Ten - Pearl Jam > Reviews > The album itself is legendary, never mind the band

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Every track is a true gem .   'Black', 'Alive' and 'Evenflow' are personal favourites .
Disadvantages:	That there's only 11 songs !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Pearl Jam can be summed up simply: grunge for the thinking man. More intelligent than Nirvana but equally edgy, this album should be as famous as the latter's 'Nevermind,' but for some inexplicable reason, it isn't. This is their best album, a classic, and contains a massive variety of musical styles and ideas. 'Jeremy,' MTV's video of the year at the time is one of many outstanding grunge anthems. Evenflow is punchy and rocks on a steady groove, whereas 'Alive' should really be the all-time famous grunge tune as opposed to Nirvana's 'ground-breaking' Smells Like Teen Spirit. However it's not all Eddie Vedder's trademark grunty voice over hard rock songs, this album has a sensitive side aswell, which is brought out best in 'Black' and 'Oceans', tracks that also prove the bands musical ability. These guys can really play their instruments, in particular bassist Jeff Ament, who, whilst having a penchant for wearing silly hats, plays 8 and 12 string basses on this record. As a bassist myself, I can say that this is not easy, and Jeff does the job well, as do Mike McCready and Stone Gossard on the guitars.