Search - Pearl Jam :: Ten Collector's Edition (2CD/1DVD/4vinyl/1 Cassette/Memorabilia)

The Ultimate Collector's Edition

The Vinyl Recliner | Rockaway, NJ USA | 03/24/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Pearl Jam has surpassed the competition with this Super Deluxe Edition of the Ten reissue. Though the cost may appear to be restrictive, and to some in this economy--insulting, note that the band has put everything into this box. A lot of bands today are releasing increasingly-priced deluxe editions of varying widths and lengths, but this set feels the worth. They clearly put every bit of their respect for the long-time fans into this box set.



The cloth-bound box is rather heavy and is the shape of a vinyl record. The slip box that pulls out of it contains everything except the vinyl records. In that is an envelope that includes reproductions of Pearl Jam memorabilia including postcards, a Mookie Blaylock playing card, concert ticket, sticker, etc. Additionally there are card-stock quality photos, all of which contain the box's liner notes/credits on the back (for the set, the concert, the original album and the remix).



Underneath a composition book is fastened into the box. The book, designed to perfection by Jeff Ament and Eddie Vedder, is exactly what a Pearl Jam would expect to see. It includes notes, doodles, designs and memorabilia seemingly fastened onto the page (though every page is actually just a flattened reproduction). The book is exhaustive with memorabilia, including backstage passes, newspaper clippings, pictures of the actual Mookie Blaylock. The box also contains a full sized poster of the album cover. It's a visual history of 1990 to 1992, a peak into the band's unique design sense, thanks in large part to Ament's meticulous craft. (As a designer, I took special appreciation in seeing the sketches of t-shirt designs or posters with notes about font styles and sizes). The band eschewed the self-serving biographical liner notes that typically champion a band in these box sets, keeping to their reluctant and humble image. If you're buying this box set, you probably already know the stories.



Underneath the book, are the sleeve for the CDs/DVD and the reproduction of the infamous Momma-Son cassette tape that brought Eddie Vedder to Stone Gossard's attention. The demo includes Vedder's vocals for Alive, Once and Footsteps over Gossard's music demo (with help from future drummer Matt Cameron). The demo is of the quality you would expect of the time, but is a fascinating peak into the band's formation. (Especially hearing Vedder's spot-on vocals prior to ever meeting any of his future bandmates.)



The first CD is a remaster of the classic Ten (which doesn't need to be reviewed here). The second CD is a Brendan O'Brien remix of the album, along with six bonus tracks. The remix doesn't mess with the essential basics but crisps up the original mix and improves the production value of the recording. (Whether a fan wants to remain completely loyal to the original mix is unessential since both versions are included.) The bonus tracks include rough mixes of two favorites from the Singles soundtrack ("Breath" and "State of Love and Trust") along with four other notable additions...all in the spirit of the first album's delivery. Additionally, a DVD captures the full unedited set from Pearl Jam's famous appearance on MTV Unplugged from 1992, a nice preview to the band's increasing skillful dabblings in acoustic-performed rock in later albums.



Vinyl productions of both Ten and the Ten redux are included along with a double-vinyl of Drop in the Park, a famous concert Pearl Jam performed in Seattle. (The latter has been mixed by O'Brien.) It's a gripping peak at Pearl Jam in their raw infancy...tearing through their early tracks with the same reckless abandon of Vedder climbing the scaffolding. (The Drop in the Park vinyl includes a poster fold-out for the show.)



Pearl Jam have outdone most bands with a perfectly themed, honest-to-their-roots set celebrating their much-heralded debut. And like they did back in 1991 they are now forcing other bands to get real and give their fans what they want: more bang for our buck. SPECIAL NOTE: In all of the literature in the box, the set is called "Pearl Jam 1990-1992" which follows up on the rumblings that the band plans to do the same with much of their back catalog."

A Monument to Grunge.

MORTEN AASTAD | Oslo Norway | 03/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the early 90s I personally had no specific tastes in music. highschool was just over, I was doing my national service in the army, 80s were over, things seemed a bit bland as far as I remember. I guess I was still sort of a lapsed Depeche Mode, The Cure, Echo kind of fan... I hadn't listened to Heavy Metal properly for 5 years or so. Biggest album for me in 1990-91 was The La's debute.



Then this mamoth of an album broke on the World.



I had heard Smells Like Teen Spirit and all that, but I tend to avoid whatever everyone suddenly likes, but then came Pearl Jam. And I was hooked line and sinker.



To this day I remember falling in love with Grunge. The whole Seattle scene, the people, the style, or lack there of. I didn't mind people calling music like this Grunge. I still don't. The bands might not have liked it then, or now, but I don't care, to me Grunge was and is a period in musical history that had an effect on me and my tastes.



Ok, so I didn't have the internet then, and some bands never caught my attention. Back then we had to rely on MTV (even in Norway) to tell us what was what (I never was a big radio listener, and what would that have mattered anyhow?), so I thought Stome Temple Pilots were part of it all (I suppose they were sort of, but from San Diego, who knew?), loved them, and I thought Alice in Chains were the same band as Soul Asylum (So, I hated them). Now I know better. Now I even think Nirvana was great, but that's Dave's doing, with his Foo Fighters.



Now I listen to Soundgarden, Alice, Sreaming Trees, Mother Love Bone, Mudhoney, Stone Temple Pilots and even L7. And yes, I keep them all on my ipod under my Grunge Playlist. So, maybe they don't agree, I don't know, I don't care, because Pearl Jam and their fantastic album Ten (and subsequent masterpiece VS.) caught me on my jaw with their sublime music, great lyrics and of course the otherworldly voice of Eddie Vedder.



This is where it all began to me, my musical moment of being young and defining my music. Even watching Singles on videotape a half million times.



This set it sublime. It holds such treasures to a Pearl Jam fan, it really needs to be seen. And heard. My biggest love in here so far is the MTV unplugged DVD. I have wanted to see this for years. Having seen Alice in Chains and Nirvanas set pieces out on DVD for quite a while now, it was about time.



The photo's are really fun to look through, some of the stuff is, well, fluff I suppose, but this isn't for the casual Pearl Jam listener, this is for the fans out there who absolutely adore them. And since I do, I can tell you, if you too adore them, this is well worth the wait and the cost.



A monumental piece of rock history this, the set itself of course, but I also remember what Henry Rollins said about the album Ten. He said something along the lines that; 'Nirvana may have been the band everyone talked about as being the second comming, but Pearl Jams Ten was the album that sold. Everyone heard it', he was sure, 'if you were dropped in the middle of the Amazonas jungle, you would never be more than 10 minutes away from a copy of Pearl Jams Ten'."

Executive Summary: Recommended for Serious Fans

Mark W. Dalius | Boston, MA | 04/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You've probably already read the other reviews, so I'll keep this one short: if you just want to hear the Brendan O'Brien remixes of Ten, by all means, buy the cheaper version and continue on with no loss of face or disrespect. If, on the other hand, you and your wife met in college because you sent her a get-well e-mail that contained references to many of the band's early songs ("Glad you're still 'Alive' and hope you feel 'Yellow Ledbetter' soon"), you're probably the Pearl Jam nerd this package was intended for.



The inclusion of the Mookie Blaylock card was a fun inside reference, and I loved the faux-whiteout used on the label on the front of the Momma-Son cassette...if my own high school band's 4-track tapes sounded that good, even in their lo-fi gravel-tone, maybe my rock-star dreams would have come true.



Vinyl in all its primitive analog-ness is antithetical to someone who makes his living from contemporary digital technology, but the inclusion of some LPs in this package at least sent me to my dad's closet for one of his old turntables. My own theory: the instinct that leads many producers to up the level on CD recordings is the real culprit (Hi, Metallica!)...it's harder to do that on vinyl, so you get a more nuanced audio spectrum that your sound system can make sense of, without clipping. I'm no audiophile, but if nothing else, it feels nice to hold that big black circle in your hands.



I have no qualms sending my money off to the folks who worked hard to put this together, and the grunge-era survivors who are Pearl Jam. But, honestly, if you don't already have your copy, you might be better off getting one of the more stripped-down versions instead. Or, spend your money and time grabbing some of their back catalog, and set aside a few twenties for a ticket the next time they're on tour."