Why "Yield" is the best PJ album

darthvedder81 · April 2009

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"

Greatplainsman... · April 2009

Mi fav al so. rep resents tha bst yrs of mi lif. amazin jrny! wsh eye re membrd mour.

TSLOW · April 2009

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 Sins · April 2009

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....

not for me? · April 2009

But what about No Code?

hitman · April 2009

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....

mattcoz · April 2009

Greatplainsman... wrote:

Mi fav al so. rep resents tha bst yrs of mi lif. amazin jrny! wsh eye re membrd mour.

English please.

megatron · April 2009

not for me? wrote:

But what about No Code?

+1

AtlantaJammer · April 2009

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.

Snoopy Died For Our Sins · April 2009

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...

Brisk. · April 2009

But not the brilliance of Binaural

blondieblue227 · April 2009

I like how the songs flow into one another.

BC18033 · April 2009

Jack Irons

lukin14 · April 2009

blondieblue227 wrote:

I like how the songs flow into one another.

i agree. to me this album feels whole.

darthvedder81 · April 2009

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.

Snoopy Died For Our Sins · April 2009

broloco · April 2009

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.

)

rival. · April 2009

BC18033 wrote:

Jack Irons

and there is the correct answer.

LONGRD · April 2009

It's the album that best describe Pearl Jam's style.

Murderers. · May 2009

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. )

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.

Smellyman · May 2009

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. )

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

twojawas · May 2009

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.

pleatherman · May 2009

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.

broloco · June 2009

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. )

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