Auction Link (ends August 26th)
Epic Records: Z 53136 Format: 12" Gatefold LP, Black Vinyl
Includes: Original custom lyrics inner sleeve
Cover Condition: Near Mint! Flawless! 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! Stunning! Inner sleeve is also near mint!
Release Info: Vs. is the second studio album by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on October 19, 1993 through Epic Records. After a relentless touring schedule in support of its debut album, Ten (1991), Pearl Jam headed into the studio in early 1993 facing the challenge of following up the commercial success of its debut. The resulting album, Vs., featured a rawer and more aggressive sound compared with the band's previous release.
Pearl Jam decided to scale back its commercial efforts for Vs., including declining to produce music videos for any of the album’s singles. Upon its release, Vs. set the record for most copies of an album sold in its first week, a record it held for five years. Vs. occupied the number one spot on the Billboard 200 for five weeks, the longest duration for a Pearl Jam album. The album has been certified seven times platinum by the RIAA in the United States.
For its second album, Pearl Jam felt the pressures of trying to match the success of its debut album, Ten. In a 2002 interview, guitarist Mike McCready said, "The band was blown up pretty big and everything was pretty crazy." Vs. was the first Pearl Jam album to have production duties handled by producer Brendan O'Brien. It was also the band's first album with drummer Dave Abbruzzese, who had joined the band in August 1991 and toured for the album Ten. Rehearsals for Vs. began in February 1993 at Potatohead Studio in Seattle, Washington. The band then moved to The Site in Nicasio, California in March 1993 to begin recording. Abbruzzese called the tranquil recording site "paradise" while lead vocalist Eddie Vedder said, "I fucking hate it here...I've had a hard time...How do you make a rock record here?"
The band took the approach of recording one song at a time, and agreed with O'Brien to mix the songs as each one was finished. O'Brien had the band members set up much as they do live, and most of the songs were developed out of jam sessions. Guitarist Stone Gossard said, "I think we allowed things to develop in a more natural, band-oriented sort of way, rather than me bringing in a bunch of stuff that was already arranged." Gossard added that most of the songs were arranged once Vedder joined in and started singing, elaborating, "You could tell when the music wanted to change just by the way he was singing." In a 2009 interview, Gossard stated, "[Vs.] was probably where it felt better recording wise. I saw how it could change and evolve which gave me a lot of inspiration to go we can do ballads, we can do fast stuff, we can do slow stuff, we can do punk stuff. That was where I realized there were gonna be a lot of places to go with Ed."
The songs on the album tackle personal as well as social and political concerns. Vedder said that "you write what comes to you... You try to reflect the mood of the songs." Topics on the album include child abuse ("Daughter"), gun culture ("Glorified G"), police racism ("W.M.A."), and the media ("Blood"). "Daughter", "Dissident", and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" are three storytelling songs. "Daughter" tells the story of a child who is abused by her parents because they do not understand her learning disability; "Dissident" tells the story of a woman who takes in a political fugitive; and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" tells the story of an old lady who has been stuck in a small town her whole life.
"Glorified G", a song mocking gun enthusiasts, was inspired by an incident in which Abbruzzese told the band he had just bought two guns which sparked a conversation about guns within the band. "W.M.A." was inspired by an incident that happened outside Pearl Jam's rehearsal studio in which Vedder got into an altercation with a group of police officers who hassled a black friend of his but ignored him. Vedder said that "Rearviewmirror" is about being "in a car, leaving...a bad situation." Vedder stated that "Rats" is about the idea that "rats are probably a hell of a lot more admirable" than humans. "Leash" was written about the same girl that the Ten song "Why Go" is about. Regarding "Indifference", Vedder said it is about "[trying to] do something to make some other peoples' lives better than they are, even if it means going through hell."
Vs. debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 album chart and stayed there for five weeks. Vs. sold 950,378 copies in its first week and outperformed all other entries in the Billboard top ten that week combined. This set the record for most copies of an album sold in its first week of release. Vs. held this record for five years before it was broken by Garth Brooks' 1998 album, Double Live. Vs. has been certified seven times platinum by the RIAA, and, as of March 2007, has sold 5.9 million copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The album's cover art, photographed by Ament, features a black and white picture of a sheep from a farm in Hamilton, Montana. According to Ament, the cover was a representation of how the band felt at the time, with Ament stating "we were slaves." The album booklet contains additional drawings and writings by Vedder, including one page apparently doodled at a business meeting that says "I will never trust anybody again." The lyric page for "W.M.A." features a portion of a news story concerning Malice Green, allegedly a victim of police brutality.
1. "Go" 3:12
2. "Animal" 2:49
3. "Daughter" 3:55
4. "Glorified G" 3:26
5. "Dissident" 3:35
6. "W.M.A." 5:59
7. "Blood" 2:50
8. "Rearviewmirror" 4:44
9. "Rats" 4:15
10. "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town" 3:15
11. "Leash" 3:09
12. "Indifference" 5:02
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