Pearl Jam - Yield

Seeing as how I have had tons of Pearl Jam on my listen list for the last little while, I figured it was time to get 'em all done and make something of a theme day out of it. So, over the next two days, I'll be offering up four (count 'em, four) Pearl Jam album reviews. Today's will be for Yield and Binaural, while tomorrow will bring you my thoughts on Backspacer and Pearl Jam

Let's just dive right into it shall we.

Yield starts off with "Brain Of J.," a song with a great-sounding half-falsetto chorus.

"No Way" finds a way to be listenable despite its plodding pace.

"Given To Fly" is a perfect example of the best Pearl Jam has to offer. It has a calm intensity that explodes into into howling with intent and is one of my favourite songs, period.

I quite like the sound of "●," although it would be drastically improved without the whiny vocals that come in halfway through.

"Low Light" is this album's "Better Man." It gets even better once the piano kicks in (at 2:06), and it becomes more well-rounded and beautiful.

"Push Me, Pull Me" is an awesome-sounding sort of spoken word song that becomes distracting with its incessant, repetitive chorus.

Yes, "All Those Yesterdays" is a great song. Furthermore, whenever Eddie Vedder gets to the word "yesterday," he sings it in a very Beatles-ian way. The absolute best part is after the first chorus, when the tuba kicks in to great effect.

And, after "All Those Yesterdays" wraps up, we're treated to a cyclical, hypnotic instrumental Hebrew-ish bonus track.

I'm going to finish up with a controversial statement, unlike anything I've said before (at least since I said that Hail To The Thief is better than OK Computer). Yield, I am fairly certain, is my favourite Pearl Jam album. If Ten is a 10, then Yield is an 11.

Other recommendations:

"Wishlist"

Rating: 4.3 stars