It occurred to me when I was posting in Thodoks 'how well have the albums aged thread' that I rarely actually listen to pearl jam albums anymore. So lets spend a few weeks actually going back and listening to the albums from start to finish and then post your thoughts/reactions in this thread. We'll start with Ten and every few days I'll update the header post and we'll move on to the next one.

what if you dont have a turntable?

Just press your ear against the vinyl very hard.

I'm going to listen to the remastered Ten I think

As much as the BoB RVM remix of once is my favorite, I love the master slave opening and the way once cuts through it.

The even flow riff is so good and I love that bended note that leads into the first verse. The echoey vocals provide some cool atmosphere. This is really one of the more unique songs in their catalog. I think I forget that sometimes because of how they play it live. It seems like such a danceable song. I think this is one of my favorite basslines Jeff has too.

The start of Alive is just so good. that's my favorite riff of all time--and I love how Eddie delivers the 'son, she said, have a got a little story for you' lyric--for an angsty song it just has a weight to it that makes it easy to take seriously even 20 years lately. And he just sounds so clear on the chorus--the way his voice takes off and feels weightless and so solid at the same time, like you could build a castle in the sky on it. This is what he does better than anyone, and it's criminal that he doesn't try and do it more often. It's all over the place on this record, but it may be the most prominent here. God I love that solo. It's just incredibly cathartic--it sounds like music that has to get played or it's going to harm the person who keeps it in.

It's weird--I've listened to the RVM remix of this song so much I think my ears keep making the Ten version sound like that one.


Someone (Chud I think) once said they can hear a lot Michael Jackson in Eddie's Ten performance. that's probably more prevelant on why go than anywhere else. This is one that I think does much better on the Ten remixes (same with even flow)--the intensity of the performance gets lost in the spaciness. But this is one of those songs that even though it feels young, is performed with such intensity and sincerity that I think it holds up really well. I think the fact that it's about a character and is in the third person helps.

I love that transition between why go and black. There's no way it should work but it does. It's almost like slamming a door. The start of Black is so rich. I thought I preferred the RVM remix of this song but the ten spaciness probably adds to this one. The music is sharper there, but the atmosphere here feels more dream like--more reflective, and it gives the song a grandeur that it deserves. Black works as well as it does because it it manages to push as close to possible as over the top bombast as you can without going over. It walks that line perfectly.

The outro to this song is so good--the piano, the wailing guitars, the my heart just got ripped out background melody. Eddie's probably the least important part of it (although his moan starting at 4:46 is awesome) and the way he moansafter the gives the closing lyric. This is the sound of a broken heart raging against itself. They capture this perfectly. They are so good and just staying in and exploring the emotional space at the end of a journey and they don't do this nearly enough in their music anymore (Hard Sun does this, but hard sun is also, in a lot of ways, Eddie's most classic pearl jam performance in a long time)

the start of Jeremy is so ominous. I this is a song still waiting for its perfect version. I think too much of what's going on here is lost in the production--it doesn't do the foreboding feel of the song justice. The Ten remix was close but BoB butchered it with those spokens. But more than almost any other song on Ten except for maybe Why Go this one needs the inward looking sound on all the rest of the records.

I think this is the first one on Ten to really feel dated. it's still really good just cuz Jeremy is a monster song but it could be even better.

Listening to this album all in a row is actually a little draining. it's not arduous, but these first 6 songs are just emotionally exhausting. Oceans is really well placed (I never noticed how well placed before). I'm defintiely ready for something easier.

The production on Ten really does Oceans justice--a song about two people trying hold together so far apart needs the distant, drifting sound that Ten has. And eddie sounds so beautiful here. And like Black, the music is almost over the top (the drums especially) but they manage to push it just far enough to make it sound important without sounding self-important. This is a song I've come to appreciate much more as I've gotten older. I do kinda wish he'd open up a little bit in the final outro--singing out instead of in.

I like the porch remix a lot but i'm not sure which is better. It might depend on whether you think the singer is singing to themselves (in which case the remix is better) or singing to the other person (in which case this is better) Either way this is a great start to the song--the guitars are so sharp and I love how you have them drifting in and out of focus at the start--like they're punctuating a sentence. The drums and riff that run through the outro (the entire outro pretty much) is one of the absolute highlights of the entire catalog. The problem is that they're buried in the mix here but I'm not sure how to fix that problem. Everything everyone is playing here is just so good I don't know how you balance it. I THINK (I'm not sure) i'd rather see eddie lowered a little bit here just cuz everyone else is so good.

The transition from Porch to garden is really good--the way porch deconstructs itself at the very end segues nicely into this one. This is stuff I haven't noticed in a long time cuz I just listen to the songs. Garden is not one of my favorite pearl jam songs (it might be the song I like least on Ten) but the atmosphere here is really cool. I think the problem is that I don't really care all that much for the chorus musically after the mood the verses set. Mike's playing on the bridge is good too, but I'm not sure it fits the song. I don't know what it is about this song. i guess since there are so many loud songs built around solos that I kinda want Garden to be something different. Can you imagine if Release went from its verses into this kind of chorus.

Im not sure where Deep belongs on this record--the end of Garden is heavy enough that the transition isn't jarring but I kinda feel like this one makes more sense earlier. Maybe not. The album might need to bottom out to make release even more powerful. I don't listen to deep much but man this is such an explosive song. I just turned it up. This is a song that screams to be as loud as possible. The music in here is really cool--the way Jeff's bass line keeps dropping the music, Mike is all over the place, and the main riff is really cool. The quiet (comparatively) transition into the third verse is well done. I don't know why I don't like Deep more than I do. All the component parts are there. I guess it's just not better than the sum of its parts.

I might just be tired. For a record full of 5 minute songs Ten goes by very quickly but it's such a draining record. Many of the most intense moments on an album like Vs. are in fast songs, and there are moments like Daughter, WMA, Rats, etc that let you catch your breath. Deep just asks too much of you at the end of a journey that took you through Alive, Black, Jeremy, Garden, Why Go, Once, even oceans.

the transition from deep to release is the weakest on the record, but release is so captivating so quickly it doesn't matter. The music is peaceful and conflicted and striving all at the same time, and Eddie sounds so powerful and so still at the same time, and the way his voice starts so deep and rises is like light escaping from a black hole. The production on Ten works really well here. It lets the song escape--it gives it the release its searching song. And Eddie just sounds so good here. The way he sings "I'll wait up in the dark for you to speak to me" has so much purity and longing in it. This is really one of the only outros that Eddie doesn't sing over, and it's probably a good thing. The climax is so moving you probably just want to let the song drift away.

I like how Master/Slave ends the record and starts it all over again. This is easily my favorite of all their experimental mood pieces.


Eddie inhabits the entirety of the song on this record better than anything else in their catalog.



This gets lost on the remixes, but Ten is such a spacious record. It sounds like you're listening to it in this great big open space with the sound just drifting away from you. I feel like all the other albums have the music moving towards you or muting itself, but not moving away. I think that's what makes this album feel 'dated'

As much as his ten vocals became a cliche, Eddie just sounds so good on this record.

Ten is a REALLY well arranged album. I hadn't noticed that before. The transitions (except deep-release) are all really strong and are usually just what the listener needs after what came before.


It's been a long time since I listened to Ten from start to finish, even though most of the songs on here are still the songs I listen to the most. This is a masterfully put together album, and while the sound is very much of the late 80s/early 90s and it feels dated in that way, it's no less emotionally resonant for it. What a great album.

Lots of growling in this record. Ed sounds hungry.

THis record is good to go back to from time to time. BUt the song structures are all the same and dont lend themselves to repeated listens anymore. It becomes tiresome.

Obviously some classic/amazing pearl jam songs that I'll always love but overall as a listen....meh.

Mostly because every song has the same structure. Quiet, loud, quiet loud, solo section, loud


Release, Black, Oceans, Jeremy are all amazing though

This is probably my favourite album ever. Its the only album i can think of that i can put on and enjoy all the way through without ever wanting to skip a song. I like blasting it real loud during the summer and jumping around like ed circa 1992.

Dated shmated, when i was younger way before i ever got into Pj, i associated them with classic rock, and thats what this album is and thats probably why i enjoy it so much. I tried listening to the remixed/remastered version but i missed all the reverb and stuff lol.

we've got threads for talking about Ten! Go back and actually listen to the album!

I listened to this album start to finish on New Years Eve. It's when I really realized how much I love Garden.

Even Flow should win the best riff thread hands down. no contest. just a really great intro

Damn straight. My views exactly. I never listen to the remix, original cut all the way.

I just love all the guitar sounds in Even Flow. Mike's fantastic. I'll never forget the first time I heard it - the chorus blew me away.

I'll have a listen to Ten tomorrow and have a think.

You should have closed the thread after the first post then if noone is supposed to talk about it.

I just love the riffs and while Mike may not have written much for this album but his lead playing is wonderful and all over it.

People say they can't Identify with it due to the lyrics but I can find the emotions they are projecting and go with it. I may not be pissed off due to the same things as I was when I was 20 but I'm still plenty pissed off.

you should listen to it and THEN talk about it. Juve understands what this thread is about. Almost everything we talk about on this board just comes from memory.

And how does this make you feel stp?

I listen to this album regularly. Including the vinyl reissue the other day.

empty

Alright, man. I'm at work, without much work to do. I'mma try this.