Reliving Pearl Jam's Discography: Lou Tackles Ten

Jopie Joe,

 

I have a problem.  Over the past month have I’ve spent more time with my good friend Eddie Vedder* than that of my boss and children combined.  Well, that might be an exaggeration, but I am sure you feel the same way after our side project of rating and ranking every studio-album song that Pearl Jam ever put to compact disc.

 

*I have a pick of his and therefore consider him a friend; or rather I had a pick of his before our sister, Katie, filched it with some puppy dog eyes.  I know, as well as you, that Eddie tossed it to ME specifically during the Letterman show.(Editor’s note: The Letterman show, a private concert for 400 Tenclub members that took place in 2006, was attended by all four Poulas children who can be seen freaking out in the front row)

 

It was an exhausting task that I attacked as if it were my profession, which opened my eyes in two ways.  First, I wish I had a job I loved, and second, wow—did I fall in love with PJ all over again.  Such painstaking labor should never go unrecognized, and I thought I would take the first action of putting my thoughts down in html.

 

I propose to spend some time reviewing each of their nine albums—do we both review all nine or take them turn in turn, maybe with comments on previous submission?—and follow it up with a grand finale including excel sheets, graphs, formulas, and scientific notations. (Editor’s note—Easy nerd, Unfinished Dad’s readers don’t know he spends his time doing things like that.)

 

First up, the Classic Ten

 

Track List

1-Once  

2-Even Flow  

3-Alive  

4-Why Go  

5-Black  

6-Jeremy  

7-Oceans  

8-Porch  

9-Garden  

10-Deep  

11-Release

 

I will forever be in your debt for introducing me to Pearl Jam* though I don’t recall when that was exactly.  The album debuted on August 27, 1991 but didn’t become popular until almost 8 months later, and didn’t peak on the charts until the fall of 1992.  Ten was still so popular, that in 1993, when their second album Vs. was released, it was still outselling it at years end.  I am guessing that fateful day of introduction occurred between the fall ’92 and winter of ’93.**

 

*And Stephen King’s Dark Tower series for that matter.  Quite amazing when you think about it—the two most import cultural loves in my life are due to my little bro!

 

**And as long as I’m dishing out the praise, I might as well continue with that thought and thank you for Weezer too.  I turned on the “Genius” functionality for my new iPod where it makes compilation playlists that “go great together” and Weezer and Pearl Jam are always linked.  At first, I didn’t understand—I was hearing good music that I couldn’t remember who the artist was.  Low and behold—Weezer four or 5 times now.(Ed’s note: Word)

 

Almost 450 words and still no review to speak of—I will keep this one relatively short then.  Ten is widely recognized as the band’s best album, and one of the most influential albums of our lifetimes.  For now, let’s say I agree with the latter and if we want to include cultural impact in our rankings Ten would easily be #1.

 

My power tracks on the album are Alive, Black, Porch, and Release.  The introductions to both Alive and Black are instantly recognizable to a wide variety of musical tastes, but Black is a hair better and may be the single greatest PJ song of all time.  The classic lyric, “all five horizons revolved around her soul” is a badge of wonder to all fans and as far as I know, the band has never come out and explicitly provided a meaning to the verse. 

 

I could listen to the 1:30 through 2:22 section of Porch over and over, and in fact, regularly do just that.  I love Matt Cameron, but my favorite drum riff in any PJ song came courtesy of Dave Krusen, ending at 2:22.

 

However, if I were beached on an island and could take only one track from Ten with me, it would be Release.  I can’t quite put into words why this song is so potent for me.  I guess you would call it a power ballad, and it slowly builds Eddie’s vocals and wonderful guitar work, and who among us has never exactly related to the line, “I’ll ride the wave where it takes me”?   It is the perfect track to listen to when in the mood to recall strong emotion—whether joyous or tearful, Release will recall it to memory.

 

Remember the Bear Share days?  We have a bootlegged live version of Release that perfectly states how PJ fans feel.  Listen to the first few moments of that song, for what I assume is the moment that Eddie, or maybe most of band walks out on stage—chills and waterworks.  It’s as simple as that.

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Once, Even Flow, and Oceans are also 4 out 5 star songs, and while I no longer have a taste for the most overplayed song in PJ history, I at least recognize that Jeremy is in fact a very good tune.  The beauty of Ten is that even their lesser known tracks—Why Go, Garden, and Deep—are all good, making Ten the band’s deepest album.

 

Hopefully this gets the ball rolling!,

Lou

Feel like sharing your thoughts about Pearl Jam's original album?  Let 'er rip in the comments below.  We'd love to here your memories.

Comments

[Kathy Poulas]

Let's see, Pearl Jam, Weezer, is there hope for Fringe! TRY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT!