I don’t even know how I’d go about trying to quantify how much Ten meant to me when it first came out.
Ten is one of the best debut albums ever. It christened car stereos, went to college with you, and was bought again years later because you lost the original. This is easily the Pearl Jam album that has lived in the most CD books. 2Īnd now, a quick ranking of Pearl Jam album artwork… “Bugs?” Really? “Corduroy” is going to carry any album it’s on to immortality, though but it has its work cut out for it.
#PEARL JAM ALBUMS RANKD FULL#
Sure, half of it is full of Pearl Jam classics, but the other half is comprised of songs that quickly fell into the abyss. But, if you dig deeper, you see that it’s a two-faced album. Yes, it’s loaded with classics – songs like “Spin the Black Circle,” “Corduroy,” “Better Man,” and “Not For You,” making it feel like it’s a great album. However, Vitalogy looks better on paper than it does in real life. And for the most part, they do stay the course. For a band releasing an album at the stage of their career that Pearl Jam is, they could be forgiven for playing it safe and staying in their lane. Pearl Jam’s most recent album got lost amidst the shuffle of a global pandemic and if that hadn’t happened, it would have been interesting to see if that would have changed how it was received. Over a 20-year career, there’s bound to be songs that get left behind, but “State of Love and Trust” should not be one of those songs. I love the dueling passions in Vedder’s vocals and the wild drums. Yet, in every incarnation, it’s a completely raw and killer rock song. Sometimes, a little slower and more plodding. Sometimes, the song is fast and reckless. It also appeared on the 2004 greatest hits album Rearviewmirror. “State of Love and Trust” was originally released on the soundtrack to Cameron Crowe’s Singles in 1992 and a remastered version appeared on the re-release of Ten in 2009. The tragedy was directly addressed in two songs on the album, “I Am Mine” and “Love Boat Captain.” Riot Act, in particular, was the product of a band existing within a conflict, as they were only two years removed from the Roskilde tragedy, an event that would stick with them for the rest of their career. These two albums come from a band staring straight ahead at a fork in the road – at a point of decision-making about what kind of band they were and wanted to be. Pearl Jam had come so strong out of the gate that a dip in quality was bound to happen. I actually think that a good number of people, Pearl Jam fans included, weren’t along for the ride at this point of the trip. These two albums exist in Pearl Jam’s second stage, one I have to admit I wasn’t totally a part of (see: Phase, Hippie). But they do have a couple albums that are, you know, not totally great. They don’t have any bad albums, which is impressive given the length of their career. Actually, I’m not sure I can say that about any other bands.įor the most part, Pearl Jam’s albums exist on a scale of Wow, This Album Is Great to Meh, This Album Is Okay.
I’ve grown up with Pearl Jam, and I can’t say that about many bands. I still remember listening to Ten over and over again in my folks’ basement, and the giddy anticipation my buddy and I had as his mom drove us to buy Vs. at the local record store. Why? Because that’s where Pearl Jam resides for me and it’s where they’ve lived since I first heard them more than 20 years ago. And that’s fun because I don’t know about you, but I love finding ways to acknowledge that I’m getting old.Īs for how the rankings were done and how this list was constructed, I let two key things make the decisions: my gut and my heart. Just studio albums and I’m getting this ranking out there as the band’s debut album, Ten, celebrates its 30th anniversary on August 30th. Pearl Jam does love to drop some live releases, don’t they?īut no, no live albums here, kid. If I included the live albums, we could be here for weeks Pearl Jam probably just released a couple more live albums in the time it took you to reach this point of the piece, or at the very least, they thought about it. The task was to rank Pearl Jam’s studio albums.
In the end, I believe I reached a conclusion I can live with.
I covered a corkboard in Polaroids, string, and index cards to such a degree that it would make Carrie Mathison jealous. I asked the family of rabbits who live behind our shed for advice. I consulted with experts (my brother-in-law, a diehard Pearl Jam fan.) I did hours of research. This was easily one of the most agonizing things I’ve ever done.
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