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Pearl Jam ‘Ten’ Reissue By: Brian Campbell  |
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Pearl Jam’s reissue of their seminal record ‘Ten’ carries with it both good and bad news. Starting with the good news, it’s a ‘new’ Pearl Jam record. Now onto the band news, it is a reissue. This reissue is the first of many from their catalogue according to the band, leading up their 20th anniversary in 2011.
Although the album lyrically deals with heavy subjects, things like depression suicide, loneliness and murder, it is still to do this one of the defining records of not only Pearl Jam’s career but the entire grunge movement and the 90’s overall.
Sure, the album might be named after famed NBA player Mookie Blaylock’s jersey number (hey, it was the 90’s, no one was thinking deeply apparently), but still, this new version ‘Ten’ houses some nice things for fans. Normally reissues are just another way to sell records, but it is almost as if this isn’t a reissue. No, you won’t get the same old same old ‘Ten’ record that the band first put out in 1991. Think of this at a re-envisioning of ‘Ten,’ chock full of the bands MTV Unplugged session, live works from the bands ‘Drop in the Park’ concert and a handful of remixes of songs from the original album done by producer Brendan O’Brien, who the band haven’t worked with since 1998’s ‘Yield.’ O’Brien is also slated to produce the bands upcoming new studio album which should be out sometime later this year.
With the reissue of ‘Ten’ you will get a litter of unreleased and unheard material, including their MTV Unplugged set (‘Oceans,’ ‘Even Flow,’ ‘Black’), two live tracks from the bands ‘Drop in the Park’ concert (‘State of Live & Trust,’ ‘Alive’) and two bonus tracks as well (‘Brother,’ ‘Breath and a Scream’). Not to be outdone, O’Brien has also made up the majority of the album, remixing five songs from the original (‘Why Go,’ ‘Jeremy,’ ‘Alive,’ ‘Once,’ ‘Even Flow’).
‘Ten’ is now available for download in the Rockband video as well to commemorate the reissue.
There really is something for everyone on the reissued CD, well maybe not for diehard Pearl Jam fans. For conventional fans there is a good chance you may have not heard much of this material before. Either way, it is worth picking the disc up for the remixes alone. At least O’Brien doesn’t kill the songs.
Reissues have worked out nicely for the Cure, who has a more substantial body of work than Pearl Jam, so maybe this whole ‘rereleasing our entire catalogue’ thing won’t be a bad thing after all. At least it will all end in 2001.
Grade: B
Listen to: ‘Brother,’ ‘Breath and a Scream’
Pearl Jam
‘Ten’ Reissue
Epic Records
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