Ten (Pearl Jam Album) - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

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.

Rolling Stone staff writer David Fricke gave the album a favorable review, saying that Pearl Jam "hurtles into the mystic at warp speed." He also added that Pearl Jam "wring a lot of drama out of a few declarative power chords swimming in echo." Allan Jones of Melody Maker suggested in his review of Ten that it is Vedder that "provides Pearl Jam with such a uniquely compelling focus." Allmusic staff writer Steve Huey gave the album five out of five stars, calling it a "flawlessly crafted hard rock masterpiece." Q gave the album four out of five stars. The review called the album "raucous modern rock, spiked with infectious guitar motifs and powered with driving bass and drums," and said it "may well be the face of the 90's metal." Stereo Review said that "the band sounds larger than life, producing a towering inferno of roaring guitars, monumental bass and drums, and from-the-gut vocals." Don Kaye of Kerrang! defined the album "introspective and charged with a quiet emotional force", giving it four out of five Ks.

The band did receive criticism in the music press. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B–. Regarding Pearl Jam's sound, Browne stated that "you've heard it all before on records by fellow Northwestern rockers like Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and the defunct Mother Love Bone." He ended by saying that Pearl Jam "often...lose themselves in a sound that only goes to show that just about anything can be harnessed and packaged." Critic Robert Christgau gave the album a B- in his original review of the album, saying "I risk acute deja entendu hearing all these white male longhairs play their guitars too long but not too well." British music magazine NME said that Pearl Jam was "trying to steal money from young alternative kids' pockets." Nirvana's Kurt Cobain angrily attacked Pearl Jam, claiming the band were commercial sellouts, and argued Ten was not a true alternative album because it had so many prominent guitar leads.

Ten produced three hit singles, "Alive", "Even Flow", and "Jeremy", all of which had accompanying music videos (The "Oceans" video was released only outside of the U.S.). The singles all placed on the Mainstream Rock and Modern Rock charts. The song "Black" reached number three on the Mainstream Rock chart, despite never being released as a single. The video for "Alive" was nominated for the MTV Video Music Award for Best Alternative Video in 1992. "Jeremy" became one of Pearl Jam's best-known songs, and received nominations for Best Rock Song and Best Hard Rock Performance at the 1993 Grammy awards. The video for "Jeremy", directed by Mark Pellington, was put into heavy rotation by MTV and became a huge hit, receiving five nominations at the 1993 MTV Video Music Awards, of which it won four, including Video of the Year and Best Group Video.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 209 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. Readers of Q voted Ten as the 42nd greatest album ever; however, three years later the album was listed lower at 59th. In 2003, VH1 placed it at number 83 on their list of the 100 greatest albums of rock and roll. In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NME organised a poll of which, 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and Ten was placed at number 66 on the list. It was also ranked number 15 in the October 2006 issue of Guitar World on the magazine's list of the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time. In 2007, the album was included at number 11 on the list of the "Definitive 200" albums of all time developed by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.