209: Pearl Jam — Ten (Epic, 1991)

Overall rating: 4.5

Level of Prior Familiarity: 4

How I Listened: Spotify, first on my Echo at home, then in my car, then at the office, all in one fell swoop

It kind of sucks to be a band that’s ultimately known for one album, or even worse for just a few big singles. But somehow, miraculously, Pearl Jam has managed to cultivate a gigantic fanbase of devoted listeners who’ve devoured everything this band has ever released.

Not me. I’ll stick with Ten, which is truly their best work and the one I come back to time and time again.

1991 was one hell of a year in music. We were just coming out of the funk that was the 80s, and a series of groundbreaking works dropped right at the top of the decade: Nirvana’s Nevermind, Metallica’s Metallica, My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, U2’s Achtung Baby, R.E.M.’s Out Of Time, A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, Slint’s Spiderland… I could go on. Seriously, look it up, it was a hell of a year. Grunge was just hitting, pop was fragmenting, R&B was finally coming to the forefront, and gangsta rap was in it’s infancy (The Chronic would drop in 1992). I was 10.

And Ten was one of those landmark albums, in every possible way. Eddie Vedder instantly secured his slot on Seattle’s Vocal Rushmore, and Pearl Jam became a household word over night. For good reason: Ten is a spectacular album from front to back.

Can we talk about hits? Because this album’s got ’em. “Jeremy” remains, in my opinion, the band’s crowning achievement, a perfectly encapsulated narrative of teenage alienation and frustration, and perhaps its inevitable and tragic consequences. And the music video stands as one of the masterworks of the MTV era.

But let’s not count out the killer singles “Alive,” “Even Flow,” and “Black.” (Officially “Black” wasn’t really a single, but looking at the Spotify play counts you’d never guess that “Oceans” was in fact the fourth single.) These songs remain staples of alternative and rock radio, and for good reason: they redefined the 90s guitar sound, highlighted Vedder’s stellar vibrato-laden vocals, and they’re some of the most breathtakingly original rock songs ever laid on tape.

In so many ways I think Pearl Jam was built by MTV. Of course they were just one of many, but their music videos remain burned in my memory forever. Like the fuck-off intro on “Even Flow,” showing that first and foremost Pearl Jam is a god damn rock band.

Or the low budget black and white concert video for “Alive,” which, growing up in Minnesota, made me yearn to visit this mythical town in the Pacific Northwest.

Or how about this one, a live performance of “Jeremy” on the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards. That year would see performances from Nirvana, Bobby Brown, The Black Crowes, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Elton John, topped off with live-via-satellite performances from Michael Jackson, U2 (with Dana Carvey, no joke), and a truly insance performance of “October Rain” by Guns ’n’ Roses with Elton John. You can’t make this stuff up. Damn, those were good years. (Would you believe that Van Halen’s “Right Now” beat out Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” as the video of the year?) I can never unsee this performance, and this will always be Pearl Jam in my mind.

OK, enough waxing nostalgic. Go listen to the album. It never gets old.