I like the thick fog that surrounds the original mix of Ten. It's just about the only heavy, straight-forward rock album I've ever heard that such a feel works in favor of. Gives it an ethereal quality that works really well with the half-written quality of songs like Black and Jeremy and the moody retreat in the soloing sections of Porch and Garden.

It's pretty fucking good right now, but I think it can! Yes it can!! Yes we can!!

I listened to the BoB mix better. I like some songs better on each

Once--RVM (although I miss master slave)
Even Flow--either RVM or remix
Alive--RVM
Why Go--Remix
Black--RVM
Jeremy--original (probably due to the extra spokens--otherwise maybe the remix)
Oceans--original
Porch-original
Garden--original
Deep--remix (probably)
Release--original

I mixed them up, I think I listened to BoB on Why Go, Porch, Deep. RVM mix for Black and Alive, and the original for the others. Don't ask why I chose the way I did, but I did. Added a little complexity to the listen, I guess.

I prefer the original mix, the remix just sounded kinda flat to me, I miss all the echoey reverb and shit. But maybe its just because i'm used to it, i haven't listened to the remix in a long time.

I do however like the Even Flow and Black from RVM.

I liked the O'Brien remix when it was released, it was nice to hear a different perspective on those songs I guess, but a number of things about it soon grated and I'm much more likely to listen to the original now.

Are you sure those are extra "spoke in" vocals? My impression is that they're present on both mixes, O'Brien merely mixed them much higher than the previous version.


Huh, I much prefer the Ten version of Even Flow to the re-recorded single version with Abbruzzese.

Whose existence depends more on your presence at this point, stip; your baby or IlluminEddie?

Wait. Is it possible that IlluminEddie is actually just your oldest daughter acting out in an attempt to get the attention she feels she's losing to her new sister?

She loves lightning bolt. She asked to listen to earl mam today.

Maybe illumineddie is Hilary. I never see her and illumineddie post at the same time

I'm almost positive there are more of them. Someone should listen to the album and post back

When Bono had dinner with Dylan, all that happened was that Dylan inherited U2's producer. If this happens and Brendan O'Brien ends up producing the next Dylan album, I am flying to New York and defecating in the front seat of your car.

O'Brien has already worked with Dylan and in twenty years hasn't worked with him again. Thankfully. I wish Lanois did another Dylan album though.

Huh, I much prefer the re-recorded version of Even Flow with Dave A to the Ten version.

I think the ten version is slow and stunted. I don't like many of the vocal effects. It usually gets skipped when I listen to the album. However, I like the song a lot generally, live versions and the Dave A version are my preference. I always thought the album version under-represented the quality of the song.

They played it pretty straight through to the end, you can hear the un-faded outro on the rough mixes.

I was 5 when Ten came out. So, needless to say I wasn't waiting in line at the record story the day it came out to pick up my vinyl copy. I don't even remember the first PJ song I ever heard. It surely would have been on the radio, so Jeremy or Even Flow probably? It is the first album I picked up by them when I was a teen and decided, "I'm gonna see what this is all about".

What do we call the intro? Master/Slave? Or is that after Release? I love it, whatever it is. I could be listening to ANYTHING, put Ten on, and at the :30 mark I’m completely engrossed in what they’re doing, and I’ve forgotten about whatever I was previously listening to.

Once - Good start. Not great, but good. This is Ed’s voice at its most raw, and probably at its best. I wish I could go back in time, erase all memory of Pearl Jam, turn on the radio, and then hear this song. That would be tits. Having said that, at this point, this song feels like primer for what’s to come more than anything else. Part of that may be due to comparing it to the next few album openers, which are all much better stand alone songs, and also comparing it the next song, which I feel is better at almost everything. ***

Even Flow - Meet Pearl Jam. I’ve without a doubt heard this song more than any other in their catalogue, yet I still can say with 100% honesty that I’m not sick of it. Classic fucking riff by Stone, funky chunky groove by Jeff, great sing along that STILL no one knows the fucking words to, and Mike always shines when they play it live (even if it is at every damn show) *****

Alive - This one has aged worse than any other Ten track for me. Though Even Flow hasn’t been bothered by overexposure, Alive has suffered greatly for it. It’s a shame too, because the last-minute jam on here is fucking incredible. It sounds like a train running full steam ahead, bouncing on the rails, and Dave is keeping it from flying off the tracks. ****

Why Go - Meh. ***

Black - Ed is strong lyrically on Ten, and this is him at his best. He paints a gorgeous picture. It invokes so many images and emotions. To me this is a song of unrequited love. Something I have felt many times throughout my youth.Or it could be a song of loss, or maybe anger. This is one that has gotten better through the years as well. The version on RVM is superior, and nothing beats a great live performance. I love a good version with crowd sing-a-long action. *****

Jeremy - What a cool fucking intro. The first :20 are so memorable. I wish the band could still write soaring anthems like this. This is when Ed could make such a strong social statement without sounding heavy handed or corny. This song does what Getaway or maybe Infallible tries to do. I went cold on it for a few years, and it really helped my appreciation of this song today. Dat growl at the 4:30 mark. Awesome. ****

Oceans - I’ve always thought of this song as the transition to the second act of Ten. I’m not usually a big fan of using the synth-type distortion on vocals, but it’s used well here. I saw someone mention that what’s great about this track is it’s so timeless, and could probably fit about anywhere in their catalogue and I think I’d agree. I love the drums. The drums are good. *****

Porch - Such a well-constructed song. One of the things that always drew me to PJ was their talent for building songs in an unconventional manner. I don’t know enough about music writing to go any further in depth about it, but it’s just obviously not your typical intro, verse, chorus, verse, bridge, chorus, outro structure. Man, everybody is firing on all cylinders. What a cool fucking song. Maybe the “unsung hero” of Ten, if we’re being honest. Dat jam from 1:22- 2:22. *****

Garden - Probably the second weakest track on Ten, just ahead of Why Go. It just kind of putters along, and I think it suffers from trying to follow Porch. I like the sentiment this one offers lyrically, but it certainly didn’t age well considering the band/Ed’s position today. I’ll jam this one with my eyes close, and then hope in my car and go buy a mocha latte. ***

Deep - U-n-d-e-r-r-a-t-e-d. Such a cool track. Is it Stone kicking all that ass on this one? Mike kind of diddles and comes in strong at the end? I don’t who does what but it is awesome. More great social/moral commentary by Ed without coming right out and saying it. He used to be so good at that. *****

Release - The one song that can still make me cry from this album, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. *****

Wrap it up with Master/Slave..or is this Slave and the intro is Master? Pretty cool how they loop this thing back around on itself. Makes for great repeat listens in the car. It’s not my favorite album but its also sort of untouchable for being the original PJ flavor. Timelessness is often a mark of greatness, but there’s certainly something equally great about putting on an album and feeling transported back to and held hostage in another time and place.

Ten - ****

I relistened to Ten recently and what's changed the most and surprised me since I first listened to Ten (which unlike some of you guys was just like 2-3 years ago, but hey...cut me some slack I'm only 21) was how much I now like Why Go and hate Jeremy.

I don't put Ten on much these days. If I reach for Pearl Jam, it's for one of the middle period records, typically, as they define the form of the band I most connect with. But, like so many others, it was this album that kickstarted my love of the band, nearly ten years after it's release.

Opening the album with a portion of "Master/Slave" was a brilliant stroke. It's so tonally different from the rest of the record, and the way it fades in with no discernible beginning enshrouds the entire proceedings in an air of mystery.

"Once" is huge in its opening moments. The way the bass lurches into action, and then Eddie's full-throated jump into a scream. It's an energetic song that sets the album pace, never really pulling out of its blistering tempo, even in the short, restrained bridge after McCready's solo. I'm not sure that there's much remarkable about the music itself; everything lies in the power of the performance, which I suppose is true of most early Pearl Jam.

It's impressive how the riff that lights "Even Flow" on fire can still cause a bit of a jump in the heart after all this time. "Once" sets the album pace, but you mostly forget about it on this song. The swaths of echo that float around in this song are weird to listen to when you're paying attention to them. There's hints in this tune of the band's melodic abilities that would fully form later. I think it's part of what makes a song like this able to still be compelling, even in familiarity; when the impressive power is no longer interesting, there's still small details to listen to.

I don't know if I've ever noticed how strange "Alive" is sitting in the third spot on this album. It sways and struts within the confines of its defining guitar figure, in contrast to the energy of the first two songs. It sort of tilts the momentum of the album, or at least seems to at first, but Krusen's drumming seems to push it back. Does the song actually get faster as it goes, or is that a cunning sleight of hand on the part of the rhythm section?

I've always thought of "Why Go" as being kind of corny, and in a way, I guess it still is, but that opening of thunderous drums and slinking bass is great. There's an interesting guitar part going on in the verses; I don't know if it's Mike or Stone, but it's this little palm-muted thing that occasionally ventures off into a short textural deviation. I can't ever unhear the line about joining the game without thinking Ed is referring to the Nintendo handheld ("She could join the Game Boy"), though it obviously makes no sense.