Pearl Jam: Ten

In a blog named after Pearl Jam's bassist, it only makes sense to get to that band as soon as possible.
Ten is the debut from these Seattle "grunge" rockers, and it is well known for, along with Nirvana's Nevermind, catapulting alternative music into the mainstream in 1991.
Like Nevermind, Ten still holds up very well. The track listing reads like a greatest hits album: the epic "Alive," the beautiful "Black," and even "Jeremy," which is overdramatic but still worthwhile. Unlike Nirvana, which took its cues from punk bands, Pearl Jam clearly aspired to be a '70s-style  rock band. The guitar solos on Ten are proof enough of that; Mike McCready's solo on "Alive," in particular, is a classic. All the songs are extremely guitar-driven, and the fact that Pearl Jam's musical heroes are The Who (see "Alive") and Bruce Springsteen (see the coda of "Jeremy") comes across very clearly here.

Though it's their best known record, Ten really doesn't sound that much like the other Pearl Jam albums. This is in large part because while Eddie Vedder has written the majority of the band's music after this album, the music on Ten is mostly credited to Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard. Ten serves as proof, though, that the band's bassist and guitarist are just as adept at songwriting as the singer.
The album's production is significantly improved thanks to a 2009 re-release that featured re-mixes by Brendan O'Brien, the producer of most of Pearl Jam's other albums. The original production, by Rick Parashar, is muddy, sludgy and generally terrible in a very 1991 kind of way; the newer mix is much more in line with their other work.
There are some downsides to Ten: it's Pearl Jam at their most dramatic, and is mostly missing the sense of fun present on their other records. Eddie Vedder's voice is also at its most Eddie Vedder-y here, (you know, the kind that inspired the likes of Scott Weiland and Scott Stapp) which makes it nearly impossible not to sing along in the deepest voice you can muster, especially in songs like "Release," when he's singing "whiiiiiiiiiiiich way to go." But if you can get past this, you'll hear an album brimming with classic tracks. Ten sounds like 1991, but it's not dated; it's dramatic and serious, but never at the expense of the great music; and most of all, it's extremely well-written and well-executed.

Grade: A+