The full Billboard article will follow...but this has to be the best reissue of an album I have ever seen. There are numerous options for people to choose from the casual to the loyal to the manic (I consider myself loyal and will buy the 2cd/1 dvd set). Many artists feel a need to always look forward and never want to look back on the past. Somehow, Pearl Jam manages to do both with ease. Doing archive releases is more than just a way to make money, but to cement your legacy as well. Pearl Jam is doing that right here. I look forward to seeing the Brendan O'Brien mix on Ten, as I feel his mixing skills are superb (no comment on what I think about his work with Springsteen).You don't have to be old and washed up to dig into your archives. This is the first of a series of releases to commemorate the band's twentieth celebration in 2011 (Note: Did you read that? Not their fortieth or fiftieth, but their twentieth).
Something most artists do not understand is that their impact is felt greatest within their own lifetimes and NOT after they are dead and gone (Are you listening Bruce?). Few artists catapult to the top after they are dead (Johnny Cash is a very unique case) and it is best to secure your legacy while you are still alive. We live in a day and age where we have numerous tools to preserve history and legacies. Pearl Jam is doing this magnificently with their official bootleg releases, unique live albums and now this reissue series. I can only hope that other artists follow suit...and soon.
FULL ARTICLE & PRESS RELEASE
Pearl Jam has unearthed a host of unreleased tracks and special surprises from its vaults for a deluxe reissue of its fabled 1991 debut album, "Ten." Four different editions will be available March 24 from Epic; pre-orders begin today (Dec. 10) at PearlJam.com.
Each version includes a digitally remastered version of the original album as well as a completely new remix of the set by longtime producer Brendan O'Brien, who did not work on "Ten" but produced Pearl Jam's subsequent four albums. Bassist Jeff Ament and designer Andy Fischer teamed to revamp the artwork.
The O'Brien disc also includes six previously unreleased songs from the era: early versions of "Breath" and "State of Love and Trust," "Brother" (with vocals, not the instrumental version from the 2003 rarities collection "Lost Dogs"), "Just a Girl," "Evil Little Goat" and "2,000 Mile Blues," a Stevie Ray Vaughan-inspired jam with improvised vocals from frontman Eddie Vedder.
Band members have been asking O'Brien to take a crack at a complete remix for years, and he gave the idea a trial run when he remixed the "Ten" tracks "Once," "Black" and "Alive" for Pearl Jam's 2004 greatest hits album "Rearviewmirror."
"The original 'Ten' sound is what millions of people bought, dug and loved, so I was initially hesitant to mess around with that," says O'Brien of the album, which has sold 9.58 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and vaulted Pearl Jam to global superstardom. The Recording Industry Association of America has certified it for U.S. shipments of 12 million copies. "After years of persistent nudging from the band, I was able to wrap my head around the idea of offering it as a companion piece to the original -- giving a fresh take on it, a more direct sound."
The "Legacy" edition of "Ten" adds a DVD of Pearl Jam's previously unreleased 1992 performance on "MTV Unplugged," including a never-aired version of "Oceans." The audio has been remixed in 5.1 surround sound. Fans can also opt for a double-vinyl version featuring the original "Ten" on one LP and O'Brien's remix on the other.
But the package sure to send hardcore fans into a tizzy is the "Super Deluxe Edition," which features two CDs, a DVD and four vinyl records. It is housed in a linen-covered, slip-cased clamshell box with a replica of an item second to none in Pearl Jam lore.
In 1990, when bassist Jeff Ament and guitarist Stone Gossard and Mike McCready were getting the nascent Pearl Jam going in Seattle, they recorded three instrumentals to send to the then-unknown Eddie Vedder, who'd been recommended by Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons.
Vedder, then living in San Diego, overdubbed vocals onto the tape, in the process creating the songs "Alive," "Once" and "Footsteps" (he was invited to join the band within weeks). Poor quality bootlegs of the demo, dubbed "Momma-Son," have circulated for years, but the "Super Deluxe Edition" will include a crystal-clear dub of the tape on a replica cassette.
In addition, fans will receive Pearl Jam's previously unreleased Sept. 20, 1992, concert at Seattle's Magnuson Park (dubbed Drop in the Park) on two vinyl LPs and a replica of Vedder's composition notebook packed with notes, photos and memorabilia from the "Ten" era. This version will sell for $140.
The "Ten" reissue is the first piece of a two-year campaign culminating with the band's 20th anniversary in 2011. Additional details have yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, Pearl Jam is recording its ninth studio album (its first with O'Brien producing since 1998's "Yield"), which is expected for release next year.
