Pearl Jam - Ten

1991

Track Listing                        

1. Once                               7. Oceans                                           

2. Even flow                        8. Porch                              

3. Alive                                9. Garden                                   

4. Why go                           10. Deep                                    

5. Black                               11. Release

6. Jeremy                                                                        

Band Members:                                                                                                                

Stone Gossard - Guitar        Eddie Vedder - Vocals              Mike Mcready - Lead guitar

Jeff Ament - Bass          Dave Krusen - Drums         Produced By: Pearl Jam & Rick Parashar 

Notes

Ten is one of the most popular albums released in the 90's.  I was always confused why the album was called Ten, when it features eleven tracks.  It's called Ten because the original band name was named Mookie Blaylock, named after the NBA star, and due to copyrights they could not use his name, so instead named their debut album after his jersey number.  The album began with Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament making an instrumental demo with fellow Seattle Musicians.  The demo was titled Stone Gossard Demos '91, in which Eddie Vedder got a hold of and wrote lyrics to and that is how the band and the album was formed.  The three big hits released off this one were "Even flow", "Jeremy" and the anthem "Alive."  "Alive" & "Once" were two of the first three tracks Vedder penned down.  They are part of a series of songs that begins with "Alive" in which a child finds out his real father is dead, who then goes on a killing spree (Once) and the series is completed with a track not on the album called "Footsteps".  There is a hidden track at the end of the album known as "Master/Slave" which is the same opening the album.  "Alive", in my opinion is one of the finest tracks ever recorded.  You hear so much about the lengthy guitar solo, which I agree is one of the best of all time, but what I really think makes that solo is the solid drumming.  Ten was named 207 on the greatest albums of all time according to Rolling Stone and peaked at number 2 on the Billboard charts.

Recommendations

The first half of this album is outstanding.  Even lesser known tracks such as "Once" and "Black" really stand out on this record.  It is a must own for anyone who has any taste in music.

If you plan on purchasing Ten

There is the original 1991 release and some imports with extra tracks.  I'm personally holding on to my original release, even though it skips.  I just have this gut feeling that at some point in 2011 there is going to be a special edition version.  I guess we'll see, but there needs to be an ultimate edition of this album.  You can purchase the original or any of the imports at Cdnow.com.

If you don't plan on purchasing Ten but want to hear some tracks from it

Why would you not purchase this?  As I stated earlier, the first half of this album is outstanding, the second half is a bit weaker, but is still good.  You can purchase any of these tracks at either Itunes or Napster, but seriously, you're better off just making the purchase for the entire album.  You can also view my Pearl Jam Home Page for more suggestions. 

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