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Ten
Pearl Jam
Retail Price (not our price): $13.98
Release Date: 1991-08-27
Manufacturer: Sony
Format: Audio CD
Discs: 1

Track List
Now here, for your listening pleasure, the tracks...

Disc 1

Editorial Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):

1) Amazon.com essential recording
Part of the '90s Seattle grunge triumvirate completed by Nirvana and Soundgarden, Pearl Jam debuted with Ten, their most accessible, least self-conscious album. Over time, PJ's rep as a politically correct band just a little too above it all to prostitute its music on MTV has nearly superseded the music. But before that, they were a simply an in-your-face, in-your-head, loud, melodic rock band. And lead singer Eddie Vedder was known for his possessed stage presence and a primal growl that sounded like it required three vocal chords. The personal, narrative singles "Alive," "Jeremy," and "Even Flow" catapulted the reluctant band into the 10-million-plus-sales division. Subsequent albums are more intricate, subtle, thematically complex, and, in many ways, better than Ten. But the band may never repeat the stampede caused by this debut. --Beth Bessmer

Customer Reviews (supplied by Amazon.com):
Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5

1) not a pearl, and no jams   [Rating: 3 out of 5]
Remember what happened when Pearl Jam hit the music scene in the early 90's? At first, we all liked the new sound and style. Alternative rock that was melodic enough for adults, and rocked convincingly enough for kids and teens. A rather large age group was able to appreciate this new influential sound and we all quickly became fans and thanked our lucky stars the hair metal movement was finally coming to an end. What happened after a few years went by? Bands like Creed starting appearing, and then other bands with a similar sound would appear after them, and more and more. Even to this day, over 15 years later, we are *still* hearing the influence of this Pearl Jam album from other bands. I say- *enough is enough*. This style was good when Pearl Jam did it, because they were the first, or one of the first, to do so. Also, this album contains enough good songs for me to give it a fair rating. But the negative influence these guys had on the music scene is something that's hard for me to forgive. I can't forgive them for all those boring, copycat bands that never came close to matching the enjoyment I got from Pearl Jam. Unfortunately those bands also are making it very hard to come back and appreciate the band and album that did it first. That explains my average rating for this album.

2) Pearl Jam's First Album   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
This is one of my favorite top three albums of ALL TIME. It is hard to follow up to the success of the first one, Pearl Jam has now gotten back to their roots of what got them where they started. It sounds great and makes me remember the times that I had in the late 80's and early 90's. I thoroughly enjoyed EVERY SONG on this disk.

3) Back to rock's roots   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
There is no such thing as "grunge" or "alternative" music. Nothing separates Pearl Jam's Ten from the long line of monumental rock albums of the past. Nor does Ten or any of Pearl Jam's albums have anything to do with the sound of Nirvana's music. Both bands have a completely unique sound, and aside from coming out of Seattle, they're not alike in musically or lyrically. Ten is much more dense, rich, and complex compared to Nirvana's straight-foward rock-punk inspired music.The beauty of Ten is that it's meatier than almost all rock albums that preceded it. It's like a cross between stadium rock and metal giving it a uniquely full or thick sound, yet very accessible. Combine that with the soulful vocals and introspective lyrical content and you have an album that has forever defined a period in music history.Ten was a return to organic non-pre-packaged rock of the hair metal variety. The music pendulum has since swung back in favor of poser rock. But that's what makes albums like Ten that much more appreciated and vital. It's Pearl Jam's best album and one that will be enjoyed for generations of rock lovers.

4) Classic 90s album   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Eddie Vedder is truly an amazing vocalist. This album, along with Nirvana's Nevermind and Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik are in my opinion the best albums of the last decade and some of the best ever. They all have brilliant original song writing, expert instrumentals and unique, highly skilled vocals. The only improvement would be high resolution surround sound on DVD-A, SACD or some future format.

5) Big Sounding 90's Grunge   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
The early 90's, for me it was my rightful time as a teenager to stick it to the man and rebel against all who came before me. For later generations it seems music is less apart of their rebellion, with the internet being one of the many new things the old-folks don't get.But in the early 90's, popular music was still the medium teenagers used to make their parents nervous. Back then grunge was the perfect sound to announce the restlessness of a generation that didn't understand 80's fluff and didn't think every rose had one thorn, instead we felt that we were being pricked to death by all sorts. That's what people forget about the early 90's, they sucked. The economy was in the tank so I remember teachers doubting the prospects of us student's finding future employment. Issues like the environment and Aids started to gain some light in our popular culture. And to top it all off we had the first war in sometime dance across our television sets with Desert Storm broadcast live and in colour on CNN. So you could imagine we teenagers were just a tad skittish about our prospects.Grunge and its chunky guitars, anti-rock stars and merging of punk sensibilities with larger musical ambitions was the perfect vehicle to attach this incensed energy to. As bombs on television and a recession on the front page greeted use Pearl Jam's Ten was the record that cemented the musical trends impact on the scene. Sure Nirvana's Nevermind rocked everyone at first, but overtime Ten was the record that in my opinion defined the movement. It contained big guitar riffs that defiantly announced each song and unlike Nirvana, Pearl Jam lyricist and signer Eddie Vedder at the time seemed to care more about straight forward narratives that people could grasp. Jeremy was/is a straight forward song about a student killing himself in front of his class. No interpretation of lyrical intention was needed making it a dark tale we all could sing along to. Same with Alive, as after you embraced its epic riff you soon realized that a dark story lay under the surface that was intensely personal to Vedder. In many ways Vedder became the Bruce Springsteen of his day as the tunes that Pearl Jam received the most attention for in the 90's (Alive, Daughter, Betterman) all told stories that were pretty clear to grasp. Vedder was a young storyteller unleashing the less than charming realities he was facing in a way we all could relate to in song. This gave, and still gives, Ten a down-to-earth feel that was desperately needed in the early 90's after a decade of Michael Jackson dance pop. The universal understanding of the tales on Ten gave it a layer of intensity that others of the grunge movement never quite matched. Sure Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and obviously Nirvana made their mark. But Pearl Jam's debut gave use something that took the anger many teenagers were feeling and focused it on tales that validated what many of use were going through. We were looking for a catharsis and Ten provided that in song after song, which spoke to the times we were living in more naturally than what others were providing. For the time it was the perfect record to stick it to the man with.