10 Perfect Grunge Albums With No Bad Songs
6. Ten - Pearl Jam (1991)
Nirvana took the sound of punk and new-wave, and morphed it into what we know as grunge. Pearl Jam took a similar approach, but traded out the DIY sentiment of punk and used the drive of classic rock to propel their sound.
Pearl Jam might have come somewhat late to the grunge game, but founding members Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament had played in a litany of Seattle based groups throughout the '80s. Eventually they managed to pull in a singer who could match their musical prowess. Enter, Eddie Vedder.
There isn't many debut albums that came out as fully formed as Ten. Tracks like Once and Even Flow, hear Mike McCready and Stone Gossard intermittently flit between Jimmy Page inspired riff work, and the odd splattering of Hendrix-esque trickery. Alive, was almost five minutes of layered soloing and building vocals, carrying the same emotive power of Lynyrd Skynyrd's more evocative numbers.
These guys formed a group that exemplified just how varying grunge could be. Vedder's distinctly rich timbre was as unique as Chris Cornell's, but he drew more comparisons to the likes of Jim Morrison for his deep and guttural delivery. If there is a fault with his singing, however, it's that it encouraged groups like Creed to deliver every word with a protruding chin...