Don't believe the hype...but do please enjoy it! From the ashes of Seattle's greatest band, Mother Love Bone, Pearl Jam formed, with new kid Eddie Vedder on vocals. Lyrically its confessional, at times angry, musically sometimes breathtaking, bestowing upon us all the true sound of glistening grunge far removed from the fuzzy Sub-Pop days. 'Even Flow' will caress you forever, it's feathery chorus dream-like streams from the MLB -grooved riffs, whilst 'Alive' (massive hit for the band) is Neil Young, Zeppelin mixed into one combined with that casual groove the band made their own.
I won't knock the record too much, it's certainly a grower but to say it's overrated is an under-statement. There are some classy tunes on here, but the mainstream lapped this up, in turn making the band more mainstream as they went along. Maybe I was a Mother Love Bone purist, but I found 'Ten' just too sickly and dreary when compared to the majesty of 'Apple', and the waffle of torment being 'Jeremy', but it is a solid record throughout, displaying a variety of motions and mood, twisting and turning between mellow memories and angry churns, but I just wasn't bowled over by it, all at once gagged by the whole Seattle scene which for me lacked any kind of image or flashness and simply wallowed in its own piss, destroying much of metal's traditions along the way. For me, Pearl Jam are no different to REM or U2, stadium filling tripe that I just don't get. 'Ten' is certainly their best album, and certainly a record of its time, but don't believe everything you hear.
7.5/10
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