“Out Of My Mind,” live B-side: This one was only played twice live and then forgotten. But that doesn’t mean you have to listen to it again.ĩ4. Just like “Revolution 9,” the band had the decency to bury it at the end, in an almost willful shedding of their image up to that point. “Hey Foxymophandlemama, That’s Me (aka Stupid Mop),” Vitalogy: The other song of no consequence on Vitalogy, if “song” is the right word for this sound collage. Nothing jerks you out of the excellent “Corduroy” faster than that damn accordion.ĩ5. “Bugs,” Vitalogy: I get that Vitalogy was experimental, and Tom Waits is beloved for reasons unknown to me, but this is unlistenable and weird, and disrupts the flow of a great album up to that point. I’m a fan, so I’m not above reason (it is Pearl Jam, after all).

As with any ranking, this is of course subjective, though if you disagree only well-reasoned arguments will be accepted. Omitted is the Neil Young collaboration album Mirrorball and any live songs that were never officially recorded or released (“Baba O’Riley,” a band staple, for example). Therefore, this list will rank all of the officially released Pearl Jam songs from the band’s inception up through 1999’s monster “Last Kiss” single, collecting B-sides and songs recorded in the era but not released until the CD reissues of recent years. Once the new century hit and Matt Cameron joined, the band entered into more of a cult status, albeit one with a rabid fan base and great music, but that somehow felt different than its previous incarnation. The five albums of this time period all have a definite feel that is different from each other but unmistakably the same band.

None of this would have mattered had the band not had great songs and albums, and they did in spades. It is the era most fondly remembered by longtime fans, the era of enduring, moody songwriting, a rotating cast of drummers, the Ticketmaster battle and the band’s solidification as an enduring rock band that outlasted its peers long after “alternative” had become mainstream. Pearl Jam’s first decade yielded five albums, a handful of singles and some of the best music of the ‘90s. Features Ranking All 96 Pearl Jam Songs of the '90s by Benjamin Ray

Good songs by pearl jam