After the death of Andy Wood, the member of Seattle's Mother Love Bone attempted to pick up the pieces and move forward.
Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Mike McCready, would record a five-song instrumental demo, with help from Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron. A copy of the demo ended up in the hands of Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Jack Irons, who was friends with Eddie Vedder. Irons gave Vedder the demo, and Eddie wrote lyrics and recorded himself singing on three of the songs, which became "Alive", "Once", and "Footsteps". After, hearing Vedder's voice and the lyrics, the band invited Eddie to Seattle where they were recording with Cameron & Chris Cornell on the eventual Temple Of The Dog project. Vedder would add his voice to the song "Hunger Strike" and Vedder became part of the band.
Vedder's inclusion would reshape the band into Pearl Jam and the group would add Dave Krusen on drums and begin work on their debut album "Ten"! Unlike, the apocalyptic sounding, Soundgarden, and the angst fueled punk of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, had a stronger Hard Rock foundation, which separated them from the rest of the grunge bands on the scene. Ten, would be a slow burn after it's August 27th release, but with each single it picked up steam rapidly. "Alive", and "Even Flow" both gave the band widespread attention, but it was "Jeremy" that drove them into superstardom. The song, became their best-known hit, and the controversial video that came with it made them the band of the year. If Nirvana's "Nevermid" killed Hair Metal on the rock charts, then Ten salted the earth behind it. The emotional soul of the album made Pearl Jam the new conciense of rock music, as Ten would be ranked as one of the greatest of all time.