PEARL JAM : Yield (ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

After the somewhat chaotic phase of mutation that Pearl Jam went through with "Vitalogy" and "No Code", this "Yield" allows the band to stabilize and start on new bases. The power struggle that opposed Eddie Vedder, mainly to Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, ends in the purest Disney tradition; the singer, exhausted by the energy he had to deploy to take the artistic control of the band, changes his mind and opts for a more collegial management by suggesting to the other members of the band to invest themselves again in the writing of songs.

Direct consequence or not of these changes, "Yield" turns out to be much more worked, coherent and accomplished than its two predecessors. One would almost be tempted to say smoother, but that would not do justice to the richness and variety of expression that the band shows on this record.

Even if the general tone is calmer, there are still some traces of tracks at the limit of Punk Rock, like 'Brain Of J'. But these accesses of raw energies are now exceptions and the band shows a more and more mature face. If Pearl Jam still allows itself some digressions like this very long passage of drums and its surprising harmonies on 'Push Me, Pull Me' and proposes surprising titles such as 'Red dot' or a rather stripped 'Ghost Track', the general tone goes towards a relatively peaceful Rock and very focused on the expression of the emotions ('Faithfull', 'Wishlist').

"Yield" marks a return to a more Rock and more accessible music as with the single 'Given To Fly' whose similarity with Led Zeppelin's 'Going To California' is quite disturbing, or the magnificent 'In Hiding', inspired by the work of Charles Bukowski. It's a pity that the vocals are not always as convincing as in the past and, as always with Pearl Jam, that the lyrics very often give the feeling of having been botched. It should be noted that the lyrics of four of the tracks on the album are not the work of Vedder, but of Ament and Gossard.

This "Yield" is perhaps not the ultimate masterpiece of Pearl Jam, the fault of a lack of really exceptional tracks but it turns out to be a very honest and homogeneous record. Pearl Jam is not as instinctive as in the past but it seems to have found its artistic way. - Official website

PEARL JAM

YIELD

EPIC

ROCK