Album of the day (#2232): Ten by Pearl Jam

[albummaster]

Today's album of the day

Ten by Pearl Jam (View album | Buy this album)

Year: 1991.
Country:
Overall rank: 38
Average rating: 82/100 (from 1501 votes).

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

Tracks:
1. Once
2. Even Flow
3. Alive
4. Why Go
5. Black
6. Jeremy
7. Oceans
8. Porch
9. Garden
10. Deep
11. Release

About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.

[Applerill]

I love this album :'(

[CA Dreamin]

Grunge lost an icon in Andrew Wood of Mother Love Bone, but in came Eddie Vedder. You all know the story of Temple of the Dog, where Vedder showcased his singing talent, and ultimately to the formation of Pearl Jam. So now for their debut album:

1. Once - 10/10

With Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder was given a chance to write and sing all of his own lyrics, a much bigger role than he had in Temple of the Dog. But music composition on Ten was left to his bandmates. The slow quiet intro of Once sounds like a powderkeg waiting to go off. And then it does around 40 seconds in. And then we hear Vedder for the first time. "I got a bomb in my temple that is gonna explode. I got a 16 gauge buried under my clothes." What a great opening track.

2. Even Flow - 8/10

Somewhat conventional sounding, but a very good single about a homeless man. "Thoughts arrive like butterflies; He don't know, so he chases them away." Great lyric.

3. Alive - 10/10

A mother telling her son the truth about his father. 'What you thought was your daddy was nothin...Your real daddy was dyin...Sorry you didn't see him.' That's some deep shit. What a song. By this point, we know he have a great album on our hands.

4. Why Go - 8/10

An underrated song from Side A. I guess surrounded by huge radio singles, it's easy to overlook Why Go. I agree it isn't the most memorable song. But hey, a song about a wrongly institutionalized girl by her dumbass parents, who after years prefers to stay at the institution than return to live with such parents. That's pretty grunge, right?

5. Black - 7/10

A lot of people love Black. I don't. I think it's pretty good but it never captured my fascination. I don't know why. Maybe the slow pacing? Maybe the long repetitive outro? Whatever, we all have songs that everyone else loves that we couldn't get into despite hearing it on the radio hundreds of times.

6. Jeremy - 10/10

In a society with so many school shootings, the lyrics "Try to forget this; Try to erase this, from the blackboard" truly hit home. But beyond that, Jeremy is a wonderful song. Musically, lyrically, it's as good as it gets.

7. Oceans - 4/10

Oceans was actually released as a single. I didn't even know that until much after I first listened to Ten. You never hear it on the radio, and a few non-singles from Ten have stood the test of time. But Oceans did not. It never was anything special. Side A was truly marvelous but Side B is off to a weak start.

8. Porch - 5/10

Eddie Vedder writes all the lyrics of Pearl Jam's songs but Porch was the first song with the music entirely written by Vedder too. It isn't bad but he needed time and practice before writing better songs. As for the album, second straight misfire.

9. Garden - 3/10

Boring.

10. Deep - 7/10

Deep is easily the best song on Ten since Jeremy but that isn't saying much. It has some great riffs and good lyrics, but it isn't up to the masterpieces we got to hear earlier on the album.

11. Release - 6/10

Not a bad closing track, but we've all heard better. Ten ends on a unsatisfying note. A masterpiece album does not need a masterful closing track (although it greatly helps), but it should certainly have a good closing track. Does Release deliver on that? It's debatable.

12. Master/Slave - 3/10

Oh wait, maybe Release isn't the closing track. After a long silence, the track resumes with a hidden track called Master/Slave. It's basically the same instrumental that started the album on Once. But then the instrumental extends for a couple minutes and there's a little lyricless vocal part. Was this really necessary? I'd say not.

Overall, Ten is a solid album, but clearly a tale of two sides. Side A rocks. Side B sucks. The weakest song on Side A is better than the best song from Side B. Nevertheless Ten is an important album in history of music. I believe its importance in rock history and its abundance of standout singles are why Ten is regularly cited as their best album. But is it their best album? In my opinion, it isn't. That would be Vs. Vs. may not have the standout hits like Even Flow, Alive, Black, and Jeremy, but it is way a more consistent album all the way through.
_________________
on such a winter's day

[Chicken4Sale]

Side A is fantastic, side B is not so great. Still a great grunge album overall, but I'll always prefer Nevermind and Superunknown.

[Daydreamer]

Best grunge album and second best album of the 90's. Perfect.