I just removed the four "experimental songs" and didn't really think about them again. Guess I should/Could have included bugs - Eddie sings on it and they have played it live. But Stupid Mop BLOWS bugs out of the water.
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
How do you get to 5 stars for an album when the song ratings average way less??
I considered an album as a whole and the individual collection of songs to be two separate things.
Sometimes an album is just a collection of songs though, like when Brendan O'Brien works with Pearl Jam in 2008/2009. And sometimes an album is one entity that belongs together, together, together like when Rick Parashar works with Pearl Jam in 1990/1991.
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
After a short detour recording an album with Neil Young, Pearl Jam released their fourth studio album No Code.
Held in high regard amongst the die hard fans and considered a turning point where Pearl Jam actively pushed against their fame, their career and their fans expectations.
I’d argue that in the mix is also a "slump" that started with Vitalogy - for the general listener then two albums removed from the Ten-sound they fell in love with. And also, a pinch of ”we’re a successful rock band, we can do whatever we want and people will follow”-hubris like KISS with The Elder.
(Who You Are might have been a bad first single, but wouldn’t Hail Hail have needed more punch to the vocals to become a first single hit?)
Post edited by Spiritual_Chaos on
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
I remember hating on No Code so hard when it came out. I was 15 and riding high on ten and vs.
If exiting the media spotlight was the intention, Who You Are was a good choice for a first single. If it wasn’t, I think Off He Goes would be the song to push. That song was the only song from this album that resonated with me for several years after the release.
I wanted to love this album so bad, but the departure was to great for my taste and expectations at the time.
I think 3 stars is fair. I have grown to like the album more in later years, but I have never found the huge love for it like many other fans have.
I'm sure I have posted this before but I often feel the love for No Code is akin to protecting a child who you love dearly but seems to be weaker than its older siblings.
I'm sure I have posted this before but I often feel the love for No Code is akin to protecting a child who you love dearly but seems to be weaker than its older siblings.
I remember No Code divided fans quite a bit back in the late 90’s. If you loved No Code, you were part of an elite fan group who understood more about music. Suddenly the people who loved ten were plastic fans simply riding the bandwagon.
Pretty funny to think back. Many fans got crazy defensive with this album, like a child needing protection as you sort of mention.
Red Mosquito and Off He Goes from LO2L are two of my favourite live tracks post 1998.
I'm sure I have posted this before but I often feel the love for No Code is akin to protecting a child who you love dearly but seems to be weaker than its older siblings.
It is possible to love No Code without tearing another album down or making other fans feel like plastic fans. It’s #2 for me right behind yield. Loved it from the beginning
I agree with respect to liking one thing without putting down another. Similarly the idea of different classes of fans is also somewhat ludicrous. I loved No Code at the time and still do. For me it doesn’t quite reach favourite status, as that’s either Binaural or S/T in my opinion. That said, present tense, in my tree, and smile would stack up against the top 3 from any one of their other albums for me.
No Code - Overall a generous/biased four stars Sometimes - 4 stars Hail, Hail - 5 stars Who You Are - 4 stars In My Tree - 5 stars Smile - 3 stars Off He Goes - 3.5 stars (much better live) Habit - 3.5 stars Red Mosquito - 3.5 stars Lukin - 3 stars Present Tense - 4 stars (much better live) (album should end here) Mankind - 2.5 stars I’m Open - 1 star Around the Bend - 3 stars
I understand your lack of love for No Code. I
remember it coming out, and how confused and even angry I was when Who You Are
came out as the first single - ‘what the fcuk are you doing?!’ I can remember saying
aloud when I first played it.
Then when I got the whole album I found it to
be really underwhelming and disappointing. I was 18 at the time and just really
wanted more of the loud, high tempo, high intensity belters that first grabbed
my attention from Ten and Vs, and this album kind of made me feel like I was mourning
the death of that version of the band.
I did get to see them live for the first time
ever when they toured Europe for it (me and a mate took a trip to Paris cos we couldn’t
get tickets to their UK show) and that gave me some appreciation for certain
tracks but for me it was still a disappointment and not at all what I wanted at
the time.
Over the years I of course came to appreciate
it and now I absolutely love it and it’s one of my favourite albums ever to
actually just listen to the whole album all of the way through from start to
finish (something I actually hardly ever do with Ten and Vs nowadays – probably
because of how often I hear all those tracks on the various live versions I
listen to on playlists etc).
So today No Code would get 4 or 5 stars out of
5 from me, where as when it first came out it probably would have only been 2.
YIELD (1998) Good rocking album with some left over weirdness from No Code. One can really start to seperate Pearl Jam live and Pearl Jam studio. Given to Fly is held back vocally/mixing wise on the studio version compared to live and the starkest difference comes with Do The Evolution - the lo-fi filter used on Eddies voice gives it a cool garagey vibe but it severly lacks the power of the live version. Faithful, Low Light and All Those Yesterdays are beautiful but somewhat overlooked songs. Pilate is a cool number made less cool by its hokey chorus and Push Me, Pull Me is great. Happy I got to see it live in 2010.
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
BINAURAL (2000) Pearl Jam left producer Brendan O’Brien for Binaural to instead work with producer Tchad Blake and his 3D ”binaural” recording technique. There is a distinct mood and identity to this album, most noticeable in the slower numbers (which also are the standouts). Just like Nirvana did with the In Utero album Pearl Jam remixed some songs without the original producer before release. So it would be interesting to someday hear Tchad Blake’s original mix and his sequencing (with the cut songs Fatal and Sad I’m guessing being included). Fun fact: Britney Spears beat it from reaching no 1 on the US billboard list. First Pearl Jam album to not do so since Ten.
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
Indifference is raw and great on the album. Never heard a live version where it doesn't lack that something that makes it on the album.
The problem with Indifference today is that they play it after the house lights are on, as the send off song. That's a different vibe than the record. The only exception was Greenville since they were playing the album in order. I thought it was wonderful to see to that song in the dark, how it's supposed to be.
Indifference is raw and great on the album. Never heard a live version where it doesn't lack that something that makes it on the album.
The problem with Indifference today is that they play it after the house lights are on, as the send off song. That's a different vibe than the record. The only exception was Greenville since they were playing the album in order. I thought it was wonderful to see to that i song in the dark, how it's supposed to be.
I agree! I would love for them to go back to playing it early in the second encore in the dark. It was the first closer that I ever heard and one of my favourite songs but the Worcester version just sounded ok to me. The next time I heard it in Prague 2018 it sounded so much better. They nailed it there imo.
It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall when the idea of cutting Sad and Fatal was introduced. Can’t see everyone in the band being super comfortable with that idea. Replace God’s Dice and Rival, and you have a top 4 pj album as far as I am concerned.
Would also have loved to see them get something out of Thunderclap and those other interesting instrumentals from the DVD of that tour.
I once dreamt binaural was a double album. Perhaps it could have been if they weren’t distracted with this recording experiment.
Anyway, binaural is a solid album! The stretch from light years to grievance is fantastic!
It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall when the idea of cutting Sad and Fatal was introduced. Can’t see everyone in the band being super comfortable with that idea. Replace God’s Dice and Rival, and you have a top 4 pj album as far as I am concerned.
Would also have loved to see them get something out of Thunderclap and those other interesting instrumentals from the DVD of that tour.
I once dreamt binaural was a double album. Perhaps it could have been if they weren’t distracted with this recording experiment.
Anyway, binaural is a solid album! The stretch from light years to grievance is fantastic!
I always wondered why songs have to get cut. They could have had Sad, Fatal, God's Dice and Rival all on the album and it would have all fit imo. We are lucky we still got to hear those two great songs but I wonder what else we are missing out on that did not make the cut and we do not get a Lost Dogs 2.
It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall when the idea of cutting Sad and Fatal was introduced. Can’t see everyone in the band being super comfortable with that idea. Replace God’s Dice and Rival, and you have a top 4 pj album as far as I am concerned.
Would also have loved to see them get something out of Thunderclap and those other interesting instrumentals from the DVD of that tour.
I once dreamt binaural was a double album. Perhaps it could have been if they weren’t distracted with this recording experiment.
Anyway, binaural is a solid album! The stretch from light years to grievance is fantastic!
same camp here.. I don't love the first three songs on the record, but Light Years to the end is phenomenal to me. I do like Rival a lot as well. But adding Sad and Fatal would have jumped Binaural to almost the top for me.
Light Years is an amazing song that somehow lacks something. Maybe a stronger hook, maybe different production. I don’t know what it is because on paper and reading the lyrics it is amazing but then when you hear it one knob in the puzzle of the song needs to be turned a different way.
maybe it is because the demo sounded too much like given to fly (according to the band) and they had to change it just to change it
Post edited by Spiritual_Chaos on
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
Light Years is an amazing song that somehow lacks something. Maybe a stronger hook, maybe different production. I don’t know what it is because on paper and reading the lyrics it is amazing but then when you hear it one knob in the puzzle of the song needs to be turned a different way.
maybe it is because the demo sounded too much like given to fly (according to the band) and they had to change it just to change it
I agree it lacks something on the record. It sounds amazing on bootlegs though
When I first got my hands on Binaural I was really into the up-tempo songs like Breakerfall, God's Dice and Grievance. The more time I spend with this record, the more I love Light Years, Thin Air, Of the Girl, Slight of Hand and Parting Ways. Nothing As It Seems is much better live than it is in the studio, imo. The one song I didn't appreciate until recently is Insignificance. I think it's the most interesting track on the album musically and lyrically.
I wish I was a sacrifice, but somehow still lived on.
It would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall when the idea of cutting Sad and Fatal was introduced. Can’t see everyone in the band being super comfortable with that idea. Replace God’s Dice and Rival, and you have a top 4 pj album as far as I am concerned.
Would also have loved to see them get something out of Thunderclap and those other interesting instrumentals from the DVD of that tour.
I once dreamt binaural was a double album. Perhaps it could have been if they weren’t distracted with this recording experiment.
Anyway, binaural is a solid album! The stretch from light years to grievance is fantastic!
same camp here.. I don't love the first three songs on the record, but Light Years to the end is phenomenal to me. I do like Rival a lot as well. But adding Sad and Fatal would have jumped Binaural to almost the top for me.
Pretty much the way I am (first 3 songs are just OK at best). But minus those and add Sad & Fatal? WOW!!
Indifference is raw and great on the album. Never heard a live version where it doesn't lack that something that makes it on the album.
The problem with Indifference today is that they play it after the house lights are on, as the send off song. That's a different vibe than the record. The only exception was Greenville since they were playing the album in order. I thought it was wonderful to see to that i song in the dark, how it's supposed to be.
I agree! I would love for them to go back to playing it early in the second encore in the dark. It was the first closer that I ever heard and one of my favourite songs but the Worcester version just sounded ok to me. The next time I heard it in Prague 2018 it sounded so much better. They nailed it there imo.
Comments
Sometimes an album is just a collection of songs though, like when Brendan O'Brien works with Pearl Jam in 2008/2009. And sometimes an album is one entity that belongs together, together, together like when Rick Parashar works with Pearl Jam in 1990/1991.
PEARL JAM - NO CODE (1996)
If exiting the media spotlight was the intention, Who You Are was a good choice for a first single. If it wasn’t, I think Off He Goes would be the song to push. That song was the only song from this album that resonated with me for several years after the release.
Sometimes - 4 stars
Hail, Hail - 5 stars
Who You Are - 4 stars
In My Tree - 5 stars
Smile - 3 stars
Off He Goes - 3.5 stars (much better live)
Habit - 3.5 stars
Red Mosquito - 3.5 stars
Lukin - 3 stars
Present Tense - 4 stars (much better live)
(album should end here)
Mankind - 2.5 stars
I’m Open - 1 star
Around the Bend - 3 stars
I understand your lack of love for No Code. I remember it coming out, and how confused and even angry I was when Who You Are came out as the first single - ‘what the fcuk are you doing?!’ I can remember saying aloud when I first played it.
Then when I got the whole album I found it to be really underwhelming and disappointing. I was 18 at the time and just really wanted more of the loud, high tempo, high intensity belters that first grabbed my attention from Ten and Vs, and this album kind of made me feel like I was mourning the death of that version of the band.
I did get to see them live for the first time ever when they toured Europe for it (me and a mate took a trip to Paris cos we couldn’t get tickets to their UK show) and that gave me some appreciation for certain tracks but for me it was still a disappointment and not at all what I wanted at the time.
Over the years I of course came to appreciate it and now I absolutely love it and it’s one of my favourite albums ever to actually just listen to the whole album all of the way through from start to finish (something I actually hardly ever do with Ten and Vs nowadays – probably because of how often I hear all those tracks on the various live versions I listen to on playlists etc).
So today No Code would get 4 or 5 stars out of 5 from me, where as when it first came out it probably would have only been 2.
YIELD (1998)
Good rocking album with some left over weirdness from No Code. One can really start to seperate Pearl Jam live and Pearl Jam studio. Given to Fly is held back vocally/mixing wise on the studio version compared to live and the starkest difference comes with Do The Evolution - the lo-fi filter used on Eddies voice gives it a cool garagey vibe but it severly lacks the power of the live version. Faithful, Low Light and All Those Yesterdays are beautiful but somewhat overlooked songs. Pilate is a cool number made less cool by its hokey chorus and Push Me, Pull Me is great. Happy I got to see it live in 2010.
Brain of J - 5 stars
Faithfull - 5 stars
No Way - 3 stars
Given To Fly - 5 stars
Wishlist - 3 stars
Pilate - 1 star
Do The Evolution - 5 stars
MFC - 4 stars
Low Light - 3 stars
In Hiding - 4.5 stars
PMPM - 2 stars
All Those Yesterdays - 3.5 stars
BINAURAL (2000)
Pearl Jam left producer Brendan O’Brien for Binaural to instead work with producer Tchad Blake and his 3D ”binaural” recording technique. There is a distinct mood and identity to this album, most noticeable in the slower numbers (which also are the standouts). Just like Nirvana did with the In Utero album Pearl Jam remixed some songs without the original producer before release. So it would be interesting to someday hear Tchad Blake’s original mix and his sequencing (with the cut songs Fatal and Sad I’m guessing being included). Fun fact: Britney Spears beat it from reaching no 1 on the US billboard list. First Pearl Jam album to not do so since Ten.
maybe it is because the demo sounded too much like given to fly (according to the band) and they had to change it just to change it
Still, love the Album.
great tight rocker with good enough lyrics for what it is. better than maaaany other similar rockers from the band.