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Peter: Before we get started, I want to clarify something I said last time. I said “Rock and roll is for the young people” or something to that effect. What I meant was, the way Pearl Jam was doing it from 1991 to 1994 or so, that was unsustainable. The energy and intensity they put into every song and every show was too much to ask of a group of middle-aged guys with extremely healthy bank balances. As Marvin Hagler once said, “It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 am when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.”

Anyway, next up is “Jeremy!”

Tyler: Classic song, classic video. It’s become only more grim in an era of regular school shootings. As you noted about “Even Flow,” it’s a challenge to hear “Jeremy” with fresh ears. But it still maintains a bloody, raw power.

Peter: Yeah, I agree. This is partially based on a newspaper article about a kid who shot himself in front of his second period English class. It’s lost a lot of its weight over the years, but this was a pretty dark topic for a song that was all over the radio and MTV.

I talked to my brother about Ten in preparation for our chat and the video for “Jeremy” was the first thing he mentioned.

Tyler: It’s iconic. Certainly what put them on my radar. I haven’t watched it in years, though. I dunno if it holds up.

Peter: If you try to watch it on YouTube it’s flagged as “Inappropriate for some users,” or somesuch.

Tyler: Huh. How does Google decide these things?

Peter: Good question.

This sounded amazing through headphones. Very loud. I tried that again in preparation for this. Still works.

Tyler: Do you recall the MTV VMAs moment when Vedder introduced the actor who starred in the video? “He lives,” or something similar.

Peter: I don’t! How did I miss that?

Tyler: I just don’t know, my friend.

“Oceans!” I like this one. A dish of ever-so-slightly lighter fare.

Peter: Yeah. The guitars are in open D tuning which gives it a little different sound. It’s a bit of a departure from the rest of the record, but it’s actually a good indication of some of the avenues they’d go on to explore in the future.

Tyler: Do you enjoy much of their later work? Incidentally, their new album comes out at midnight tomorrow night.

Peter: Just bits and pieces. I think there were two on the last album that I liked.

Tyler: There are two Vedder solo albums in the secondhand bins at one of my favorite record shops. They’ve been there for a minute. For all I know they’re exceptional.

Peter: Is one of them the ukulele album?

Tyler: It is! That one and Earthling.

Peter: I heard the ukulele one. It’s just okay. I haven’t heard Earthling.

Tyler: There are no ukuleles on Ten’s next song. “Porch.”

Peter: Ten is sort of front-loaded with hits. The back half of the album has some lesser-known tracks. Had you heard this one going in?

Tyler: I had not. It rocks pretty damn hard.

Peter: It does.

The good folks over at Genius.com note, “During live performances, Eddie Vedder uses the long instrumental break to hang off of railings, jump into the crowd, or climb the set as he famously did at Lollapalooza 1992.” Some friends of mine saw Pearl Jam at Lollapalooza in ‘92 and Eddie did get up to some shenanigans of that sort.

Tyler: Frontman antics.

Peter: He doesn’t do that stuff anymore. Thank goodness. I’d worry!

Tyler: I’d be with you. “I sure hope he can get down from there.”

Those guitar solos on “Porch” are almost metal. Or hair-metal. Not bad, but not expected.

Peter: Yeah, good point. Mike McCready is a pretty flashy lead guitarist. He idolizes Stevie Ray Vaughan and his style reflects it. It’s one of the reasons Kurt didn’t like Pearl Jam.

Tyler: Rivalry!

Next up is “Garden,” which doesn’t really hit for me. Apologies, Peter’s memories!

Peter: Gasp!

Tyler: It reminds me of Alice In Chains. I don’t like Alice In Chains.

Peter: Interesting! I like Alice in Chains. I also like “Garden.”

I mentioned Greg Kot’s review in the Chicago Tribune calling Ten “unrelentingly humorless,” but he went on to acknowledge, “the music nonetheless exerts a hypnotic power at its best.” I’d say this is one that definitely feels hypnotic.

How do you feel about hypnosis? Maybe that’s the problem.

Tyler: I’ve never been hypnotized. That I know of.

Peter: Same.

How do you feel about “Deep?”

Tyler: I dig it. We’re back on track!

Peter: This one never really grabbed me! I probably skipped it more than any other track on Ten.

Tyler: My goodness, all this discord.

Peter: We’re like oil and water!

It’s fine. It’s got a lot of lead guitar noodling.

Eddie sounds good.

Tyler: It feels appropriately placed. Just before our final tune, “Release.”

Peter: This was improvised. Eddie made up the lyrics on the spot in real time.

Tyler: I’ll be damned.

It feels familiar, but not overly so. I must’ve heard it, so many years ago.

Peter: It’s autobiographical again. Singing to his biological father.

It wasn’t a single, but it’s a fan favorite. It’s easy to fault Pearl Jam for their excesses on Ten. They birthed a truly unholy menagerie of imitators and thieves, the worst of which, Creed, for example, forever stained the fabric of rock and roll. But, at their best, Pearl Jam embodied something truly transcendent, and I think that’s on display here.

When Eddie sings, “Oh, dear Dad, can you see me now?/I am myself, like you somehow/I’ll wait up in the dark for you to speak to me/I’ll open up, release me,” that’s some pretty serious shit. The fact that he improvised that in real time makes it even more special.

Tyler: Impressive, impressive stuff.

How did it feel to dip back in time with the album?

Peter: It was a trip. It really was.

There wasn’t anything like this at the time. Before this we had stuff like “Cherry Pie.” Remember “Cherry Pie?” By Warrant?

Tyler: Unfortunately, yes. Yes I do.

Peter: I listened to it today! It’s terrible!

Tyler: You love to torture yourself. I pray God your family wasn’t subjected.

Peter: Heavens no. I wouldn’t do that to them. It’s just devoid of any possible merit. It’s so dumb. Pearl Jam and Nirvana seemed like the antidote to the poison that was Warrant and “Cherry Pie.”

Last time I talked about living through an inflection point in rock and roll and I really believe that I did. I think it’s hard for the young people to appreciate how transformative that time was. Nevermind knocked Michael Jackson off the top of the charts. Seemingly overnight, whole genres became obsolete. It was an exciting time for music! I feel lucky to have experienced it firsthand.

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