But the real showstopper on Yield is its first three tracks, which No Way tops off with its simple but darkly sexy groove.
Given To Fly and In Hiding are the first tracks that might come to mind at the mention of Yield, and there’s nothing wrong with that, because the latter in particular shows a spectacular return to stadium-filling form for a band who spent a good portion of the mid-90s skirting around spiky, meandering lo-fi. The sunny intro and jangly clean guitars of the verse give way the crackle and urgent chant of the chorus, capturing the uncaged energy that explodes from earlier records Vs and Vitalogy. Immediately after the frenzy of Brain Of J comes the more relaxed groove of Faithfull. The chorus, as short and snappy as it is, still manages to work in some inventive chord progressions, making this an overlooked masterpiece.
Both are ‘punk Pearl Jam’ in that they’re fast, raw, and aggressive, but Brain Of J has a killer riff that Do The Evolution doesn’t. Yield’s Do The Evolution has, inexplicably, gained more popularity than its snarling opening track. It never makes it onto ‘best-of’ round-ups, though, despite being one of Pearl Jam’s most experimental-sounding songs to date. You Are was generally received well in Riot Act album reviews for its yearning, futuristic sound, which drummer Matt Cameron achieved by feeding a guitar sound through a drum machine. Its combination of upbeat, jangly melody and dark lyrics hark back to the Vitalogy era, and it sounds like a seamless bridge from vintage to modern-era Pearl Jam. It’s also the first time guitarist Mike McCready wrote lyrics for the band, and the assertion on Inside Job that “life comes from within” is an uplifting sentiment to end a sometimes downbeat album.ĭespite being one of the tracks on Lost Dogs without an interesting backstory, this I Am Mine b-side is a song that perfectly captures Pearl Jam’s identity. The measured, melancholic intro of the last track on PJ’s self-titled is the perfect opportunity to lie back, close your eyes and contemplate the topics that have been touched on throughout the previous 11 songs. On this emotional ballad from that one with the avocado on the front, Eddie Vedder deals with loss and loneliness, and it’s a fitting penultimate track to an introspective record that also draws on poverty, the Iraq War and Johnny Ramone’s death as inspiration. Come Back might be the most Yellow Ledbetter-esque song Pearl Jam have released since Yellow Ledbetter.
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