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35 Years Ago Today, This Quintessential Grunge Album Ushered in the Age of 90s Alt-Rock Dominance

Pearl Jam’s debut album is a beloved grunge staple, but initial reviews called it “derivative” and “unworthy” of Nirvana comparisons.

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On August 27, 1991, the recently formed Pearl Jam released their debut album Ten. This album spawned three hit singles, “Alive”, “Even Flow”, and “Jeremy”, with the latter earning them two Grammy nominations in 1993. The music video for “Jeremy” earned Pearl Jam four MTV VMAs, including the coveted Video of the Year.

Ten is highly regarded as a quintessential grunge album. At the time, grunge was spreading beyond Seattle and the Sub Pop formula. The growing genre gained widespread attention in the early 90s, and began to subtly evolve with more alt-rock influences. While Ten is one of several grunge staple albums, it really drew much more from classic rock and........

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