Pearl Jam's Ten is not an album I took to instantly. Sure, I kind of liked the most well known songs like 'Alive' and 'Jeremy', but the rest of the album didn't do much for me.
Well, after about 6 months of listening to it, I'm now in love with it. Ok, my favourites are still 'Alive' and 'Jeremy', but I could still listen to the whole album comfortably (more or less).
So, here's a little history. Ten was released on August 27, 1991 (a month before Nirvana's Nevermind) through Epic Reocrds. It was the band's debut album and did not prove to be an immediate success. However, by 2013 it had reached 10 million sales.
The tracklist is as follows:
1. Once
2. Even Flow
3. Alive
4. Why Go
5. Black
6. Jeremy
7. Oceans
8. Porch
9. Garden
10. Deep
11. Release
'Once' is a great opener, and I love it. It has great momentum and a catchy chorus, not to mention cool overdriven riffs. Eddie Vedder's vocals are so gritty and angry, and it suits this song perfectly (of course, this applies to every song on the album). What more is there to say? It's one of my favourites on the album, for sure.
'Even Flow' is another song that's worth listening to. I mean, whenever I discuss this album with somebody, this song always gets an honourable mention. The melody and harmonies are haunting - and it really is surprisingly melodic for a grunge song, but it works.
'Alive' is probably the best known song on the album, and it's for a reason. It's what I'd describe as an anthem. It's all about Vedder's adolescent realization that the man he believed to be his father wasn't actually his father at all. It's very angsty, and I think it could reach just about anyone on an emotional level. Combine that with an infectious chorus and an awesome guitar solo, and you have an amazing song.
'Why Go' isn't a bad song, but doesn't stand out as much as the others. Don't get me wrong, I'd never skip over it when I'm listening to the album, but it's a little bit dull compared to some of the better songs on the album. There isn't much of a melody, and the guitar is just a little bit too grungy for my taste. I still like it a lot, but it certainly isn't the highlight of the album.
'Black' is more or less the first slow song on the album, and it's a nice break from the boundless energy of the first four songs. It's quite sad, and can be a little bit dreary if you're not really in the mood for it. However, when you wanna hear a good heart-wrenching rock song, then this is the song for you; the melodies are beautiful and the lyrics are touching.
'Jeremy': What. A. Song. The first time I listened to it, I enjoyed the melody and the tone of Vedder's voice, and the rest of the instrumentation was something I enjoyed too. But I didn't come to LOVE the song until I started paying attention to the lyrics and found out about the story the song is based on. Vedder based the lyrics on an article he read about a high school student who shot himself during class on January 8, 1991. Knowing this, the lyrics took on a whole new meaning for me - and particular lines became incredibly deep and haunting, like "Try to erase this from the blackboard". Wow. If you don't know it, you really should listen to it. In my opinion, it's not just the best song on this album, but Pearl Jam's best song in general.
'Oceans' has this great surreal feeling to it, which is achieved through the strange rhythm of the guitar riffs and Vedder's rare use of falsetto. I think it suffers a little because it comes after 'Jeremy', which is a hard song to follow. It's a shame, because I think it's a really cool song in itself, but sometimes it can be easy to forget about.
'Porch' is really energetic, and I really like it. I mean, there's nothing particularly amazing about it but it's still a good song. Expect a forward-moving beat and some overdriven guitars - enjoy!
To be honest, 'Garden' is where the album starts to wear a bit thin for me. It's nice and everything, but just a bit too dreary. I really like the chorus - it's full of raw emotion - but it's still not a song I could listen to a lot.
'Deep' really doesn't do anything for me either; it just seems unnecessarily long, drawn-out and repetitive. It has good vocals and the instrumentation is ok, but... meh.
'Release' is a nice closing song. I really like the opening guitar riff - it's simple but effective and sets up a cool mood for the song. The vocals are solid and so is everything else. I guess I would have preferred a more energetic song to end the album with, but this wasn't a bad decision. The hidden track 'Master/Slave' isn't bad either.
Final Rating: 7/10
My favourite songs: 'Jeremy', 'Alive', 'Once', and 'Even Flow'.
In my next post, I'll be discussing Grant Lee Buffalo's Fuzzy.
998 albums to go!
