Fan club members can pick up a special edition vinyl and cassette
Pearl Jam and Legacy Recordings will commemorate the 30th anniversary of the band’s seminal sophomore full-length offering, Vs., with a series of special releases.
The project will be available in new vinyl and cassette configurations via various partners on November 17th. Pearl Jam’s own Ten Club features an exclusive 2 LP Dreamsicle (translucent orange with white swirls) color variant vinyl and clear cassette. Target offers its own single LP exclusive clear vinyl, an international clear vinyl will also be available outside of the United States, and a new black 2 LP vinyl will be available in participating retailers.
Additionally, Pearl Jam and Legacy Recordings will unveil a new Atmos Spatial Audio Mix of the album, available tomorrow (Fri, Oct 20th) on Apple Music alongside new visualizer videos for each track on the album. Three new bonus tracks will be available on the digital configurations only.
Pearl Jam arrived like a tidal wave with Ten in 1991, unassumingly emerging as one of the most popular bands in rock music and culture at large. With all eyes on them for a follow-up, the musicians opted to hold nothing back, cut deeper, and deliver a dark and dynamic 12-track opus in the form of Vs. Powered by classics such as the heartbreakingly introspective “Daughter,” acoustic nostalgia of “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town,” primal punked-up fury of “Blood,” and downright raw catharsis of “Leash,” the album found the group at its rawest. From the explosion of “Go” through the poignant exhale of “Indifference,” it traced a journey through insecurity and uncertainty in the face of unwanted fame, stared down heavy themes such as abuse and neurodivergent learning disorders, raised a middle finger to America’s gun obsession and police brutality, tackled the topic of suicide fearlessly, and even managed to let light peek through the cracks with some of the group’s most treasured anthems ever.
In a 1993 Rolling Stone interview with Cameron Crowe, Eddie Vedder shared, “Music is an incredibly powerful medium to deliver a story by. But the best thing is, you have to have volume. You’re supposed to play it loud. I would do anything to be around music. You don’t even have to pay me.”
It also notably marked the first of many albums to be helmed by longtime collaborator Brendan O’Brien, kicking off a now three-decade partnership with the producer. Upon arrival, Vs. smashed records by moving over 950,000 copies during its first five days in stores, eclipsing the sales of the rest of the entire Billboard Top 10 combined. It clinched No. 1 on the respective chart for five weeks, logging the longest run at the top for any Pearl Jam release to date. It held the record for “most albums sold first-week” for the next five years and set the record for “most first-week vinyl sales,” which would stand for the next 20 years.
Moving 10 million units worldwide, Vs. has since gone 7x platinum in the States. Meanwhile, “Daughter” just reached RIAA platinum status, while “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town” has gone gold.
Also, Pearl Jam’s tenth full-length LP and fan favorite Lightning Bolt also celebrates its 10th anniversary this week. It originally dropped on October 15, 2013 and became the group’s fifth No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200. Brendan O’Brien produced Lightning Bolt, and it will be released in Spatial Audio on October 20th as well.
