Yield: The Epitome of Life .. The way I see it as a concept album ..

Spot In The Sky

Hold On wrote:

OK, you're going to hate me here, but I'm going to offer a different opinion based simply on my history with PJ going back to my days living in Seattle from 1990 to 1992 during Pearl Jam's rising and moving back to Seattle in 1996 and living there through 1999, when Yield came out. I actually started to drift away from Pearl Jam when Yield first came out, but got right back into them because of their live performances at Memorial Stadium in the summer of 98. I walked away from those shows knowing that PJ was still the best band in the world.

When Yield came out I listened to it over and over and over trying to capture the same feeling and interest level I had with Ten or Vs. or Vitalogy but couldn't. Yield has grown on me over the years, and today I would rank it somewhere in the middle of PJ albums, but not at the top.

Brain of J - Good opening rocker

Faithfull - I used to dislike this song, but now I love it. The thing that really changed this song for me was watching them jam to it on the Single Video Theory CD

No Way - Mediocre song within the PJ catalogue. Has not been played often live, so it has a higher interest level than most songs, but aside from that, mediocre.

Given to Fly - Used to think this was mediocre, but this song has grown on me and is great when performed live, so now it's high on my list.

Wishlist - Never liked this song and never will. "Wishlist" is to Pearl Jam what "With or without you" is to U2. It just doesn't touch me.

Pilate - OK song. Doesn't really stand out in any way.

Evolution - Another song I never was crazy about. Ed has an amazing baritone voice, so I'm just not crazy about the songs where Ed basically screams rather than sings, so songs like Blood and Evolution never really did it for me.

Red Dot - Throwaway filler.

Low Light - Sorry, but this is just too slow and puts me to sleep everytime I hear it or see it live.

In Hiding - Best song on the album and one of my 10 favorite PJ songs of all time.

Push Me, Pull Me - Another throwaway filler.

All Those Yesterdays - Starts a bit slow and somewhat boring, but has a nice tempo change midway and ends up on a good note.

I have my own personal dream PJ setlist, and from Yield, only 2 songs from Yield would make it (In Hiding and Faithfull). Brain of J and Given to Fly come close, but don't make the cut. Only No Code and Binaural have less songs on my dream setlist.

Push Me Pull Me is definitely a great track, obviously not a song, but still pretty important.

gettingright

your interpretation is great, but if you haven't read Ishmael, go out today and buy it and read it. it will only deepen your understanding of Yield (and life), not change it.

tcaporale

My scores for each song.

Brain of J. - 4 of 5
Faithfull - 4 of 5
No Way - 3 of 5
Given to Fly - 5 of 5
Wishlist - 4.5 of 5
Pilate - 3 of 5
Do the Evolution - 4.5 of 5
Red Dot - ? of ? (not rating this one)
MFC - 3.5 of 5
Low Light - 3.5 of 5
In Hiding - 4 of 5
Push Me, Pull Me - 2.5 of 5
All Those Yesterdays - 4.5 of 5

Which gives it an average of about...3.7?
Don't know why I did this.

Left Porch

Great post. Always found it weird that Yield is an album that I almost always listen to all the way through. Definitly share the same sentiments that in many ways Yield describes life, or at least somebody at a crossroads or a yield, in their life. It's like all the deep shit you think about over the years put into one album. While Ten has a lot of sentimental value to me, being the First PJ CD I owned, as a complete album I have to echo the sentiments of many others and say that Yield takes the cake.