10 Rock Bands That Completely Avoided The Sophomore Slump

10. Vs. - Pearl Jam

Suffice to say that most of Pearl Jam had some mixed feelings after their explosion off of the strength of their debut album Ten. While that album's singles like Alive and Jeremy are still alt-rock juggernauts that still get radio play to this day, Eddie Vedder was never one for watching his star power blow up that quickly. With that came a lot of frustration, which was pushed to brink on Vs.

According to Stone Gossard, the goal in mind for their second outing was to get their heaviness out, which shows from the first handful of tracks. Across songs like Go, Animal, and Blood, you can definitely tell that Eddie was filtering all of his struggles with fame, the press, and even his bandmates into his lyrics, with the infamous "five against one" line possibly referring to his state of mind being outvoted by his fellow musicians and manager.

On the other hand, this is also one of the most open-hearted PJ records ever released, with songs like Daughter being a scathing look at domestic issues and Elderly Woman Behind the Counter showing the turmoil that comes with living an unfulfilling life. This culminates in one of the most well-balanced listens in Pearl Jam's catalog, with songs that toe the line between the emotional sounds they were built upon along with the deep seated anger coming from their lead singer. Hard times might not have been over for Pearl Jam, but at least they found a healthy way to channel that anger.