Just as I was about to give up….
Pearl Jam – Yield – 1998 – (itunes)
Brain of J is a good way to open an album if you’ve felt you’ve lost me and want me back as a fan. If you’re a band and you’re thinking, “We really have been losing Allen the last few records with our experimentation and meandering, how are we gonna win him back?” You better hope you have someone in the band who says, “I’ve got this little garage rocker that might do the trick.” And it does.
According to what I’ve read, Vedder really kind of took control of the band’s direction on Vitalogy and No Code. Which is interesting considering that the hiring of Vedder was based on words he wrote to some amazing pre-existing music. But, that’s what you get when you bring in a front man. Stone Temple Pilots were two brothers who tried every genre known to man until grunge hit. They knew they could make that work but they needed a front man. Then they were beholden to the whims of Scott (H is for Horse) Weiland.
So, Vedder decided to give some control back to the band and that brought the world, Yield.
Okay, well this is a live blog situation so let’s go, k?
Brain of J. I’ve already talked about how this was just the right way to open this record.
Faithful. Oh, that big, sexy southern rocky earth epic. Nice.
No Way. A plodding, meandering useless track.
Given to Fly. Hey, Pearl Jam rewrote Going to California! Um, great. Actually, it’s pretty great, indeed.
Wish List. Well, someone has put his axe down and relaxed into manhood. Age wears well on some.
Pilate. Interestingly, this is based on the Book, Master and Margarita, which, while I’ve never read, I have seen a play based on it and that was brilliant. This is Jeff Ament’s first lyric writing. Never have Pearl Jam sounded so much like REM. REM meets Pearl Jam. Not bad.
Do The Evolution. Oh, yeah, this was the single. I like it.
The Color Red. It’s only a minute. I’ll give you a minute to do that. Even though it’s crap.
Many Fast Cars. Good, late in the album, energetic place holder. If this was a 40 minute record, it would be a b-side.
Low light. It’s big ballad time! With some weird time signatures. And pretty as hell.
In Hiding. Oh, yes. This is a nice song. Perhaps the best on the record.
Push Me Pull Me. Hey! Spoken word time. Again. So soon? Really? blech.
All Those Yesterday. So, the album is sort of petering out, yes?
Hummus. Um. Sure.
Peace out, guys. If this is the note they would have gone out on it would have been fine. Not embarrassing, not brilliant. Good, but not great.
You could do worse. (Hint: if you bought No Code, you did.)
Grade B-
A Side: Faithful, Given to Fly, Do The Evolution, In Hiding.
BlindSide: Brain of J, Wish List, Low Light
DownSide: Push Me Pull Me
