This revisionist (or, depending on your viewpoint visionary)rock quintet were formed in Seattle, USA, in the early '90s, and were put together by Jeff Ament (b. 10 March 1963, Big Sandy, Montana,USA; bass) and Stone Gossard (b. 20 July 1966, Seattle, Washington, USA; rhythm guitar). Gossard had played with Steve Turner in the Ducky Boys, the latter moving on to perform with Ament in Green River. Gossard would also become a member of this band when Mark Arm (like Turner, later to join Mudhoney) switched from guitar to vocals. Gossard and Ament, however, elected to continue working together when Green River washed up,
and moved on to Mother Love Bone, fronted by local ‘celebrity’ Andrew Wood. However, that ill-fated group collapsed when, four weeks after the release of its debut album, APPLE, Wood was found dead from a heroin overdose.
Both Gossard and Ament would subsequently participate in Seattle's tribute to Wood, Temple Of The Dog alongside Chris Cornell of Soundgarden who instigated the project, Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron, plus Gossard's schoolfriend Mike McCready (b. 5 April 1965, Seattle, Washington, USA; guitar) and ex-Bad Radio vocalist Eddie Vedder (b. 23 December 1966, Evanson, Illinois, USA). He had been passed a tape of demos recorded by Ament, Gossard and McCready by Red Hot Chili Peppers' drummer Jack Irons.
Both Vedder and McCready would eventually hook up permanently with Ament and Gossard to become Pearl Jam, with the addition of drummer Dave Krusen (having originally dabbled with the name Mookie Blaylock). The band signed
to Epic Records in 1991, debuting the following year with the powerful, yet melodic TEN. A bold diarama, it saw the band successfully incorporate elements of their native traditions (Soundgarden, Mother Love Bone, Nirvana) with older influences such as the Doors, Velvet Underground, the Stooges and the MC 5. The self-produced recording (together with Rick Parashar) showed great maturity for a debut, particularly in the full-blooded songwriting, never better demonstrated than on hit single "Alive." Dynamic live performances and a subtle commercial edge to their material catapulted them from total obscurity to virtual superstars overnight, as the Seattle scene debate raged
and Kurt Cobain accused them of ‘jumping the alternative bandwagon’. In the USA TEN was still in the Top 20 a year and a half after its release, having sold over 4 million copies in that country alone. The touring commitments
which followed, however, brought Vedder to the verge of nervous collapse. He struggled back to health in time for the Lollapalooza II tour, an appearance on 'MTV Unplugged', and Pearl Jam's cameo as Matt Dillon's ‘band’, Citizen Dick, in the Cameron Crowe film, Singles. Vedder would also front a re-united Doors on their induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame in Los Angeles at the Century Plaza hotel, performing versions of "Roadhouse Blues," "Break On Through" and "Light My Fire." The eagerly awaited ‘difficult’ follow-up, VS., was unleashed in October 1993, close on the heels of Nirvana's latest offering. Whilst reviews were mixed the advance orders placed the album
on top of the charts on both sides of the Atlantic. The thrid album, VITALOGY, seemed overtly concerned with re-establishing the group's grass roots credibility,
a strong clue to which arrived in the fact that the album was available for a week on vinyl before a CD or cassette release (a theme revisited on "Spin The Black Circle"). There were also numerous references, some oblique, others not, to the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain. Ironically 1994 also saw drummer Dave Abbruzzese dispensed with, amid unfounded rumours that former Nirvana sticksman Dave Grohl would be invited in to the ranks. Jack Irons (ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers) took over on drums.

(taken from Music Central 1997)