I had this entire album memorized as a young teen; lyrics, guitar solos, and all. It’s hard to believe this is the band’s debut. Although I’m too close to this album to write anything resembling an objective review, I think it’s somewhat well-established as a fantastic album. It’s certainly one of my favorites; the number of all-time songs on Ten is mind boggling.

The 90’s aren’t exactly a decade of guitar gods, as far as I’m concerned, but I feel like Pearl Jam carried the torch of the air guitar rock band forward to a whole new generation without totally trying to recapture the sound of the 70’s. And not to mention it was one of the reasons I got into the guitar in the first place - this one is cemented in my personal hall of fame.

Jams

“Once”
“Even Flow”
“Alive”
“Why Go”
“Release”

From the roundup Jamwise #37 - Best Albums of 1991.