One of the things that seems to be overlooked about Pearl Jam is the role of the drummer. I LOVED Dave Kruzen's drumming. Tribal, behind the beat, I think it's a big part of the sound of Ten and fit perfectly. Abbruzzese was okay, but for me, not impactful. There aren't clear lines here, since Abbruzzese played on most of Vitalogy, and Irons joined after the bulk of the album was complete, but I don't think it's a coincidence that the direction of the two main albums around and following his dismissal for inter-band politics reasons - Vitalogy and No Code - are my least favorite. Those are also the ones where Eddie was basically calling all the shots, and it's only too easy to assume that since Jack Irons was instrumental in bringing Eddie into the band that he was more than willing to go along with Eddie's decisions in the band. Yield is the outlier, but the band has been open with how much that record is a product of Eddie specifically loosening the reins and the band consciously being more collaborative. I'm more of a fan of Matt Cameron, and even if the records with him aren't favorites, the ethos is there, and I've seen the band live (without Ed, as Temple Of The Dog) and they are TIGHT. Really good. Best Zeppelin cover I've ever heard (most suck because most drummers can't really replicate the feel of Bonham and Page playing together in their own little world of "time").
As an aside, I'm not all that hung up on the notion of "grunge"; I can (usually) tell where the influences are, and for the most part, the Seattle influences are similar to mine. Soundgarden - to me - is a protege of Sabbath, Pearl Jam is - to me - a protege of the 70's American rock, like Kiss and Aerosmith, etc. I like "grunge" less and less as it moves away from those familiar touchstones. It's why I (largely) despise Nirvana and, less so, Dave Grohl. Nirvana went out of their way to piss on the very music that influenced them, and pretended that to do so was "cool", and for Dave to now try and celebrate all that music, well, it rings disingenuous to me.