slow rock riff and then they quiet things down again. The next verse is much shorter and after another loud chorus they segue into a new part as Vedder sings a short new verse that sets the stage nicely for the guitar solo. McCready is by far the loudest instrument in this solo and he does a good job of sounding pretty epic as he slowly makes his way through a nice solo. It eventually leads back into the chorus and as Pearl Jam love to do they continue to jam out the chorus riff while Vedder yells things in his voice and McCready does some nice soloing overtop as the song slowly fades to an end. The next song is called "Deep" and they kick right into a cool riff where Ament's bass sounds really distorted and crazy. Krusen's drums are solid as well and McCready leads the way with some nice guitar and he segues nicely into the first verse which is also lead by a solid guitar riff. It quiets down a little when Vedder comes in to sing the verse, but McCready's loud guitar returns for a nice chorus. They jam through another verse and chorus and then Vedder "ohhhhh"s in the background while McCready plays a distorted and nice solo. After the solo it gets very quiet again and Vedder sings another verse before everyone comes loudly back in to jam out the catchy chorus. Krusen does a decent drum fill to close out things eventually. The final song on the album "Release" is also the longest at over nine minutes. Gossard starts it off with a light guitar riff and everyone builds around that as Ament plays some slow droning bass and Vedder sounds like he's humming loudly along. Krusen joins in with a light drum beat and finally McCready adds some extra guitar overtop and Vedder begins to sing a slow verse. Despite it's slow pace and light mood, I think they do a nice job on this song as Vedder gets louder each verse and the song slowly builds it's way up until fading out just after five minutes. There's only a few seconds of silence though before Ament'a bass can be heard and things slowly fade back in. Ament's bass riff keeps the pace in this trippy extra part and everyone else does their own thing. Krusen plays some epic drums, Vedder can be heard coming in and out with his typical mannerisms, and Gossard and McCresdy are playing some very psychedelic guitar! It's definitely unlike anything else they've played, but I dig this crazy ending that goes on for four minutes of psychedelic jamming. An interesting and fun way to end this album.

That is the end of "Ten" and I thought it was a solid album, but compared to their Seattle brethren this was a much more classic rock feel than a grunge album. Not that I mind, but to group these guys in with the rest of that scene seems wrong to me. Pearl Jam had some pretty cool parts on this album and "Even Flow" and "Alive", especially for singles, are both pretty cool songs. Eddie Vedder is not my favourite singer though and this is the only appearance Pearl Jam will make in my library. "Ten" is a worthy addition for sure, but that's all the Pearl Jam I can handle.