Yield - Pearl Jam (CD 1998)

There are times when Epinions rating system just doesn't work out well. This is one of those times. Here's the problem, 1988's Yield by Pearl Jam is a fantastic album which is head-and-shoulders above damn near anything that was released in 1988 (or, throughout the 1990's, for that matter). So, it deserves five stars, right?

In my view, nope. Here's the thing -- the album is fantastic, but just not as good as the rest of Pearl Jam's discs. In my view, Pearl Jam has never released a bad album, but Yield just doesn't rank up there with the rest of them. So, I've given this fine disc a "four-star rating" as measured against other discs from Pearl Jam. I hope that makes sense.

Now, Yield is a very consistent and sounds great from start to finish (with the exception of "Pilate," but I'll get to that later). While some Pearl Jam discs, such as 1996's No Code or 1991's Ten had some clinker songs, they also had some that were just downright amazing. Yield, in other words, rocks steady enough, but you don't get any amazing tracks such as "Black," "Alive," or "Jeremy" from Ten. Similarly, you don't get any outstanding tunes like "Hail, Hail" or "Who You Are" from No Code.

The end result is that Yield is a great disc, but I doubt it won Pearl Jam many new fans. In fact, the band didn't really enter any new territory on this one, and the whole thing sounds rather like a retreat from the experimentalism going on in No Code.

Fortunately, for us Pearl Jam fans, there's plenty to enjoy on Yield. The disc opens with the almost-thrashy "Brain of J," which features Vedder hollering away (he really sounds like he had a sore throat) about JFK. Perhaps the most attractive track on the album shows up in "Wishing," which is primarily a mistly little ballad with some very enjoyable guitar noodling. "Do the Evolution" is another good track, in which Pearl Jam goes on and on about the progress in, arguably, the wrong direction. And, of course, there's "Faithfull," another wide-eyed, mid-tempo track of the kind we've come to expect from Pearl Jam.

Heck, there's even a track from drummer Jack Irons (titled with a simple, red dot) which he recorded in his house. It sounds rather like a messed up funk track and I don't know what the hell the vocals to it are. Of course, this was the last disc on which Irons appeared as a member of Pearl Jam. He left the band for "health reasons" and was replaced by Matt Cameron, former drummer for Soundgarden.

Now, I've got to mention Pilate. The mid-tempo little slice of misery seems to be built around a dreadful and goofy chorus -- "Like Pilate I have a dog." The song was written by bassist Jeff Ament, who was evidently impressed that both he and Pontius Pilate owned a dog. The songs stinks and is mere filler.

Another track that's mere filler is "Push Me Pull Me," a spoken-word thing that isn't offensive. It goes by quickly. That's about the only good thing one can say about it.

All in all, however, this is an enjoyable disc which is full of the kind of classic rock Pearl Jams fan obviously love to hear (I still maintain the band could have been successful among hard rock acts in the mid-1970s). Without the "big songs" and hooks, however, this disc rather sounds like it was made by a band in decline. Thank goodness the band came roaring back hard on 2000's Binaural.