Breaking the Code (No Code - Pearl Jam)

Member Name: hakkved

Product:	No Code - Pearl Jam
Date:	13/08/01 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's Pearl Jam - what more can I say

Disadvantages: Stone sings - don't do that again mate!

As I am ever the obsessive Pearl Jam fan, I can’t possibly praise one of their albums over any other. To me each of them is a continuation of the last, and 1996’s ‘No Code’ is no exception, though in a way would appear to be their most varied musically.

The quiet opening notes of ‘Sometimes’ immediately sets the diverse tone of the album: so simple but so effective. It’s full of themes of how small we all are in the world, Eddie sings, “Seek my part…devote myself…my small self…like a book amongst the many on the shelf”. Eddie sings with great passion from the instant the album begins (and no, he doesn’t “sing like a farmer” like a non-Pearl Jam fan kindly described :P )

No matter how many millions of times I listen to ‘No Code’, the onslaught of ‘Hail, Hail’ always catches me unawares. It is a sudden break away from the tranquil nature of ‘Sometimes’ and takes the listener back to the status of a good old ‘Pearl Jam rocker’. ‘Hail, Hail’ rips through the racing chords while questioning the meaning of love, “hail hail the lucky ones, I refer to those in love”.

‘Who You Are’ is another leap into the unknown. Middle-Eastern sounds combine with Jack Iron’s tribal drumming. Again an intensely straight-forward song. The pounding rhythms continue on ‘In My Tree’ as the lyrics describe the life of a hermit, “up here in my tree…I’m trading stories with the leaves instead” - this is a concept I can fully understand. Then Eddie breaks into some form of mild chanting as ‘King of his Tree’ before returning to the rest of the song.

‘Smile’ gives Vedder the opportunity to show his harmonica playing skills (and very good they are too) on this blues flavoured song. Hints of influences from Neil
Young and Crazy Horse combine to create a laid-back summer sun approach. This laid-back atmosphere is carried on for ‘Off He Goes’ – a simple acoustic ballad with heartfelt lyrics about a life-long friend.

‘Habit’, another rocker again turns the mood upside down. Vedder’s angry rants speed through at a repetitive pace. Maybe not one of their better efforts, that is until the outro guitar segment kicks in building the song up to a great ending. Another blues influenced song ‘Red Mosquito’ is up next. Eddie sings of someone remorseful of the life he led before and reflects, “if I had known then what I know now”

‘Lukin’ – a one minute stonker charges in, and oh boy is it good!! I usually need to repeat it about 4 times to get the full benefit and by this stage my neck aches beyond belief. The driving chords are interrupted by a fantastic pounding of drums which frantically remain til the end, all the while Vedder crazily screams a series of lyrics at great speed. Top stuff!!

‘No Code’ chills out again with ‘Present Tense’. A simple yet haunting beginning, Vedder’s excellent vocals gel magnificently with the reverberating lead guitar and bass. Acoustic guitars join the fray for the second verse as the song slowly builds up to a climax. And what a climax it is – the rhythm section is introduced for an ending in a true Pearl Jam jam as it were – overlaid with Eddie’s evocative chants – mega!!

But alas the ambiance created so far is completely destroyed by ‘Mankind’, a creation by guitarist Stone Gossard – he should stick to playing guitar and leave the singing to Mr Ed the Ved! The song itself is way below the quality Pearl Jam fans have come to expect. Thankfully the final 2 songs repair the damage done. Vedder introduces spoken word into his repertoire on ‘I’m
Open’ amidst a haunting background. This song is akin to the intro and outro found on Pearl Jam’s first album ‘Ten’.

The country-style vibes raise their head with ‘Around the Bend’, complete with piano and steel guitar. It’s a chilled out shimmy to close out ‘No Code’ – which is essentially a very diverse soul-searching album that at the time scared away the stragglers and left the true Pearl Jammers in musical bliss.

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