10 Amazing Bouncebacks In Rock History

10. Mother Love Bone/Pearl Jam

There's always a certain buzz around a band just on the cusp of something great. From the way they interact on stage to the mammoth riffs laced throughout every song, it's almost as if you can feel the energy radiating off of these people as they play. Things might end up going so well...that you don't realize that you're about to hit a brick wall.

Right as Mother Love Bone was about to launch the alternative movement, Andy Wood was on his deathbed after lethally overdosing on heroin. Succumbing to his addiction a few days after their debut album Apple was released, Mother Love Bone broke up, with guitarist Stone Gossard left to cut his own demos at home. When shopping around for other people to play with, that demo tape landed in the hands of Eddie Vedder, who turned in an audition track for the ages.

Blown away by what he heard, Stone recruited former Mother Love Bone bassist Jeff Ament and blues guitarist Mike McCready to create a whole new group with Vedder out front, which became known as Pearl Jam. Those little sketches on the demo tape would eventually morph into some of the greatest early hits for the group like Alive and fan favorite Black. Though Andy might not have been there to see it, chances are he would have been proud to hear that his bandmates beat the odds like this.