A New Direction for a new band (No Code - Pearl Jam)

Member Name: DWMayeaux

Product:	No Code - Pearl Jam
Date:	17/02/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Displayed a side of the band not seen before

Disadvantages: Not as rocky as its predecessors

Pearl Jam's fourth album was released in 1996 and the first to feature new drummer, Jack Irons. First formed in 1991 the band compromised Mike McCready on guitar, Jeff Ament on bass, Stone Gossard on guitar and vocals and Eddie Vedder doing lead vocals on majority of tracks, guitar and harmonica. As with the previous 2 albums, 'No Code' was again produced by Brendan O'Brien and Pearl Jam.
'No Code' did not see the success that Pearl Jam had had with their previous offerings. Partly due to the trend moving away from American grunge. Also, the album lacks the anger and drive of previous albums, but it does contain some melodic masterpieces and soft rock influences that make it popular with the fans. 'No Code' sees the band moving further away from the polished, stadium rock that got them so much success with 'Ten' and further towards an original and intense sound. In general, it is more upbeat and features experimental ballads, spoken word and yet still proving they can rock out with dirty power chords.

'Sometimes' - Vedder
'Sometimes I cringe, sometimes I live
Sometimes I walk, sometimes I kneel'

All three albums before 'No Code' began messy with jam like intros leading into rocky and looslely composed tracks. This album is different right from the start. Themed around a troubled relationship, struggling to hold it together. This track opens on an eerie guitar, soon joined by a second guitar adding to the mood. Throughout there is an ominous feeling, aided by rolls of thunder in the distant background and raised up by a warm bass and vocals. The guitars and bass carry the melody during lengthy breaks between verses, with the high pitched lead giving an almost magical feel, while the melodic, gentle and a little off key vocals make it all the more emotional and beguiling.

'Hail, Hail' - Vedder, McCready, Gossard, Ament

'If you're the only one, will I never be enough?
Hail, hail the lucky ones, I refer to those in love'
An upbeat track with catchy riffs and percussion. It is one of the rockier tracks on the album, with a simple guitar riff following the vocal lead. Though percussion is simple, it gives the track its momentum and doesn't really change through out the track except for the dreamlike and more subdued second half of the bridge. The distorted and disorganised guitats are held together by the vocals. The bridge has 2 sections with a funky rock guitar solo for the first half and a second half composed of gentle vocals building in intensity to guide the listener back to the main piece as the guitar fades into the background. The guitar solo moves back in to carry the track into the main piece before the collaboration falls apart for the 'jam-like' outro, more typical of Pearl Jam's previous works.


'Who You Are' - Gossard, Irons, Vedder
'Seen it all, not at all
Can't defend a fucked up man'

A disorganised and discordant start from which the melody slowly reveals itself. The drum pattern is inspired by a Max Roach solo that Irons heard in a music shop aged 8, and is our first taste of the tribal sound that reappears throughout the album. The guitars play chord based riffs that ascend and descend in pitch throughout the verses while the vocals are simple and appealing with Vedder backed by group harmonics, providing a comforting mood to the overall track with the rest of the band taking their lead from the vocals. Breaks in-between verses are joyful and rhythmic, using the bass to give warmth and depth.
'In My Tree' - Gossard, Irons, Vedder

'I remember when, yeah
I swore I knew everything, oh yeah
Let's sat knowledge is a tree, yeah
It's growing up just like me, yeah'
My current favourite track on the album is unlike anything they had produced before. It opens with impatient drum rolls set against low pitched, subdued vocals with percussion controlling the mood. The guitar doesn't come in until the second verse as the emotionally charged and upbeat vocals and percussion become clearer and increase in amplitude. The guitars have a simple composition that adds to the rhythm, as the melody comes from the vocals. Vocals are triumphant and exciting in places and dreamlike and disharmonised in others. The outro features heavily distorted guitars with barely distinguishable notes.


'Smile' - Ament, Vedder
'Don't it make me smile?
When the sun don't shine, it don't shine at all'

Although officially the song credits go to Vedder, they are inspired by Dennis Flemion of The Frogs. Interestingly, when this song is played live Gossard and Ament swop bass and guitar. It opens with a simple and dirty guitar and bass riff and harmonica cutting through introducing the main melody. Overall it has a simple composition with subdued vocals for the verses that become more intense for the chorus and funky guitar fillers in-between. The mood of the entire pirece is joyous with a fun bridge and the chorus does actually make me smile with rising chords and upbeat vocals.

'Off he Goes' - Vedder

'I wonder about his insides
It's like his thoughts are too big for his size'
Vedder claims this song is 'About being friends with an arsehole'. In live shows he has hinted that it is a song about himself. The lyrics and vocals are stunning with a soft and thoughtful feel, but the real heart lies in the ensemble between lead, rhythm guitar and bass, working together for the majority of the track but coming apart to show off their own melodies. It is a subtle harmony, using acoustic guitars to create a beautiful melodic riff that is shared by both the lead and rhythm guitars. While remaining subtle and delicate throughout, the guitars work themselves up during the vocal breaks in-between verses before coming to a climax and introducing the next verse where the pitch and pace increase ever so slightly. The main riff is delicate and meloncholy ascending up into a chord based strum. There is a meloncholy mood to the entire piece that follows the lyrics. In the lines that are more happy the vocals become stronger and louder only to drop again with the mood. Unlike the rest of the album, the percussion is very subtle using brushes and a shaker.


'Habit' - Vedder
'Another habit says it's in love with you ...
Anoter habit says its love's overdue'

A song about drug addiction. More fitting with their grunge roots than the rest of the album, it is fast paced and simple featuring layered vocals and a simple and strong guitar riff. Once again, it is a relatively simple composition lead by distorted slides from the lead guitar. The outro features an erratic guitar and clearer percussion and fades to close. Both the outro and bridge feature brief pauses for the guitars and vocals to wind down before they begin to gather pace again.

'Red Mosquito' - Vedder, McCready, Irons, Gossard, Ament

'I was bitten, must have been the devil
He was just paying me ...
A little visit, reminding me of his prescence'
Vedder wrote this track in hospital after recovering from a bout of food poisoning. It opens with distorted guitars and has a strong influence to the guitarists of the 70s. The track is vocally strong for the verses, with gentle chorus, while the lead guitar is strong and erratic during vocal pauses. The lead guitar is, in my opinion, the greatest part of this track, but it works only because iot is complimented by beguiling lyrics, subtle acoustic rhythm guitar and warm bass. The bridge, introduced by an instantly gripping rolling guitar riff, features ascending and descending guitars with layered vocals.


'Lukin' - Vedder
'Drive down the street, can't find the keys to my own home
I take a walk, so I can curse my ass for being dumb'

At a mere 1 minute in duration, Lukin smashes in and out of existence before the listener has time to brace themselves. A joyful track about going to friend's (Matt Lukin) house for refuge. The vocals provide the fast and relentless pace with the rest of the band struggling to keep up. Each round of the short repetitions of riff is puncuated by a high pitched guitar note. A simple composition the hurtles to an abrupt finish right from the start.

'Present Tense' - Vedder, McCready

'Have you the belief that the road ahead, ascends off into the light?
Seems that needlessly it's getting harder'
A track that juxtapositions delicate care with comforting strength in 3 distinct parts. Opening with warm, dreamy vocals and a hypnotising guitar riff. The first part sees the bass taking up the central melody giving the track powerful warmth and depth to compliment the lead's fragile and delicate riff. In the second part they are joined by a cello and violin as the band as a whole gathers pace and the percussion tap into and out of the foreground. There is also a new acoustic guitar strumming along to the original riff and the vocals and guitar become stronger. Lastly, the outro is disorganised with a funky bass and rough guitars, it become increasingly more disorganised before returning to the original delicate riff and repeating to fade

'Mankind' - Gossard
'If it's just inadvertant imitation
A pattern in all mankind
What's got the whole world fakin'?'

A simple composition with basic key changes and heavy rock guitars and percussion softened by Gossard's vocals. The bridge features a nice solo followed by a build up from vocals and guitars, while the bass has a simple riff holding the piece together. Fans of Stone Gossard's solo projects will notice a definate similarity.

'I'm Open' - Vedder, Irons

'When he was six he believed that the moon overhead followed him
By nine he had deciphered the illusion, trading magic for fact'
Begins with 45 seconds of spoken word backed by meandering, reverberated guitar riffs making the track seem dreamlike, then easing into gentle, soothing vocals as the guitars become increasingly more distinct. The entire piece has a surreal and magical feel with calming strings and sound effects dropped in to add to the mood. The amplitude rises and falls controlling the intensity. The guitar riffs are melodic and beautifully interweaved around each other and the bass as different samples of the vocals are smoothly added into the mix creating a mood with sound rather than discernable lyrics. The mood of the piece is surreal and hypnotising as the intensity ebbs and flows.


'Around the Bend' - Vedder
'You're an angel when you sleep
How I want your soul to keep
On and on around the bend'

Written as an experiment to write a lullaby. The entire piece is formed of three central melodies entwined around each other provided by the vocals electric guitar and acoustic backed by swing influenced piano and percussion. The comforting vocals use a distinctive vocal rhythm with short syllables elongated at the beginning and end of each line to give pace and rhythm.

Summary: Not what you would expect, but a favourite of the fans