Alive

Pearl Jam, 1991. Solo by Mike McCready.

An outro solo that grew out of an Ace Frehley lick and became the most famous lead of grunge.

Mike McCready's extended coda was overdubbed at Ridge Farm in 1991, and after an edited composite left him unhappy, he delivered the final version in one uninterrupted take. The playing is steeped in Hendrix: heavy wah, whammy-bar dips, wide vibrato and a Uni-Vibe colouring the tone of his worn Stratocaster. McCready has openly said he borrowed the shape of the solo from Ace Frehley's lead on Kiss's 'She', which itself echoed Robby Krieger. Over the repeating outro chords it builds from bluesy phrases to frantic, sustained climaxes, and it showed that grunge had room for classic rock guitar heroics. Listen for the way the solo gathers speed and density as the chords cycle, until it feels like the song is lifting off.

Alive by Pearl Jam is ranked #35 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Mike McCready and the song was released in 1991. It appears on 17 lists, placing as high as #2 (Studio Brussel (VRT public radio, Belgium)).

The story of Alive

"Alive" began as "Dollar Short", an instrumental Stone Gossard wrote in 1990 while he was still in Mother Love Bone. After singer Andrew Wood died of a heroin overdose, Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament regrouped with guitarist Mike McCready and circulated a five-song instrumental demo tape in search of a singer and drummer. That cassette found its way to Eddie Vedder, then working as a security guard for a petroleum company in San Diego.

Vedder wrote words to the demos, recording his vocals at home on a four-track, and mailed the tape back to Seattle. The band, then calling itself Mookie Blaylock, invited him up to join. His lyric for "Dollar Short" became "Alive", a partly true, partly invented story of a young man who learns that the man he believed was his father was not. Vedder later said the second verse was fiction, and the song became the first part of a darker trilogy completed by "Once" and "Footsteps".

The basic track was cut at London Bridge Studio in Seattle in January 1991 with producer Rick Parashar. When the album was being mixed at Ridge Farm in England that June, mixer Tim Palmer asked McCready to add a new guitar solo to the song's long outro. After an edited composite failed to satisfy him, McCready tried again and nailed it in one pass.

Epic released "Alive" as Pearl Jam's debut single on July 7, 1991, ahead of Ten, but for years it was only an import in the United States, where it did not get a commercial single until 1995. It still reached No. 16 on the Mainstream Rock chart and later set a record by spending 61 weeks on Billboard's Bubbling Under chart. A black-and-white video, shot at a Seattle club gig by Josh Taft, helped break the band on MTV.

The solo

The extended coda belongs to Mike McCready, who overdubbed it at Ridge Farm in June 1991 at mixer Tim Palmer's request. Palmer had first stitched together several attempts, but McCready was unhappy, went again and delivered the final version in a single uninterrupted take, with a Uni-Vibe coloring the tone. The playing is steeped in Jimi Hendrix: heavy wah, dips of the whammy bar, wide vibrato and a worn Fender Stratocaster. McCready has openly said he borrowed the shape of the solo from Ace Frehley's lead on Kiss's "She", which itself echoed Robby Krieger's solo on the Doors' "Five to One". The result builds over the repeating outro chords from bluesy phrases to frantic, sustained climaxes. Live, McCready sometimes steers it into the closing solo from Black Sabbath's "War Pigs".

Legacy

Guitar World placed McCready's coda at No. 44 on its 2007 list of the 100 greatest guitar solos, and Total Guitar ranked it No. 26 among the hottest solos in 2006. Rolling Stone put "Alive" at No. 416 on its 2021 list of the 500 greatest songs, and both Kerrang! and American Songwriter rated it the second-best Pearl Jam song. Stone Gossard has admitted the label was unsure about it as a single, yet it became an anthem the band has played more than 880 times, second only to "Even Flow".

Top 10 facts about Alive

Before Pearl Jam existed, the music was an instrumental called "Dollar Short" that Stone Gossard wrote in 1990.
Wikipedia
Eddie Vedder received the band's instrumental demo while working as a security guard in San Diego and wrote lyrics shortly before going surfing.
Wikipedia
Mike McCready recorded the final version of the outro solo in one take after rejecting an earlier edited composite.
Wikipedia
Ace Frehley has noted that the "Alive" solo was based on his solo in Kiss's "She" and the Doors' "Five to One".
Songfacts
The music video, filmed at RKCNDY in Seattle on August 3, 1991, used the live concert audio rather than the studio recording and cost less than $20,000.
Songfacts
Future drummer Dave Abbruzzese first met the band at the video shoot, having just moved from Texas.
Wikipedia
The single was not commercially released in the United States until June 27, 1995, nearly four years after its debut elsewhere.
Songfacts
It spent a record 61 weeks on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart without entering the Hot 100.
Wikipedia
After nine fans died during Pearl Jam's set at Roskilde in June 2000, the band left "Alive" out of its North American shows until the tour's final Seattle date.
Wikipedia
The Alabama bluegrass group Iron Horse recorded a banjo-driven version with four-part harmonies for its album Pickin' on Pearl Jam.
Rolling Stone

Live versions

RKCNDY, Seattle (music video) (1991) The August 3, 1991 club show filmed by Josh Taft for the official video, using live audio.
MTV Unplugged (1992) Acoustic performance later included on the Ten reissue DVD.
Saturday Night Live (1992) April 1992 television appearance during the band's breakthrough year.
VH1 Storytellers (2006) Vedder explained how audiences had lifted the song's original curse-like meaning.
Live at Lollapalooza 2007 (2007) One of several official live releases featuring the song.

Notable covers

Rebecca's Empire (1995) Acoustic version built on ringing open chords and Rebecca Barnard's vocal.
Iron Horse Bluegrass arrangement with banjo and four-part harmony on Pickin' on Pearl Jam.

In our lists

Genre Champions — #13
The Modern Canon: Best Since 1990 — #5
The Road Trip 50 — #7
The 25 Greatest Grunge Guitar Solos — #1
The 1990s — #5
Solos in Hit Singles — #7
Played on a Stratocaster — #15

Sources

What guitar was used on the Alive solo?

A fender stratocaster, with wah, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Alive rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#35 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 17 of them.

Who played the guitar solo on "Alive"?

Mike McCready played the long outro solo, recording the final version in one take in June 1991.

What is "Alive" by Pearl Jam about?

It tells a partly autobiographical story of a young man discovering the truth about his father; Vedder said fans later turned its meaning into something positive.

Who wrote "Alive"?

Stone Gossard wrote the music and Eddie Vedder wrote the lyrics.

What album is "Alive" on?

It appears on Pearl Jam's 1991 debut album Ten and was the band's first single.

Is the "Alive" solo copied from Kiss?

McCready has said he modeled it on Ace Frehley's solo in Kiss's "She", which itself drew on the Doors' "Five to One".