10 Best Hard Rock Albums Of The 90s

Once Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" tore through the MTV chart, bands started to come out of the woodwork that became alternative rock bands. Naturally, a lot of Nirvana's Seattle brethren were thrown under the alt-rock umbrella, but Pearl Jam's debut may be the most straightforward rock release to come from the rainy Northwest.

The way that Eddie Vedder growled over the music was a breath of fresh air when compared to the hair rock of the 80's. The lyrics were much more vulnerable from the dark undercurrents of "Alive" to the child suicide in "Jeremy." With each song, it seemed that Vedder was unleashing these dark demons from his soul.

While the lyrics were certainly an alternative to the mainstream, the music behind it was a pastiche of classic rock, with arena rock style riffs and an incredibly grooving rhythm section. Even if you didn't consider yourself a fan of the alternative scene, each riff was so hooky that you couldn't help but go along for the ride.

Using this as their springboard, Pearl Jam went on to create even more rock classics and take more artistic leaps to push the alt-rock scene forward. However, this album marks the band's initial lightning-in-a-bottle moments.