release date: Aug. 27, 1991
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,58]
producer: Rick Parashar, Pearl Jam
label: Sony Records, Japan - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Once" - 2. "Even Flow" - 3. "Alive" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "Black" - 6. "Jeremy" - 8. "Porch" - 9. "Garden" - 10. "Deep" (4 / 5)
Studio album debut by Seattle grunge rock band Pearl Jam org. rel. by Epic Records. Pearl Jam is the fusion of members of various bands all originating from Seattle except for Eddie Vedder. The band consists of vocalist Eddie Vedder, bassist Jeff Ament, rhythm guitarist Stone Gossard, lead guitarist Mike McCready, and drummer Dave Krusen [story of the formation] (Krusen would leave the band shortly after recording the debut only to be replaced by Matt Chamberlain for a short period before Dave Abbruzzese would take over).
The style represents a huge blend of influences, which ultimately is grunge rock. There are clear references to early 70s psychedelic and progressive rock (Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple) and to Jimi Hendrix blues rock, later 70s metal rock, and I also hear fragments of Neil Young with Crazy Horse, as well as parts of an American punk rock history, especially Hüsker Dü.
This guitar-founded electric hard rock has never really been that appealing to me, and the only reason that I ever got to listen through this in the first place, was because of the hit single "Alive", which is the album's biggest highlight, as far as I'm concerned. Sure, tracks like "Once", "Even Flow", "Black", "Jeremy", and "Garden" are all fine songs, and in a Pearl Jam fan context they are everything the audience wants, but to me, they are like 3 out of 5, meaning: good songs, no more, no less - nothing special. I simply get tired of the reverberating guitars, the heavy rhythm section and the heavy rock sound, which takes me nowhere. To me, it's dark and heavy (noise). If "Alive" got me interested in Pearl Jam and the rest didn't live up to that, I have to admit that I have always fancied the voice of Eddie Vedder. He's the main reason that I keep listening to this band.
Anyway, the album was well-received by critics, and the album reached number #2 on the American albums chart list. As the only Pearl Jam album, Ten is included in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". In my mind - despite the band's own view on the production sound of the album - it's among the band's top 3 albums, although, it does contain some of the absolute best single tracks by the band: "Alive" and "Deep", but in terms of quality songs, I find it too bland. Something that would prove to be a fitting characteristic to their future albums, imho.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Uncut 5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine, Mojo 4 / 5 stars ]
