15 Greatest Hard Rock Albums You Need To Hear Before You Die

The entire grunge explosion always seemed to have an element of despair laced throughout the music. In the midst of all the negative energy, five dudes threw away the trendy effects and came out with an album that was a modern update on classic rock.

Pearl Jam's debut Ten may not be simply the best debut record of the 90's, but maybe even the best debut record period. While it's certainly debatable as to who deserves that title, very few bands hit the ground running with the amount of panache this group had. Every single track on this thing is a hard rock banger, from the instantly recognizable riff of "Alive" to the tortured character piece of "Jeremy."

While you feel the pain behind some of these lyrics, there's something in the music that makes the entire thing feel a lot more uplifting than it actually is. Eddie Vedder was clearly going through some intense feelings on this record, but these soul exorcisms have been a refuge for many a hard rock fan for decades now. You can call this record dated if you want to, but the power behind these tunes is something that reaches far beyond its time stamp. It's not just music...it's sonic shots of life crammed into just 4 minutes.