10. No Code/Yield Reissues
We would have liked for this to be #1 this year. Pearl Jam's reissues of Ten, Vs., and Vitalogy were epic. They were beautifully curated boxes full of music, video, shows, and memorabilia. Pearl Jam celebrated the 20th anniversary of No Code (and 18th anniversary of Yield) with remastered vinyl issues of each. They also made 7" reissues of the singles available, including Hail, Hail, never before available on vinyl.
We're happy to have those albums back in print, but given the lack of any b-sides, unreleased tracks, demos, or deep cuts; the lack of any great show releases (unless you dropped extra cash for the Vault release); and the lack of even any new packaging this move gets a thumbs up, but still ends up at the end of a list of more exciting moments for the year.
9. RNDM - Ghost Riding
There is a not small contingent of Pearl Jam fans who feel Jeff Ament needs to do more writing for the band. Those fans were vindicated by this past March's release of Ghost Riding, the second release by, RNDM, Jeff's side project with Joseph Arthur on vocals and Richard Stuverud on drums.
The band followed up with a short, two-week tour through small clubs in the US and Canada. Jeff was the only Pearl Jam member to record a full-length album in 2016, so we feel a little bad assigning this the status of #9, but there are some great moments yet to come this week.
Come back tomorrow for #8 and #7!
