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Why "Yield" is the best PJ album

darthvedder81darthvedder81 Posts: 688
edited June 2009 in The Porch
I just put this together in my head this morning—"Yield" is PJ's best because it combines all the best elements of their first four albums:

1. The hook-laden hard rock of "Ten"

2. The tight production and energy of "Versus"

3. The garage-rock, raw punk-power of "Vitalogy"

4. The experimentation of "No Code"
So this life is sacrifice...
6/30/98 Minneapolis, 10/8/00 East Troy (Brrrr!), 6/16/03 St. Paul, 6/27/06 St. Paul
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • Greatplainsman...Greatplainsman... Posts: 842
    Mi fav al so. rep resents tha bst yrs of mi lif. amazin jrny! wsh eye re membrd mour.
    IT'S EVOLUTION BABY!!!!!
  • TSLOWTSLOW Posts: 10
    good point -- also interesting to note that even though it combines their different styles, it's a cohesive album. this batch of songs is meant to go together. thanks to brendan o'brien, we might get another like it this year!
  • Snoopy Died For Our SinsSnoopy Died For Our Sins Posts: 2,608
    1234, 1234....sorry

    1234, 1234


    Fucking Brain of J is the shit man!!!!!!!!!

    Fell in love with YIELD the first moment I heard it....still love watching SVT to this day....
    "No way to save someone who won't take the rope,and just lets go..."
  • not for me?not for me? Posts: 501
    But what about No Code? :D
    Nathan
  • hitmanhitman Posts: 469
    36 year old PJ addict wrote:
    1234, 1234....sorry

    1234, 1234


    Fucking Brain of J is the shit man!!!!!!!!!

    Fell in love with YIELD the first moment I heard it....still love watching SVT to this day....

    dude is that your guitar?? nice, if it is....
  • mattcozmattcoz Chicago Posts: 2,220
    Greatplainsman... wrote:
    Mi fav al so. rep resents tha bst yrs of mi lif. amazin jrny! wsh eye re membrd mour.
    English please.
    1998: East Troy 2000: East Troy, Rosemont 2003: Champaign 2006: Chicago (UC), Milwaukee 2007: Chicago (Lolla) 2009: Chicago (UC), Chicago (UC) 2010: Noblesville 2011: East Troy (PJ20), East Troy (PJ20) 2013: Chicago (WF), Seattle 2014: St. Louis 2016: Chicago (WF), Chicago (WF) 2018: Chicago (WF), Chicago (WF) 2022: St. Louis 2023: Chicago (UC), Chicago (UC) 2024: Chicago (WF), Chicago (WF)
    Coming soon... 2025: Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh
  • megatronmegatron Posts: 3,420
    not for me? wrote:
    But what about No Code? :D
    +1 :D
  • AtlantaJammerAtlantaJammer Posts: 2,611
    mattcoz wrote:
    Greatplainsman... wrote:
    Mi fav al so. rep resents tha bst yrs of mi lif. amazin jrny! wsh eye re membrd mour.
    English please.


    He must have the text version of the forum. 8-)
  • Snoopy Died For Our SinsSnoopy Died For Our Sins Posts: 2,608
    BH71937 wrote:
    36 year old PJ addict wrote:
    1234, 1234....sorry

    1234, 1234


    Fucking Brain of J is the shit man!!!!!!!!!

    Fell in love with YIELD the first moment I heard it....still love watching SVT to this day....

    dude is that your guitar?? nice, if it is....

    Yup...my '58 Lester.....

    And, Thank You...
    "No way to save someone who won't take the rope,and just lets go..."
  • Brisk.Brisk. Posts: 11,567
    But not the brilliance of Binaural ;)
  • blondieblue227blondieblue227 Va, USA Posts: 4,509
    I like how the songs flow into one another.
    *~Pearl Jam will be blasted from speakers until morale improves~*

  • BC18033BC18033 Posts: 19
    Jack Irons
  • lukin14lukin14 Posts: 287
    blondieblue227 wrote:
    I like how the songs flow into one another.


    i agree. to me this album feels whole.
    life is the study of dyin'
    and how to do it right
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  • darthvedder81darthvedder81 Posts: 688
    BC18033 wrote:
    Jack Irons

    I'm not a fan overall of the style Jack Irons brought to the band but it actually works to his advantage on "Yield" with his spacey, Zeppelinesque sound.
    So this life is sacrifice...
    6/30/98 Minneapolis, 10/8/00 East Troy (Brrrr!), 6/16/03 St. Paul, 6/27/06 St. Paul
  • Snoopy Died For Our SinsSnoopy Died For Our Sins Posts: 2,608
    +1
    "No way to save someone who won't take the rope,and just lets go..."
  • brolocobroloco Posts: 1,237
    why it's not:

    1. It doesn't have better packaging then Vitalogy.

    2. It contains throwaway songs such as Red Dot and Hummus.

    3. There aren't any quiet, soulful ballads quite like on No Code.

    4. Compared to Vs. it cannot pack a more agressive punch.


    (I'm just messin' with you. come on now...there is no "Best" PJ album...they're all great. :D )
  • rival.rival. Chicago Posts: 7,775
    BC18033 wrote:
    Jack Irons

    and there is the correct answer.
  • LONGRDLONGRD Posts: 6,036
    It's the album that best describe Pearl Jam's style.
    PJ- 04/29/2003.06/24,25,27,28,30/2008.10/27,28,30,31/2009
    EV- 08/09,10/2008.06/08,09/2009
  • Murderers.Murderers. Posts: 1,382
    broloco wrote:
    why it's not:

    1. It doesn't have better packaging then Vitalogy.

    2. It contains throwaway songs such as Red Dot and Hummus.

    3. There aren't any quiet, soulful ballads quite like on No Code.

    4. Compared to Vs. it cannot pack a more agressive punch.


    (I'm just messin' with you. come on now...there is no "Best" PJ album...they're all great. :D )
    1. Doesn't change the music.

    2. Those songs fitted the style and flow of the album, and hummus is only a bonus track.

    3. Given To Fly, Wishlist, Low Light.

    4. Debateable.
    What the fuck is this world?
  • SmellymanSmellyman Asia Posts: 4,527
    Murderers wrote:
    broloco wrote:
    why it's not:

    1. It doesn't have better packaging then Vitalogy.

    2. It contains throwaway songs such as Red Dot and Hummus.

    3. There aren't any quiet, soulful ballads quite like on No Code.

    4. Compared to Vs. it cannot pack a more agressive punch.


    (I'm just messin' with you. come on now...there is no "Best" PJ album...they're all great. :D )
    1. Doesn't change the music.

    2. Those songs fitted the style and flow of the album, and hummus is only a bonus track.

    3. Given To Fly, Wishlist, Low Light.

    4. Debateable.

    3. All those yesterdays. Great tune.

    and this vid make me dig Push me Pull me

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk87god75RU
  • twojawastwojawas Posts: 318
    I gave the self-titled album a really good listen today and have to say that it is a great album whereas I hadn't thought so before. I still think Riot Act is awful

    Yield is great but Ten will always be special for me followed by No Code tied with Vitalogy.
    My Pearl Jam concert footage:
    http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=twojawas&search_query=pearl+jam&search=Search
  • pleathermanpleatherman Posts: 472
    As Eddie put it, "It's less challenging. It's a good, mainstream record." Yield certainly leans towards a riff heavy sound reminiscent of Ten and Vs. However, I find the album on a whole is much too mid-tempo for it to be considered raw and aggressive, with a few notable exceptions. Sidenote, Do the Evolution was quickly written at the end to compensate for the perceived lack of aggression on the album. My guess is it may also explain why 'Brain of J.F.K' made it onto the tracklist despite it being written in 1995. You see, it may be true partially written songs, like 'parting ways' and 'severed hand', can take years to show up but I can't think of another completed song that didn't make it onto a record after a year or so. Anyways, the quiet verse followed by distortion laden chorus was the dynamic with several songs on Yield but when I think of hard rock, I lean towards stuff like 'Go' or 'Comatose', not 'No Way' or 'Faithfull'. I also think the classic rock sound and slick production prevents it from being associated with anything remotely like garage rock. And while Yield is more straightforward, it does still capitalize on the creative growth from No Code. For example, 'wishlist' is very much related to 'sometimes' and 'given to fly' does make for a worthy succesor to 'in my tree'. In terms of performance, the songs never truly take off. For one thing, having Jack Irons on drums for No Code and Mirrorball was great, but his playing on a straight ahead pearl jam rock album seemed a bit basic and subdued. The pulse-pounding Matt Cameron brought later on makes a world of difference. The bootlegs from the U.S. '98 shows can attest to that. The lack of touring during that era added with the need to cut out what was considered the "fat"(-Stone's word, not mine) dominant on No Code also could have contributed to a more sterile quality in the music.
    So that is why "Yield" isn't their best. Let it be said it is still one of my favorite summer albums. Oh, quick little pieces of trivia. Jeff doesn't play on two of the tracks. That is Stone cranking out the bass on 'No Way' and 'Evolution'. Also, Yield is one of the first albums to be notoriously leaked on the internet prior to its release.
  • brolocobroloco Posts: 1,237
    Murderers wrote:
    broloco wrote:
    why it's not:

    1. It doesn't have better packaging then Vitalogy.

    2. It contains throwaway songs such as Red Dot and Hummus.

    3. There aren't any quiet, soulful ballads quite like on No Code.

    4. Compared to Vs. it cannot pack a more agressive punch.


    (I'm just messin' with you. come on now...there is no "Best" PJ album...they're all great. :D )
    1. Doesn't change the music. weak. there is a reason people talk about St. Peppers after all these years.

    2. Those songs fitted the style and flow of the album, and hummus is only a bonus track. weak. They do NOT fit the style and flow of the album. they drag down a nice clean, rockin' record.
    3. Given To Fly, Wishlist, Low Light. weak. Given to Fly is not a ballad.

    4. Debateable. weak



    you got nothing fool.
  • dimitrispearljamdimitrispearljam Posts: 139,721
    EASY ONE...THERE WILL NEVER BE BETTER ALBUM THAN TEN..
    "...Dimitri...He talks to me...'.."The Ghost of Greece..".
    "..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
    “..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
  • LikeAnOceanLikeAnOcean Posts: 7,718
    My first impression of Yield was that it sounded NOTHING like their previous albums, but to each their own.
  • ....Shackles31........Shackles31.... Posts: 272
    BC18033 wrote:
    Jack Irons

    Enough said.
  • davidtriosdavidtrios Posts: 9,732
    Yield is No Code's leftovers. BOW DOW!
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