[TR24][OF] Pearl Jam - Vs. [Remastered] - 1993/2013 (Grunge Rock / Alternative Rock)

Chart History/Awards

- #1 on US Billboard 200, Australian Albums Chart, Canadian Albums Chart, Dutch Albums Chart, New Zealand Albums Chart, Norwegian Albums Chart, Swedish Albums Chart in 1993
- Certified Platinum 7 times by the RIAA and has sold 5,991,000 copies in the United States as of May 16, 2012.
- Vs. stayed in the top 10 from October 1993 well into 1994, falling back only to #2 in January 1994.

Vs. is Pearl Jam's second album, and their first release after becoming the one of the biggest rock bands of the early 1990s. Uncomfortable with their new-found fame, the band found refuge in obscurity. The title of Vs. did not appear anywhere on the album's packaging, and no singles or music videos were released for the album.

A much more raw and direct album than Ten, Vs. appealed to music fans of nearly every background and sold 950,378 copies in its first five days of release. It outperformed all other entries in the Billboard top ten in that week combined, setting the record for most copies of an album sold in its first week of release.

The album was recorded and mixed one song at a time, with most of the musical material coming from jam sessions the band played together instead of one member writing a song and bringing it in. Guitarist Stone Gossard said, "I think we allowed things to develop in a more natural, band-oriented sort of way".

This remastered version of Vs. features three bonus tracks recorded by Brendan O'Brien at the studio during the Vs. sessions: a previously unreleased version of "Hold On", "Cready Stomp", a previously unreleased studio outtake, and Pearl Jam's cover of Victoria Williams' "Crazy Mary" featuring Wiliams on backing vocals and guitar (this track was previously released on the 1993 tribute album Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams.

Reviews

"Pearl Jam are explosive. Few American bands have arrived more clearly talented than this one did with Ten; and Vs. tops even that debut.
--Paul Evans, Rolling Stone, December 1993