Every Pearl Jam Album Opening Song Ranked From Worst To Best
3. Once - Ten
The very first song on the very first Pearl Jam, Once from 1991's Ten is the one that started it all for these icons.
The music for Once was written by Stone Gossard and recorded as part of an audition tape he made whilst looking for a band. Vedder came across the tape and wrote his own words to the tune, setting in motion the next three decades of their lives.
Despite being the album's opening fixture, Once is actually the middle part of a trilogy of songs about a man's slow descent into madness, eventually resulting in him becoming a serial killer.
Vedder goes hard on the vocals, screaming his little lungs out as the rest of the band match his energy in the background. It's exciting, it's energetic, and it's a little bit dangerous; all qualities that made Pearl Jam so appealing when they first burst onto the scene.
Although, they had a choice to open with Even Flow and didn't, so they have to be docked some points.