Programming note: It’s 90s week! I'm spotlighting some of my favorite records released between 1990 and 1999. Like previous decade-themed newsletter posts, I've selected albums that cover multiple genres and deliberately avoided the well-worn titles that top all "best of" lists for this decade. In other words, no OK Computer, Nevermind, and so on.
Hope you enjoy it!
Hello! 😊👋
Welcome to a new edition of the Daily Music Picks newsletter!
Today’s music pick is arguably grunge’s high-water mark, a pitch-perfect blend of earnestness and rock radio flair.
Genre: Alternative, Grunge
Label: Epic
Release Date: August 27, 1991
Vibe: 🤘🤘
More than three decades after its release, I’d posit that Pearl Jam’s debut, Ten, has endured as the most influential document of Seattle’s peak grunge era (sorry Nirvana fans). Dropping two weeks after Metallica’s colloquially titled Black Album and a month before Nevermind, it straddles the line between cynical sullenness and rock radio readiness, building a sonic persona that’s both rugged and complex. At its center, Mike McCready’s warm, blues-infused guitar solos mesh perfectly with Eddie Vedder’s now-iconic vocal timbre, elevating lyrics that would play as over-earnest in lesser hands into moments of high drama. This dynamic is perhaps best exemplified by “Jeremy,” a based-on-true-events cautionary tale about parental neglect and gun violence that was so intense that MTV refused to air the video unless a key climactic image was edited out. Somehow, almost inexplicably so, what could’ve been a nearly six-minute slog is remarkably accessible, boasting catchy refrains not unlike Aerosmith’s “Janie’s Got a Gun.”
The more I return to Ten, the more the deep cuts come to the forefront as the record’s strongest moments. “Why Go” and “Porch” are intense mosh-friendly rockers that see Vedder decrying injustices that range from wrongful incarceration to breakup-by-ghosting. Meanwhile, “Oceans” and “Black” offer up a more tender side of the band’s persona, with the latter still ranking among the best three or five Pearl Jam songs of all time. It’s melodic and evocative, steeping its sweet, nostalgic opening in a dark, vaguely dangerous tone. All that said, it would be more than understandable if you walk away with “Alive” and “Even Flow” rattling around in your head for days or weeks on end. I know that was the result when I first listened to Ten. With those razor-sharp guitar solos, thundering drums, and choruses that have become legendary singalong moments during their live shows, how could you not?
👉 Don’t forget to click the album image to stream the album on your favorite platform 👈