Yield - Pearl Jam (CD 1998)

Yield is the gem, the brilliant masterpiece released in 1998 when Pearl Jam had faded away from the "popular" scene. The band had settled their internal conflicts and found a balance and, especially, a harmony that came with Jack Irons as their new drummer.

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Irons was one of the basic reasons of Pearl Jam's current existence, him being the person that gave Eddie Vedder the tape of some of Stone Gossard early works, which later would become Ten. This all happened back in 89-90 when Irons where tied up elsewhere, but Vedder long retained him as a friend and a person to look up to. During Pearl Jam's early years 90-94 there were constant internal conflicts, primary between Vedder and drummer Dave Abbruzzese. The band where near a split several times, leading up to Dave leaving (or being fired from, the circumstances are a bit unclear) Pearl Jam. Vedder asked Irons to join them and so it became. They now found an internal peace, which resulted in their forth album, No Code. The album differed quite clearly from their earlier works, and Irons introduced an more experimental side of PJ, with influences from India and a much more mellow, laid-back music.

Then Yield was released, their second album with Irons drums and influence, and they reverted back to more straight rock, but with the experimental side still present. In Yield the band managed to combine their energy and anger from their early days with the mellow, laid-back beauty from No Code. An influence of punk can be found more and more, due to the frontman Eddie Vedder, in songs like Brain of J, No Way, Do The Evolution and MFC. The guitars are more driven and faster than in the past, but lead-guitarist Mike McCready still shines through with his solos, more so on the slower tracks. For even if Yield perhaps is PJ's the hardest and most punk-influenced album, it also contains some of their most beautiful, mellow songs, as well as relaxing songs like Faithfull and Wishlist, all powered by Vedder's incredible voice together with McCready's play on the guitar.
Yield was also more of a contribution from the whole group. Whereas Vedder previously wrote all lyrics and much of the music, Yield saw more work from the rest of the members. McCready composed the music to several of the tracks, bassist Jeff Ament contributed with Low Light and Pilate and though he had a more drawn-back roll than on the debut Ten, Stone Gossard still supplied both wonderful In Hiding, funky No Way and Beatles-esque All Those Yesterdays.

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The album starts of with Brain Of J, probably the most "punk" track on the album. Starting off with a fast, driven guitar, the drums soon stomps in follow by Vedder's voice. Switching between a grutal, deep voice and a somewhat high-pitched screaming voice, it fits with the general attitude of the track. It's a really good track with loads of energy. McCready wrote the music whilst Vedder supplied the lyrics.

Next song starts off slow, pondering in a certain way, Faithfull then picks up pace in the chorus with heavier drums and guitars. The sarcasm can be heard as Vedder sings, "We're faithful...we all believe, we all believe it", a criticism of the obsessive faith of certain people. The verses have an in general relaxed feeling, disturbed by the chorus.

No Way is a really good song, with funky guitars and slow, deep drumbeats. The chorus will get stuck, "I'm not trying to make a difference, I'll stop trying to make a difference...no way", as well as the solo some three minutes in by McCready. I really like this song by rhythm-guitarist Stone Gossard, it's certainly not using the ordinary PJ-sound.

Given To Fly is on the front cover featured as the hit single of Yield, and it's clearly worth being labeled as such. However, isn't that guitar riff very recognizable? Haven't you heard that somewhere? Certainly, it's very much like the riff from Led Zeppelin's Going To California. Still, that's definitely not a bad song to take after, and combined with a brilliant lyric and Vedder's soaring vocals in the chorus, it makes it easier to overlook. Many Pearl Jam fans find Given To Fly the best of Pearl Jam's songs, and while I don't fully agree there, it's certainly a very, very good one.

Next up is Wishlish, one of the most relaxing songs on the album. It's not the most mellow, nor the most beautiful or slowest, but there's something soothing over the riff. The lyric is rather basic and simple, Vedder counting up the things he wish. A solo about two minutes in lights the room every time it's played live.

My feelings towards Pilate has always been split. It starts off slow, a lovely melody with a beautiful lyric. It seems to have so much potential, but then comes the chorus, consisting solely of "Like Pilate, I have a dog" repeated over and over again, a reference to Michail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. The chorus truly ruins the whole composition, but near the end there's a few lines that nearly make for it all.."Stunned by my own reflection, it's looking back, sees me too clearly and I swore, I'd never go there again.." Just beautiful...

Do The Evolution is the heaviest and most energetic of all the tracks on Yield. It's also one of the best, even though it loses some of it's raw energy from when it's preformed live. Whilst the whole album where influenced by Daniel Quinn's Ishmael, this where it's most clearly seen. The lyric is a showcase against our modern thinking, with criticism in line with Quinn. And such lyrics then, stinging sarcasm and with a humorous side. Guitars with some distortion rips throughout the track, with in great solo about a minute in. Whilst I in general does not like Vedder's screams, there's definitely something special when he screams out the chorus "It's evolution, baby!!!". This is Pearl Jam at their best and heaviest. Might be worthy to note there was a video made for the song, the first video they released since Ten. An animation directed by Todd McFarlaneand produced by Terry Fitzgerald, it enhances the underlying meaning of the song.

Next it The Colour Red, represented by a red dot on the back cover. It's a product of Irons experiments with percussion and drum-effects, featuring the line "War, I'm crazy, I'm way". It has mostly been used as intro or interlude during concerts. It's not bad, but it kind of splits the record in two parts. MFC is another fast-paced song, a real driving song, somewhat like Rearviewmirror.

Low Light was written by the bassist Jeff Ament, and it's mellow, sad, hauntingly longing and absolutely beautiful. With a acoustic guitar as the basis, Vedder sings in a slow, sorrowful tone, "wind goes by...low light...sidetracked...low light", and with a perfect solo around two minutes, it's an excellent showcase of Ament's musical skills.

In Hiding also starts of mellow and slow, but soars up in chorus, where Vedder screams his heart out with, "I'm in hiding, yeah...I'm in hiding, yeah yeah". Vedder is at his best for this song, and it's really good. Push Me Pull Me is one of the few misses on the album. It's mostly a spoken word by Vedder, with some funky effects in the back, but it doesn't work that well. All Those Yesterdays then finishes of Yield in a Beatles-esque atmosphere, in a mild, mellow tone.

Yield is to me the most complete Pearl Jam album on the whole, it seems to belong together and works as it should. It still manage to be diverse, it's energetic, hard and punky, yet still mellow and beautiful. With Yield they reached their highpoint (so far) in their career, and it's a masterpiece. I can dearly recommend it to everyone that loves or in any way enjoys music, Yield should not be missing from your collection.

Excellent: No Way, Given To Fly, Wishlist, Do The Evolution, Low Light, In Hiding, All Those Yesterdays
Good: Brain Of J, Faithfull, MFC
Average: Pilate
Weak: Push Me Pull Me
Not Rated: The Colour Red