Vs. (pronounced versus) is the second studio album by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released on October 19, 1993, through Epic Records.

The resulting album, Vs., featured a rawer and more aggressive sound compared with the band's previous release.

Pearl Jam decided to scale back its promotional efforts for Vs., including declining to produce music videos for any of the album's singles.

Vs. received critical acclaim and has been certified 7× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of at least seven million copies in the United States.

Abbruzzese called the tranquil recording site "paradise" while the singer Eddie Vedder said, "I fucking hate it here ...

The guitarist Stone Gossard said, "I think we allowed things to develop in a more natural, band-oriented sort of way, rather than me bringing in a bunch of stuff that was already arranged."

[3] In order to keep up his intensity, Vedder traveled into San Francisco and began sleeping in his truck,[3] as well as the sauna at the recording studio.

"[10] Besides the heavier songs, the album features two acoustic ballads in "Daughter" and "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town".

"[12] Topics on the album include child abuse ("Daughter"), gun culture ("Glorified G"), police racism ("W.M.A.

was inspired by an incident that happened outside Pearl Jam's rehearsal studio in which Vedder got into an altercation with a group of police officers who hassled a black friend of his but ignored him.

[1] The album sold 950,378 copies in its first five days of release, which set a record for the most copies of an album sold in its first week of release since SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991, surpassing the record held by Use Your Illusion II by Guns N' Roses in 1991, and outperformed all other entries in the Billboard top ten that week combined.

[25] The album has been certified 7× platinum by the RIAA,[26] and, as of July 2013, has sold 7,400,000 copies in the United States according to Nielsen SoundScan.

[27] Rolling Stone staff writer Paul Evans gave Vs. a favorable review, saying, "Few American bands have arrived more clearly talented than this one did with Ten; and Vs. tops even that debut."

He added, "Like Jim Morrison and Pete Townshend, Vedder makes a forte of his psychological-mythic explorations ... As guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready paint dense and slashing backdrops, he invites us into a drama of experiment and strife.

"[28] AllMusic staff writer Steve Huey gave the album four out of five stars, saying "Vs. may not reach the majestic heights of Ten, but at least half the record stands with Pearl Jam's best work.

[29] Pearl Jam made a conscious decision beginning with the release of Vs. to scale back its commercial efforts.

The Expanded Version features three bonus tracks recorded by Brendan O'Brien at The Site studio during the Vs. sessions: a previously unreleased acoustic version of "Hold On", "Cready Stomp" - a previously unreleased studio outtake, and the band's cover of Victoria Williams' "Crazy Mary" featuring Williams on backing vocals and guitar, which had previously been issued on the 1993 tribute album, Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams.

The three-CD Deluxe Edition features both the Legacy Versions of Vs. and Vitalogy with their bonus tracks and a copy of Live at the Orpheum Theater, Boston, April 12, 1994.

[33] The album's cover art, photographed by Ament, features a black-and-white picture of an angora goat from Lifeline Farm in Victor, Montana.

[8] The album booklet contains additional drawings and writings by Vedder, including one page apparently doodled at a business meeting that says "I will never trust anybody again.

The band's April 3, 1994, concert in Atlanta at the Fox Theatre was broadcast live on the radio in the United States.

[43] A few days later, the body of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain was found in his home in Seattle due to an apparent suicide, which deeply affected Vedder.

[46] Following the tour, the band brought a lawsuit against Ticketmaster that accused them of being a monopoly whose anticompetitive practices allowed markup prices of more than 30%.

[48] On April 16, 2016, at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, Pearl Jam played the entire album in order as part of the band's set.

The penultimate show of the Vs. tour, this concert featured some songs from the upcoming follow-up album Vitalogy.

The CD omits eight songs from the original performance: "State of Love and Trust", "Hard to Imagine", "Go", "Animal", "Alone", "Better Man", "Yellow Ledbetter", "I've Got a Feeling" (The Beatles cover).

Two songs recorded during the sessions but left off the album later appeared on the band's follow-up Vitalogy: "Whipping" and "Better Man".

"Crazy Mary" appeared on the 1993 tribute album, Sweet Relief: A Benefit for Victoria Williams, and later on the 2011 Vs. reissue, as a bonus track.