vs.jpg1993: October 19
Pearl Jam’s second album, Vs., is released
A week after Pearl Jam’s second album, Vs., is released on vinyl, it hits CD (and cassette!) bins—and number one on the Billboard chart. In its first week, the aggressive-punctuated-with-acoustic album sets a SoundScan record with sales of 950,378. Proving that the Seattle band is more than a pop culture phenomenon and flash in the grunge pan, Pearl Jam’s sophomore effort stays atop the chart for five weeks (without the support of music videos) and achieves platinum status—seven times over. The album produces several successful singles, including the somber “Daughter” and manic “Go.”

2004: October 19
Heart re-releases A Lovemongers’ Christmas
The Lovemongers, an acoustic side project formed in 1991 by Heart sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson (with Sue Ennis and Frank Cox), first releases a holiday album in 1998, under the title Here Is Christmas. In 2001, the album—which features mainly original songs including “Here Is Christmas” and “How Beautiful”—is reissued as Heart Presents A Lovemongers’ Christmas. In October 2004, the album is repackaged once more, though it retains the previous Heart title. For good measure, a new edition is released in 2008.

2002: October 22
Death Cab For Cutie’s You Can Play These Songs With Chords is reissued
In 1997, Benjamin Gibbard is Death Cab For Cutie, and his first release is an eight-song Elsinor cassette dubbed You Can Play These Songs With Chords. Due to its success, Gibbard forms a complete band with Chris Walla on guitar, Nick Harmer on bass and Nathan Good on drums. Three studio albums later, on the heels of the band’s The Photo Album, Death Cab’s label, Barsuk, tacks 10 bonus tracks onto the first album and reissues it on CD for the first time.

1993: October 24
Alice in Chains’ tour stops in Nagoya, Japan
In September 1992, Alice in Chains’ second studio album, Dirt, is released and the band tours behind it for over a year. After a long, national ride with Lollapalooza III—which will be singer Layne Staley’s last major tour with the band—AIC continues on the road. After more shows in the US, the band lands in Europe, then stops in Japan before going south to Australia. Their third and last stop in Japan is at Club Quatro in Nagoya, where Staley mistakenly greets “Osaka,” then corrects himself. The moment is caught on the band’s 2000 live album Live, where “Dirt” is subtitled the “Drunk and Disorderly Version.”

2005: October 25
Jack Endino’s long-delayed Permanent Fatal Error is released
Twelve years after the prodigious producer’s Endino’s Earthworm showcases Jack Endino’s gruff voice and instrumental skills—he plays guitar, bass and drums—his third solo album hits the street. As Endino recently told Sound, Permanent Fatal Error finally gelled after “a long and painful process, interrupted by multiple funerals, suicides and divorces.” The album is a 15-track rock assault featuring former Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin, former Coffin Break bassist Rob Skinner and the rhythm section of the Accused, among other contributors. While maintaining the raw guitar edge of his early-90s productions (Nirvana’s Bleach, Mudhoney’s Superfuzz Bigmuff, etc.), his third effort also touches on metal, garage and punk. (Look for a Q&A with Jack Endino later this week.)

*During its grunge days, “Seattle” was anywhere from Aberdeen to Ellensburg. That’s our measurement.