Overseen by producer Brendan OвЂ™Brien (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots), Vs significantly broadened Pearl JamвЂ™s sonic palette, taking in everything from raw, feral punk (вЂGoвЂ™, вЂRatsвЂ™), motorik funk (вЂAnimalвЂ™) and even wracked acoustic ballads such as вЂDaughterвЂ™ and вЂElderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small TownвЂ™. Commercially, it made little difference: Vs sold over a million copies during its first week of release and topped the Billboard 200 for five weeks.

The bandвЂ™s anti-establishment stance ensured they again refused to make promotional films for the songs on their second album, Vs, released in October 1993. However, while the Seattle quintet quickly established themselves as one of the rock acts most likely to storm the mainstream, they were uneasy about some of the music industryвЂ™s standard promotional practices, later refusing to release TenвЂ™s emotional centre-piece вЂBlackвЂ™ as a single (or make a video for it) and insisting on scaling back their interviews. With Dave Abbruzzese replacing Krusen behind the kit, Pearl Jam toured Ten relentlessly across 1992. It peaked at No.2 on the US Billboard chart in 1992, eventually going on to sell a phenomenal 13 million copies worldwide. Ten initially sold slowly, but when the bandвЂ™s reputation as an unmissable live act kicked in after they supported Red Hot Chili Peppers in the US during the autumn of вЂ™91, the album gradually went gold and kept right on selling.

Capturing the mood of the times, his lyrics mostly dealt with disaffection and social dysfunction, with вЂEven FlowвЂ™ dealing with homelessness and the dramatic вЂJeremyвЂ™ reputedly inspired by a true story in which a high school student shot himself in front of his classmates. Released in August вЂ™91, Ten was a dark, anthemic rock record which introduced the wider world to the unforgettable sound of VedderвЂ™s charismatic, honeyвЂ™nвЂ™gravel-soaked growl. Like Pearl Jam, however, the band recorded their fully-fledged debut, Ten, in March 1991, with Alice In Chains/Blind Melon producer Rick Parashar manning the console. Minus Krusen, Pearl JamвЂ™s first proper studio session was with Soundgarden duo Chris Cornell and Matt Cameron, where they cut a self-titled album as Temple Of The Dog for A&M in tribute to the late Andrew Wood. The quintet initially played live as Mookie Blaylock (the real name of a favourite New Jersey Nets basketball player), but by the time they signed to Epic, theyвЂ™d become Pearl Jam: the name reputedly (but actually erroneously) attributed to a peyote-based hallucinogenic preserve supposedly prepared by VedderвЂ™s great-grandmother, Pearl. Suitably impressed, Ament, Gossard and McCready flew Vedder to Seattle for an audition, after which the new bandвЂ™s line-up was completed with the addition of drummer Dave Krusen. A mutual friend and ex- Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons declined an invitation to join their new band, but he passed the fledgeling trioвЂ™s first demo to vocalist and basketball buddy Eddie Vedder (birth name Edward Louis Severson III) who was then working in a gas station in San Diego, California.Дigging what he heard, Vedder composed early versions of key Pearl Jam tunes вЂAliveвЂ™, вЂOnceвЂ™ and вЂFootstepsвЂ™. Devastated by WoodвЂ™s loss, Gossard began jamming with fellow Seattle guitarist Mike McCready, who encouraged Ament back into the fold. Having inked a deal with PolyGram, Mother Love Bone promised great things, but Wood tragically died prematurely from a drug overdose and the band folded before their lone, critically acclaims album, Apple, was released in 1990. However, Green River called it quits when Arm and Turner formed Mudhoney in вЂ™87, leaving Ament and Gossard to form Mother Love Bone with flamboyant vocalist Andrew Wood. Bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard originally played alongside future Mudhoney stars Mark Arm and Steve Turner in legendary Seattle noiseniks Green River, whose aggressive 1984 mini-LP, Come On Down, is often cited as the blueprint for grunge. The bandвЂ™s roots can be traced deep into the Seattle underground of the 80s.

Pearl jam albums sold