When i get on here and read about people's favorite albums/songs by Pearl Jam, I can't believe how many of you fans bash the Ten album (and Vs. for that matter),.. also, some of you talk about how much better the remixes are on the Rearviewmirror album; Yeah, they are good remixes, but so is the original sound that got everyone that heard the opening riff of Once to become the biggest Pearl Jam fan ever from day one. I just don't understand how an album like Ten and the time era that Pearl Jam was in around the release of Ten and Vs. doesn't have more of a positive impact on you as a fan. I mean, just watch the Unplugged video that they did on MTV,... that is so unbelievable how much emotion was put into that set; Or better yet, just watch the Even Flow video,..look how much energy and emotion is in each band member. I can only imagine how awesome that show must have been.
I became a die hard Pearl Jam fan when i was 12 years old. This is how it happened: I was flipping through the channels and the band happened to be playing on MTV Unplugged... i couldn't take my eyes off the screen,.. i couldn't even fathom the realness of the music. i have been a fan forever now,... i could sit and listen to each album all day long and not get tired of it.
Im not tryong to start any arguments, but how come i feel like Im the only one who feels this way?? Is it because i am younger than most of the people that post on this site?? (Im 21) or did I become a fan at the very begining whereas most of you were fans in the mid-to -late 90's?? I mean, what is it? please let me know why you are not positively impacted by the early stages of pearl jam.
and again,. i am not criticizing anyone, i just feel that i have to stick up for what i believe, and Pearl Jam is very important to me.

We're all different and enjoy different things. Do what feels good to you. If you like Ten then listen to it. If you like Riot Act then listen to it. Who Cares?

Some dedicated fans have sticks up their asses, so when they try to "constructively" criticize a song or an album, they just come off as assholes.

As with all music, it comes down to opinion.

I don't think everyone around here bashes the earlier albums...it's just that those who do are a bit loud about it. Like you, I've been a fan for a long time (since late '91), and I still love Ten and Vs. However, I love the newer albums, too, and I do think that the band has grown over the years...rather than churning out a whole collection of albums that sound the same. I wouldn't still be a fan if, for example, Vs. had been "Ten, part 2." Please don't mistake that for criticism, though...while I love the newer music and hope that the band will continue to grow in new directions, Ten was a great album and, basically, the soundtrack to my high school years. I'll always love it.

Basically, it's how Mind Riot put it.

For me, being the age I am now, I feel more connected to the newer albums. The music on the newer albums simply seems to "fit" better with what's going on with my life and my soul.

When No Code came out I wasn't a big fan of it (I was 21 back then), but over time I grew to like it more and more, because more and more it reflected how I felt, while at the same time the anger of Ten and Vs seemed to be vanishing in me.

I still love the early albums. Some songs more because I am sentimental and some songs simply because they're great timeless songs. But if we're talking about whole albums and their themes, moods and how they express feelings, I prefer those past No Code.

i love all the albums but i find more common ground with the later ones (No Code on). as i've grown older and matured so have my thougths and emotions. this growing process has coincided with the bands growth. i just want the band to go back in the studio, on their own terms, and re-record Ten.

Well, I'm 31 and have been a diehard fan from the start. I remember hearing Alive and Even Flow and Release and just being blown away!! I still am to this very day. I can understand what the other "older" fans like myself have been saying about feeling a bit more attached to the newer music, and I feel that way sometimes as well. But I was a freshman in college back in 1991 and those days seemed to shape me, at least musically, and I still have a very special place reserved for the 1st 3 records...I do love the newer stuff and appreciate the bands new direction, but I always look back on the "early" days and smile. Either way, Pearl Jam was and continues to be the best band in the world!

Who You WERE, i guess it's personal. i'm a completely out of pattern kind of fan, because although i'll be forty next year i became hardcore only on 03/30/03 (looong story). and i started over by listening to live performances, thus disconnected from the original albums. so, my advice is, don't worry too much about a favorite album. TEN is a classic, a tight, full circle album, it's powerful, but i have mixed feelings about it, fi, i think Even Flow is enervatingly slow, Black is awful now that i noticed the piano, Alive is scarier because i realized it's about incest and child abuse, though i still love the chorus. please, don't be mad, as i said, it's personal. for me it's time to put them aside for a while. i get "the early days energy" through the newly re-discovered Alone (Lost Dogs). i still can listen to Jeremy anytime, don't know for how long. VS begins the “rollercoaster atmosphere” that has impregnated PJ’s albums the next decade IMO, some songs that i really hate (Dissident, Glorified G…) and some that i really love (Go, Blood, Animal, Daughter, RVM, Small Town, Indifference). but i can listen to most of these songs live, so, i really don’t worry about not having listened to the album for some time now. so, be !

I became a fan in the early 90's shortly after Ten came out. Pearl Jam's music was a very heavy factor in my life throughout the 90's and today. So, therefore, I've been a fan since the beginning and I continue to love and support them, no matter what. I love Ten and Vs. as much as I love Binural and Riot Act.

Of course, Vitalogy and Yield are my favorites, but I wouldn't pick them over any other album per se....

i agree with you.Personally i think the best music they`ve made was during the vs. and vitalogy era...I loved Binaural and Riot Act at the time they were released, but now i feel that the two last albums were the weakest...Come on...riot act can`t compare to vs (quality)

Personally, I think I see as many posts on the board about how someone is amazed/upset/confused that other people might not like Ten than I do posts about not liking Ten.

It's an ok record. I don't think it's bad by any means, I just happen to have about 400 other records that move me a great deal more.

Thanks for all of your responses,.. i feel a lil better now.

you've matured?

anytime