Today marks a major anniversary for Pearl Jam.
It was on this day 35 years ago - on August 27, 1991 - that their debut album, Ten, was released. It would go on to become a huge album, becoming the second biggest selling album by late 1992. I got into them around the time when all of the Seattle bands of that period were getting big, although I admittedly was not familiar with the band back on the actual day when the album was released.
Back in late August of 1991, I was 16 years old and getting ready for the final academic year of my high school career to begin. In New Jersey, that usually means a couple of days after Labor Day weekend. While not the biggest fan of school back then, a part of me was certainly excited to finally be a senior in high school. Yet, a part of me also recognized that this coming year was it. That my childhood behind the protective walls of the high school was basically running out.
The world was a different place. This was not only pre-MAGA, but pre-Covid and even well before September 11th. Hell, the Cold War was coming to an end, but the Soviet Union still existed back then. While the music world was still largely dominated by pop names like Michael Jackson and Madonna and Whitney Houston, the grunge "Seattle Sound" explosion was about to take over. Mostly on the strength of albums like Pearl Jam's Ten, Soundgarden's Superunknown, Alice in Chain's Facelift and Nirvana's Nevermind. Plus, other bands were releasing albums that would be huge sellers that would also help to reshape the world of music, with the Red Hot Chili Peppers releasing Blood Sugar Sex Magic, Metallica releasing the black album, and Guns 'n Roses releasing Use Your Illusions I and II.
What a time in music!
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