For a celebration of this game-changing album, it seems strange that some of the pieces are missing. In the deluxe, 3-disc edition, you get the original album remastered on the first disc, the remixed Ten Redux on disc 2 along with a handful of demos, and the famous MTV Unplugged session on DVD (at long last.) But what is missing are some tracks to be found elsewhere, plus a couple just plain missing. Sure, we get "Brother" in finished form, complete with vocals, and it's great, but we only get demos of "Breath And A Scream" and "State Of Love And Trust" rather than the originals from the Singles soundtrack. Where are "Footsteps," "Wash," "Dirty Frank," and most notably, "Yellow Ledbetter"? Oh, they're on Lost Dogs. They should be here, where they belong. They can be on Lost Dogs, too, but Ten should be complete with all of the various b-sides that went along with it, such as the live versions of "Alive," "Why Go," and "Deep," the "Oceans" remix, and their cover of the Beatles' "I've Got A Feeling" - all now in catalog limbo, all of which would likely have fit on the two discs.
Instead we get a mixed selection of demos, from "Breath And A Scream" and the great, rollicking power of "State Of Love And Trust," which finds the band hollering their approval at the end (and I agree,) to complete wastes of time like the sloppy "2000 Mile Blues," which has me asking, "Must every band play the blues at some point, no matter how ill-advised?" You'll never listen to this again, nor joke song "Evil Little Goat," and neither add anything to the Ten story.
More interesting, if not a great song, is "Just A Girl," which finds the band working on what would one day become "Even Flow." Ignoring the obviously different lyrics, it's fascinating to hear how the band was influenced by the hard rock of the time and how it simply didn't fit them - they had yet to slip into something that really suited them. But elements of Seattle are all around the song - their origins in Mother Love Bone are clearly evident, but that foundation is giving way quickly.
Article comments
1 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Ya know Tom... SPOT ON!! Though, I do feel what made Ten great was the Electric Blues aspect they had integrated into their brand of "grunge". That somehow managed to fly over everyone's head at the time. I think it was that people wanted to hear some good & raw Rock instead of those Sex crazed Glam boys. I don't think the term "Grunge" does any justice for the few great bands that emerged during that time...
Anyways, I totally agree about the exclusion of the singles that were so crucial to the PJ experience. Those were such collector's items but they were worth it and it's a damn shame they weren't apart of this set. I really thought that was the reason why they were re-releasing the older albums.
As for my feelings about the albums after the Singles Soundtrack(their best songs) and the re-engineering of Ten, I'll have to come back to that when I have the time.
Still, Great Article! Right on the Money!
2 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
*Btw* Did you know that on the live version of Alive that they had the drummer from Eddie Brickell[Matt Chamberlain]?! Yea..He played with them for a very short time,but, he was also the one who recommended the phenomenal Mr.Dave Abbruzzese.
I mean, I had a feeling back then but I didn't have the internet so I couldn't confirm it until recently! When I would see the video for "What I am", I would just flip because they had a very similar style...
3 - Tom Johnson
I knew Chamberlain was in the band at some point, but for a short while there, they was a revolving door instead of drum stool - Dave Krusen, him, Abbruzzese, Jack Irons, and finally Matt Cameron.
But you're right, "grunge" quickly became a derogatory term and I wish I could have addressed that. It didn't really fit in with the theme, I guess. Just this weekend while listening I was thinking how, even for the loose genre of grunge, they, like Soundgarden, really didn't fit. I guess they just needed to call it something to differentiate it from the other stuff out there. Now it seems totally meaningless.
4 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
I hear ya Tom... I really wasn't implying that it should have been in your article because going off on a tangent about a genre(like I do) would have taken away from your nice work. You really show a true sense of that time period with this article which sent me reminiscing and caused me to think about the few bands that really didn't fit, like AIC, Mad Season, Temple of the Dog,etc...