13 Comments
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Ginger Cook (GC)'s avatar

God so many good songs. I love “No Way” so much. Had to grow on me as well

Brain of J-Hawk (he/him)'s avatar

I’m so glad it did for me. One of Stone’s best creations.

Ginger Cook (GC)'s avatar

Agree

Jim C's avatar

Love this write up. Good mention on Going to California. Hadn’t realized the connection to PJ. Btw Joe P does a swell cover of that song!

Brain of J-Hawk (he/him)'s avatar

The first time I heard GTF I thought it was ripped off of CTC. First words out of my mouth when I heard the main riff was “what is this CTC?”

Garry Drake's avatar

Great read! I have clear memories of listening to this one a ton when it came out. I had somehow skipped over No Code but this one got me back into them.

Brain of J-Hawk (he/him)'s avatar

Thanks Garry! I’ve had to constrain myself on Yield from turning into 12 essays!

Kevin Alexander's avatar

That show brought me back into the fold (as it were) and got me to love Yield. Before that, I'd been big on only liking the first 3 records.

Brain of J-Hawk (he/him)'s avatar

I’m glad you got that opportunity. It was kind of funny he dedicated Given To Fly to Aaron Rodgers. “Threw for hundreds of yards!”

Kevin Alexander's avatar

lol. F’in Aaron Rodger’s, man…

Brain of J-Hawk (he/him)'s avatar

One more. Ed disclosing his first beer was Old Milwaukee.

The AI Architect's avatar

Beautiful breakdown of how Yield represented a power rebalance in Pearl Jam's creative process. That colaborative shift really comes through in tracks like Pilate where Jeff's spirituality gets room to breathe. The fact you caught them playing the entire album on the first night they did it is wild, specialy right after your birthday. Sometimes concert timing just lines up perfectly.

Brain of J-Hawk (he/him)'s avatar

What’s so great about this album is almost every song has an elaborate story. Just wait for Side B when I get to “In Hiding.”