I don't remember listening to No Code for the first time and thinking it was particularly different or weird. I certainly do remember listening to Vitalogy for the first time, hearing Bugs and thinking that was weird. 22 years later I still do.
Well, I'm a little older - was mid-30's when No Code was released. When it came out it caused me to take a PJ break. There was so much great local music happening in the clubs around Seattle, and I thought PJ had gone off the rails a little bit. Incohesive, and incoherent. I obviously came around, but No Code was definitely a grower for me (absolutely LOVE it now, btw). Ten hooked me the first time I heard it.
This is how I felt about No Code when it first came out. I didn't start appreciating it, and the albums that followed, until I started hearing the boots. The songs on the album were to slow for my taste at that time, hearing them on the boots is what brought me back.
That's what did it for me. Hearing the songs live pulled me in, and I went back to the album to give it another try. I'm like that with a lot of studio albums, though. I much prefer live music
"I'll use the magic word - let's just shut the fuck up, please." EV, 04/13/08
The weirdness of No Code immediately grabbed me. I remember MTV News did a central park listener reaction segment and nobody liked it. i loved it
Is No Code even weird? I fell in love with it the second I heard it, but I never thought it was a weird album. It's nowhere near as weird as Vitalogy, and that album was a mega hit.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy. ~ Desiderata
I would've liked to have seen this poll, just after No Code was released. What would the results have been then?
Ten in a landslide?
Probably. I liked No Code from day 1. But it took a long, long time before I really appreciated how great and important it is. I voted for Ten, but had to think about it. In the 1990s, I'd have said "I like No Code, but this is a no-brainer."
1995 Milwaukee 1998 Alpine, Alpine 2003 Albany, Boston, Boston, Boston 2004 Boston, Boston 2006 Hartford, St. Paul (Petty), St. Paul (Petty) 2011 Alpine, Alpine 2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
Well, Ten is the one that can instantly take me back to my college days, so it's tough not to vote for that one. No Code is not one that I liked immediately, but over time it has been one that I go back to more frequently than the ones that I loved (and subsequently got a little tired of) in my younger days. Plus, having been in attendance at Moline, it now brings a whole new context into the mix (my 5th PJ show, tickets that I bought for myself as a b-day present, taking my sister to her first PJ show). I voted No Code, but I could probably change that vote 20 times if I thought about it for another 20 minutes.
Comments
Ten in a landslide?
If I had know then what I know now................
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
2013 Wrigley 2014 St. Paul 2016 Fenway, Fenway, Wrigley, Wrigley 2018 Missoula, Wrigley, Wrigley 2021 Asbury Park 2022 St Louis 2023 Austin, Austin
"...I changed by not changing at all..."
124 for Ten
124 for No Code