10 Perfect Hard Rock Albums With No Bad Songs
3. Vs. - Pearl Jam
The '90s weren't really the greatest time to be a fan of the harder side of rock. Even though the grunge wave saw many heavy acts rising to the forefront, most of them tended to lean more towards the alternative side of the spectrum than actual hard rock. So when you see one of those bands making an album specifically to get their heavy side out, you better believe people were paying attention.
Shortly after their tour for their debut record Ten wrapped up, Pearl Jam were back in the studio and absolutely pissed. Having the same type of songwriting format from their debut, Vs. is probably the greatest flowing record in their catalog from front to back, with a nice balance of slower tracks and also knowing when to beat you over the head with a riff.
Even the individual singles on here are a lot more forceful than before, like Animal's guitar snarl or the opening thunder of a song like Go. The ballads aren't too shabby either, with Elderly Woman and Daughter being some of the most beautiful pieces of music the band had ever made. While anything that fell under the grunge label was going to sell at the start of the '90s, Vs. is one of those few albums that probably deserves more than the massive hype it already has.