1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Against One

Pearl Jam

Ten

1991, Epic

produced by Rick Parashar

Eddie Vedder - vocals

Mike McCready - lead guitar

Stone Grossard - guitar

Jeff Ament - bass

Dave Krusen - drums

singles-

• Alive
• Even Flow
• Jeremy
• Oceans

What can you say about this album that hasn't been said? This particular band received poor reviews, and criticism. David Browne from Entertainment Weekly wrote "you've heard it all before on records by [...] Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Mother Love Bone". Even Kurt Cobain denounced Pearl Jam as sell outs, which I find odd, as a month later, Nevermind would be released and blow up.

As it turns out, Pearl Jam is the only group from that scene to be continuously touring and releasing music since their inception. That can't be said of any of the other bands mentioned so far in this post. The 20 plus career of this band starts with this strong debut.

Pearl Jam

Versus

1993, Epic

produced by Brendan O'Brien

Eddie Vedder - vocals, guitar

Jeff Ament - bass

Stone Grossard - guitar

Mike McCready - guitar

Dave Abbruzzese - drums

singles-

• Go
• Daughter
• Animal
• Dissident

Apparently there is this real thing called the Sophmore Slump. This phenomenon appears after a band has such a strong debut, they are unable to meet expectations on their follow-up effort. This follow-up album defies that theory. Not only did the single Animal lend some lyrics to the title of this post, but Daughter spent 8 weeks at number one on the Mainstream Rock chart, and was nominated for best rock performance at the 1995 Grammys. The album received a nomination for Best Rock Album.

Once again David Browne slammed the album, stating that he gave it points for not being "a carbon copy of Ten". The album incorporates sounds not heard in Ten, including some funky beats and acoustic instruments. There is also a transfer of writing credits from Grossard to Vedder, which would culminate in Ed becoming a rock icon. This second effort could possibly be better than their debut. And if this is where the band stopped, they would still be considered legendary and an integral part of the '90s alternative rock renaissance. However, they didn't stop here, which makes their career far more interesting.

I am aware I chose to use the album covers used for the vinyl pressings. I did it on purpose.