Auction Link (ends August 26th)
Epic Records: Z 47857 Format: 12" LP Black Vinyl
Includes: Original custom lyrics inner sleeve
Cover Condition: Very Good++ It's solid all around but it does have an ever so slight crease diagonally across the lower left corner (front only). See photo. Hardly ever pulled from the shelf and always stored vertically in a protective poly sleeve.
Vinyl Condition: Near Mint - Only played a few times, still like new, no surface noise! Clean, clean, clean, immaculate!
Release Info: Ten is the debut studio album by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on August 27, 1991 through Epic Records. Following the disbanding of bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard's previous group Mother Love Bone, the two recruited vocalist Eddie Vedder, guitarist Mike McCready, and drummer Dave Krusen to form Pearl Jam in 1990. Most of the songs began as instrumental jams, to which Vedder added lyrics about topics such as depression, homelessness, and abuse.
Ten was not an immediate success, but by late 1992 it had reached number two on the Billboard 200 chart. The album produced three hit singles: "Alive", "Even Flow", and "Jeremy". While Pearl Jam was accused of jumping on the grunge bandwagon at the time, Ten was instrumental in popularizing alternative rock in the mainstream. The album has been certified diamond by the RIAA in the United States, selling over 9,800,000 copies, and remains Pearl Jam's most successful album.
San Diego musician Eddie Vedder acquired a copy of the demo in September 1990, when it was given to him by former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons. Vedder listened to the demo, went surfing, and wrote lyrics the next day for "Dollar Short", "Agytian Crave", and "Footsteps". "Dollar Short" and "Agytian Crave" were later retitled "Alive" and "Once", respectively. Gossard and Ament heard the demo with Vedder's vocals and lyrics, and were impressed enough to fly Vedder out to Seattle for an audition. Meanwhile, Vedder had written lyrics for "E Ballad", retitled "Black". Vedder arrived on October 13, 1990 and rehearsed with the band (now joined by drummer Dave Krusen) for a week, writing eleven songs in the process. Vedder was soon hired as the band's singer, and the group signed to Epic Records shortly thereafter.
The band, then named Mookie Blaylock, entered London Bridge Studios in Seattle, Washington in March 1991 with producer Rick Parashar to record its debut album. A few tracks were previously recorded at London Bridge in January, but only "Alive" was carried over from that session. The album sessions were quick and lasted only a month, mainly due to the band having already written most of the material for the record. "Porch", "Deep", "Why Go", and "Garden" were first recorded during the album sessions, everything else had been previously recorded during demo sessions at some point. McCready said that "Ten was mostly Stone and Jeff; me and Eddie were along for the ride at that time." Ament stated, "We knew we were still a long way from being a real band at that point."
The recording sessions for Ten were completed in May 1991. Krusen left the band once the sessions were completed, checking himself into rehabilitation. According to Krusen, he was suffering from personal problems at the time. Krusen said, "It was a great experience. I felt from the beginning of that band that it was something special," and added, "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 joined Tim Palmer in June in England for mixing. Palmer decided to mix the album at Ridge Farm Studios in Dorking, a converted farm that according to Palmer was "about as far away from an L.A. or New York studio as you can get." Palmer made a few additions to the already-recorded songs, including having McCready finish up the guitar solo on "Alive" and tweaking the intro to "Black". Palmer overdubbed a pepper shaker and a fire extinguisher as percussion on "Oceans".
Ten initially sold slowly upon its release, but by the second half of 1992 it became a breakthrough success, attaining an RIAA gold certification. Almost a year after its release, the album finally broke into the top ten of the Billboard 200 album chart on May 30, 1992, reaching number eight. Ten would eventually peak at number two. It was held off the top spot by the Billy Ray Cyrus album, Some Gave All. By February 1993, American sales of Ten surpassed those of Nevermind, the breakthrough album by fellow grunge band Nirvana. Ten continued to sell well two years after its release; in 1993 it was the eighth best-selling album in the United States, outselling Pearl Jam's second album, Vs. As of April 2009, Ten has sold 9.6 million copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan, and has been certified thirteen times platinum by the RIAA.
The album's cover art features the members of the band at the time of recording in a group pose and standing in front of a wood cut-out of the name "Pearl Jam". The wood cut-out was constructed by Ament. Ament said, "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." Ament is credited for the album's artwork and art direction, Lance Mercer receives credit for photography, and both Lisa Sparagano and Risa Zaitschek are credited for design. Ament stated, "There was a bit of headbutting going on with the Sony art department at that time. The version that everybody got to know as the Ten album cover was pink and it was originally intended to be more of a burgundy color and the picture of the band was supposed to be black and white." Pearl Jam's original name was taken from the professional basketball player Mookie Blaylock. It was changed after the band signed to Epic Records, as record executives were concerned about intellectual property and naming rights following Blaylock's inking of an endorsement deal with Nike. In commemoration of the band's original name, the band titled its first album Ten after Blaylock's jersey number.
All lyrics written by Eddie Vedder.
1. "Once" Stone Gossard 3:51
2. "Even Flow" Gossard 4:53
3. "Alive" Gossard 5:40
4. "Why Go" Jeff Ament 3:19
5. "Black" Gossard 5:44
6. "Jeremy" Ament 5:18
7. "Oceans" Vedder, Gossard, Ament 2:41
8. "Porch" Vedder 3:30
9. "Garden" Gossard, Ament 4:59
10. "Deep" Gossard, Ament 4:18
11. "Release" Ament, Gossard, Dave Krusen, Mike McCready, Vedder 5:05
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