SPIN IT BACK -- PEARL JAM: TEN

By Philip Sayblack
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It’s time to Spin It Back once again everyone.  For those who take the time to read this column, thank you very much.  It means the world to me, and I am not just saying that.  For those who have perhaps become fans of this column, you will remember in the series’ most recent installment, we went back to 1988 and the release of Metallica’s seminal album, …And Justice For All.  This time out, we move forward to 1991.  More specifically, we move forward to summer 1991.  It was in August 1991 even more specifically, that Pearl Jam released its landmark debut album, Ten.  The 11-song record, which was released only weeks ahead of Nirvana’s Nevermind (that record dropped in late September 1991) was part of the foundation of the grunge movement.  Full discretion, while Ten was released in August 1991, it would actually be some years before I was actually formally introduced to the album and the grunge movement as a result.  It was also this album that would lead me to become a lifelong fan of Pearl Jam.
I do not remember exactly when I was first introduced to Peal Jam, but I remember it was somewhere in my teens, so as with other bands that have become favorites of mine, I sort of came in late in the game.   Believe it or not, I think it was after seeing the video for the album’s single, ‘Jeremy’ on MTV in the mid-90s that I became interested in the album and band.  Either way, when a lot of people were still making a big deal over Nirvana at that time, but I was moving in the other direction, to this band.  I still appreciate Ten to this day, but I will admit I am so glad that it was the only record the band released as a grunge act.  The sound that Pearl Jam developed since then has been far more fitting and has helped the band maintain its longevity and its place in the upper echelons of rock (and keep me as a fan in the process).  At the same time, the sound the band established in Ten is also so much unlike that featured in the records that made Pearl Jam’s grunge contemporaries their own favorites.  There is plenty of brooding throughout the record’s arrangements, but there is also some other content that stands out, such as in ‘Porch.’  The garage rock vibe of that song hints at what audiences get from ‘Spin The Black Circle,’ which was included the band’s third album, 1994’s Vitalogy.  It also hints at some of the sounds that would be preset on the band’s sophomore album, Vs (1993).
On another note is ‘Deep.’  This four-minute-plus song’s instrumentation gives it more of an early stoner rock lean than grunge per se.  At the same time, front man Eddie Vedder’s familiar vocal performance maintains that grunge essence, making the whole another unique addition to the album that further shows how much Ten stood (and stands) out against Nevermind and the key albums from the grunge movement’s other big names.
On yet another note, ‘Even Flow,’ which is one of the album’s singles (and sadly the source of so many jokes just because of Vedder’s vocal delivery here) further shows the musical strengths of Ten.  This song’s arrangement honestly has more of an alt-rock vibe than the brooding sound that makes up much of the album’s body and those of so many other grunge acts’ records.  That garage lean is just as present here, too.  To that end, it establishes its own identity separate from the other songs examined here and from the rest of the album’s entries.  When it and the rest of the album’s body is considered in whole, the overall musical presentation featured in Ten a solid foundation for the record.
The lyrical content that accompanies Ten’s musical body adds another layer of engagement and entertainment to the album.  Just as with the musical arrangements, the lyrical content presents so much brooding, too.  Case in point is ‘Alive,’ which was inspired by Vedder’s own life experiences.  In the case of this song, it centers on a subject who has learned that the man who raised him was not his biological father.  In other words, a heavy secret had been kept from this person and now said individual is having to bear the emotional weight of the revelation.  It sounds like something from a really bad soap opera or some overly dramatic movie but is still believable.  Maybe Vedder’s mother had a reason for hiding the truth from him when he was younger.  Families do keep various secrets for certain reasons, so again, it makes theme resonant in its own right.
‘Why Go’ is another interesting lyrical presentation.  According to research, the song centers on the matter of forced institutionalization.  On the surface this fictional tale about a girl who was forcibly institutionalized may not seem very hard hitting, but the reality is that forced institutionalization is a dark part of America’s history.  As a matter of fact, those who keep up with the news will recall that at the very time of this review’s composition, Donald Trump and his MAGA cronies have actually been examining returning to that dark period.  To that end, while this song was composed decades ago current events are proving it to be just as relevant today as in ages past.
The social commentary (of sorts) is visited again at another point in ‘Even Flow.’  While people love to make fun of Eddie Vedder’s vocal delivery style in this song, the fact of the matter is that the song is a very heavy discussion on the matter of homelessness and its tie to mental illness.  This is another topic that to this day, people would much rather ignore and pretend does not exist, but it does and it deserves to be addressed.  Keeping that in mind, the theme here is another work that is just as relevant as ever, further showing the importance of Ten in the annals of rock. 
As if everything noted is not enough, the album also touches on lighter fare, such as the all too familiar love themes of ‘Oceans’ and ‘Porch.’  Addiction is also addressed in the form of ‘Deep.’  Mental health is addressed in its own powerful fashion, again, in the album’s opener, ‘Once.’  In the case of this song, it is examined as it pertains to the long term impacts of childhood trauma.  And then there is also the infamous ‘Jeremy,’ which was a song well ahead of its time as it examined the tragic result of childhood bullying. When all of this content is considered in whole, it builds yet another layer of engagement and entertainment to the record, showing even further what makes Ten such a memorable record.  

When the whole of the album's content is considered, it leaves no doubt as to why Ten remains one of the most pivotal albums not only of the grunge movement but also of the modern history of rock, as well as one of Pearl Jam’s most iconic albums.Pearl Jam’s latest news is available at:


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