Ten

Editors’ Notes At the time, there were no clues that Ten would change rock forever. In 1990, Mother Love Bone’s former guitarist, Stone Gossard, and bassist, Jeff Ament, along with a San Diego surfer named Eddie Vedder, formed the band Mookie Blaylock—quickly renamed Pearl Jam. Their 1991 debut, Ten, contained so many now-classic riffs and melodies, it’s hard to believe it took over a year to find that recognition. It was more dramatic and indebted to classic rock than the soon-to-be-defined new genre of grunge would suggest, but had the kind of heartfelt gravitas that could mobilize both a generation and a city: Seattle would never be the same. Vedder used his platform to confront dark issues such as suicide (“Jeremy”), homelessness (“Even Flow”), and incest (“Alive”) with a life-affirming baritone that not only spawned a flood of imitators but set Pearl Jam on a trajectory to becoming one of the biggest bands ever.