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Ten
Ten in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $12.99
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Size: CD
Nirvana
's
Nevermind
may have been the album that broke grunge and alternative rock into the mainstream, but there's no overestimating the role that
Pearl Jam
Ten
played in keeping them there.
's appeal may have been huge, but it wasn't universal; rock radio still viewed them as too raw and punky, and some hard rock fans dismissed them as weird misfits. In retrospect, it's easy to see why
clicked with a mass audience -- they weren't as metallic as
Alice in Chains
or
Soundgarden
, and of Seattle's Big Four, their sound owed the greatest debt to classic rock. With its intricately arranged guitar textures and expansive harmonic vocabulary,
especially recalled
Jimi Hendrix
and
Led Zeppelin
. But those touchstones might not have been immediately apparent, since -- aside from
Mike McCready
Clapton
/
Hendrix
-style leads -- every trace of blues influence has been completely stripped from the band's sound. Though they rock hard,
is too anti-star to swagger, too self-aware to puncture the album's air of gravity.
tackles weighty topics -- abortion, homelessness, childhood traumas, gun violence, rigorous introspection -- with an earnest zeal unmatched since mid-'80s
U2
, whose anthemic sound they frequently strive for. Similarly,
Eddie Vedder
's impressionistic lyrics often make their greatest impact through the passionate commitment of his delivery rather than concrete meaning. His voice had a highly distinctive timbre that perfectly fit the album's warm, rich sound, and that's part of the key -- no matter how cathartic
's tersely titled songs got, they were never abrasive enough to affect the album's accessibility.
also benefited from a long gestation period, during which the band honed the material into this tightly focused form; the result is a flawlessly crafted hard rock masterpiece. ~ Steve Huey
's
Nevermind
may have been the album that broke grunge and alternative rock into the mainstream, but there's no overestimating the role that
Pearl Jam
Ten
played in keeping them there.
's appeal may have been huge, but it wasn't universal; rock radio still viewed them as too raw and punky, and some hard rock fans dismissed them as weird misfits. In retrospect, it's easy to see why
clicked with a mass audience -- they weren't as metallic as
Alice in Chains
or
Soundgarden
, and of Seattle's Big Four, their sound owed the greatest debt to classic rock. With its intricately arranged guitar textures and expansive harmonic vocabulary,
especially recalled
Jimi Hendrix
and
Led Zeppelin
. But those touchstones might not have been immediately apparent, since -- aside from
Mike McCready
Clapton
/
Hendrix
-style leads -- every trace of blues influence has been completely stripped from the band's sound. Though they rock hard,
is too anti-star to swagger, too self-aware to puncture the album's air of gravity.
tackles weighty topics -- abortion, homelessness, childhood traumas, gun violence, rigorous introspection -- with an earnest zeal unmatched since mid-'80s
U2
, whose anthemic sound they frequently strive for. Similarly,
Eddie Vedder
's impressionistic lyrics often make their greatest impact through the passionate commitment of his delivery rather than concrete meaning. His voice had a highly distinctive timbre that perfectly fit the album's warm, rich sound, and that's part of the key -- no matter how cathartic
's tersely titled songs got, they were never abrasive enough to affect the album's accessibility.
also benefited from a long gestation period, during which the band honed the material into this tightly focused form; the result is a flawlessly crafted hard rock masterpiece. ~ Steve Huey
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