Ten is the debut record by American grunge/alternative rock band Pearl Jam, which was released on August 27, 1991 through the label Epic Records.
Backstory
The guitarist Stone Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were good friends before the creation of the band, playing in one of the first grunge bands called Green River, and after the break up of the band continued their career playing together in a band Mother Love Bone in the later part of the 1980's. Mother Love Bone broke up after the death of vocalist Andrew Wood due to drug overdose in 1990.
Gossard later continued to write material on his own, and started playing together with guitarist Mike McCready, whom convinced Gossard to contact Ament for a jam session. The trio later wrote material, which was recorded into a five song demo. The demo ended up in the hands of Eddie Vedder, whom got it from drummer Jack Irons (RHCP). Upon hearing the demo, Vedder wrote lyrics for the songs, and sent the demo with his vocals to the band. The group have decided to let him in the band (then called Mookie Blaylock after the basketball player) and shortly after also signed a record deal with Epic Records.
Recording
The band started recording in the London Bridge Studios in Seattle, Washington with producer Rick Parashar, whom also played piano and percussion on the album, as well as co-writting harmonies and the outro and the intro of the album.
The songs were all ready from the sessions from Stone and Jeff, so Eddie and Ament were in the studio mainly only to make up and record their own parts. The drummer Dave Krusen left the band after the band had finished recording, duo to a serious drug addiction: "It was a great experience. I felt from the beginning of that band that it was something special« continuing, "They had to let me go. I couldn't stop drinking, and it was causing problems. They gave me many chances, but I couldn't get it together." The band later retired to England for mixing at the Ridge Farm Studios joined by Tim Palmer.
The Lyrics
As previously stated, the lyrics were written by Vedder after the instrumental part of the song was written. Vedder stated the lyrics were "All I really believe in is this fucking moment, like right now. And that, actually, is what the whole album talks about." He tackles several tough subjects as depression, suicide, murder and loneliness. The lyrics also touch on the social problems such as homelessness, school systems and psychiatric hospitals.
The song Alive was thought to be an uplifting song, but was later revealed by Vedder to be about a son discovering his father is in fact his stepfather and that the biological father is died when he was a child. Vedder also stated that the song Alive and Once were part of a “mini opera” together with a B-side Footsteps. They told a story of a man whose father dies (told in Alive), making him go on a killing spree (Once) and finally get captured and executed (Footsteps). The lyrics in the trilogy were somewhat inspired by Vedder's tough upbringing.
Album Artwork/Release
The album artwork features the band standing together when the first recording of the album took place. The wood cut of the name Pearl Jam was constructed by Ament: "The original concept was about really being together as a group and entering into the world of music as a true band...a sort of all-for-one deal." The original cover of the album was supposed to be in a burgundy color with a black and white picture of the band but was later changed by the Sony art department. Ten was also the name of the album because the number of the basketball player Mookie Blaylock was 10.
Upon release the album was not immediately successful, but reached world acclaim in late 1992. The album was criticised for making grunge music only to be part of the grunge movement that was beginning to be mainstream, although the album was recorded and released before the Nirvana album Nevermind. Later, the album received favorable reviews from Rolling Stone, Melody Maker and AllMusic, as well as being certified 13x platinum by the RIAA.
...In Retrospect
Out of all of the iconic grunge albums such as Nevermind, Core and Superunknown, Ten has got to be my favourite grunge record of all time. There is not a single song I don’t like on the whole album. The vocals from Vedder are out of this world, the guitar riffs are great and the rhythm section is one of a kind with Ament’s basslines on the fretless and 12 string bass. If you like the other grunge albums and haven’t yet listened to this one, give it a listen, you will most probably enjoy it.