10 Rock Music Albums That Divided Critics
9. Pearl Jam: Ten (1991)
The debut record from Pearl Jam is a swirling masterpiece of blues inspired guitar leads, augmented by grunge energy and the impassioned ferocity of Eddie Vedder. Ask someone to list the best albums of the '90s, and Ten will most likely come up.
The album hurtled the Seattle based group to the forefront of the grunge seen. Together with Nirvana and Sound Garden, Pearl Jam were responsible for killing off the vapid sentiments of hair metal, welcoming in a new era of moody alternative rock.
Despite this, however, Pearl Jam were one of the more divisive groups on the scene. Accusations that they weren't as sincere as Nirvana or as heavy as Sound Garden were hurled from all sides. NME in particular found the group's debut to be lacking in the same kind of raw energy as their contemporaries, branding it overly commercial sounding. The biggest insult, however, came from the darling of grunge, Kurt Cobain. Although he later came out to admit he had no ill will against the members, he deemed their music shallow.