No Code

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Customer reviews

review by: NO CODE date: 2008-09-23 rating:
still the best
I first heard No Code in the summer of 1996. Had a bad day at work and then first track Sometimes hit me. No it knocked me stone out. Following up from Vitalogy which was beautiful yet flawed Pearl Jam created there best record yet. And that includes what I believe to be there crowd pleasing latest self titled record in 2006. If you want to listen to what Pearl Jam means, there souls then this is the record. Don't get me wrong Ten and VS are absolute classics, but I think No Code is pretty much timeless. Every track here rocks. There are heavy moments here, feedback but it all means something. Red Mosquito is just genius. i douby there will be a finer rock record for some time to come.

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review by: date: 2008-03-27 rating:
Lacks singles but is awesome as an album
After the chaotic Vitalogy Pearl Jam came out with this, one of my favourite Pearl Jam records. It may not have songs that immediately stand out (with the exceptions of Red Mosquito and Present Tense) but in a complete reversal from Vitalogy, No Code compensates a lack of singles with a complete album, that's flows, and flows beautifully. With enough listens some songs will stick with you but I still maintain the album is best appreciated in its full form. Well, by full I mean listen continuously from tracks 1 to 10. This is defiantly a quieter album than it's predecessors. Those looking for anthems like Alive, Once and Go will be should look elsewhere. What we have here is an honest and great album, which may not be dark like Ten but is still absolutely kick ass.

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review by: MAC date: 2007-10-15 rating:
Pearl Jam realises it's time to lose the rage on NO CODE.
For those looking for another TEN, this is the wrong place to go. NO CODE is the key album to understanding Pearl Jam and is the turning point of their career, some say for better, others for worst. However, their progression is a journey, and this release is the one where Pearl Jam came to a fork in the road and chose a direction to follow.

Now, for those looking for another TEN, it's time to move on. You cannot expect an artist (a good one, that is) to go on milking the same formula. Where would we be had The Beatles kept singing songs like 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' instead of traveling to the majesties of 'Hey Jude,' and 'Revolution,' (the White Album version)?

Following Pearl Jam, in some ways, is like following Bob Dylan's and The Beatles' career. These three aforementioned are true artists, and so their evolution makes a very exciting one to follow. You can't really get the full impact of BLONDE ON BLONDE without knowing the six records preceding it, or RUBBER SOUL without hearing the five albums and myriad singles before that. With this album, you can't really get the full impact without having at least a passing knowledge of the three records before this one.

Commercially, this is Pearl Jam's worst release, and there are no 'biggies' in the song selection such as 'Alive,' 'Even Flow,' 'Daughter,' or 'Better Man.' However, just because a particular album does not get a lot of radio play does not necessarily negate it to the recycle bin. Almost all the tracks are very strong compositions. Sometimes the band falls down, such as 'Present Tense,' which seems just a little to preach to me, and 'Habit,' which says the same lines over and over and over for three and a half minutes. Some may really like them, but for me they're just so-so. 'Mankind' I still don't really know what to do with, because, although I like it, the song is a rather odd selection for the tone of this album. Only one song will take you back to their earlier grunge days, and that is 'Lukin', which is just over a minute and sounds like Eddie's vocal cords are ripped to shreds when he finishes. I have a live version of the song and I can't understand anything he says in it.

Pearl Jam, with their release of TEN in 1991, became one of the major players in the early 1990s along with Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. Of these bands, Pearl Jam has had the longest career, and amazingly did not self-destruct as Nirvana did. There is a reason for this, and this album becomes on of the keys in understanding Pearl Jam.
The first three albums are begin a descent into the hellish regions of rage and it's effects on the human psyche. VITALOGY, Pearl Jam's darkest album, almost plays as a concept album about paranoia, pain, and death. Eddie Vedder's emotions and struggle for understanding are laid out for all to see, and the all consuming rage will have to either be allievated or only more ill could come. The single most important moment on that particular album is 'Immortality,' where Vedder deals with Kurt Cobain's suicide. Had the rage been allowed to continue, Pearl Jam could not have continued for much longer. It's no conincidence that the first two albums sound like earlier extensions of VITALOGY. They begin a downward spiral and absolutely plummet in VITALOGY, and the reason for all the experiments that made VITALOGY so uneven was because Pearl Jam was already, in their rage and fighting their own personal demons, were trying to come up with a way to deal with it.

With NO CODE, their most varied and least accessible album on a commercial level, find Pearl Jam on the morning after. The first three albums represent the night before, drunken rage and struggle for understanding of this inherently insane world (or so it would seem) being night's only companion. From a musical standpoint this release takes the rather roughshod experiments of VITALOGY and builds an album out of them, resulting in the most sonically different album in this band's catalogue. Here, with all sorts of world vibes going down with mantra percussion and some of the softest songs of this band's career, instead of rage Vedder contemplates in a rational manner the problems facing him, and this record shows Pearl Jam finding solace in this course of action.

The experiments on VITALOGY borderline, at times, on the unlistenable with the likes of poorly executed sound collages (Foxeymophandlmama) or the inane ('Bugs'). Don't think it's because of a musical aversion to experimental music, because I really like 'Revolution 9'. Here, however, with the rage gone, the band focuses on this branching out more, and instead of half-realised thoughts on VITALOGY, we have full musical expressions. The chaotic and unrealised song fragments or experimental vibes help indicate Pearl Jam's searching, and while making an ascethic contribution, I always find myself skipping over them. The musical expansion on NO CODE, the maturing of a band, ties in with the band's personal growth as human beings. With the rage stripped away, instead we have a more subdued Pearl Jam dealing with problems in their lives with contemplation, which is one reason that it is the single most mellow album in their catalogue. It is sad the fan base couldn't see that.

In the end, this is Pearl Jam's turning point. From here on out, their releases (1998's YIELD and 2000's BINURAL) would reflect this and further expand this band's journey. It is a rather sad fact that, despite it being a very strong album, the fan base simply wouldn't rally behind this one. This album had to come out, or Pearl Jam would just continually be plagued with their demons and artistically they would begin to lose their momentum and eventually self-destruct. Without Pearl Jam making this choice to let go of their anger, I do not think they'd still be around today, and I think Cobain's death was a very sobering moment for them. With this decision to move on, we have Pearl Jam's most touching, heart-felt, and most fully realised album to date.

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review by: date: 2007-06-22 rating:
Pearl Jam at their adventurous and experimental best
I bought this album having heard Vs, Ten and their most recent self-titled album, hence I was expecting something along those lines: a mixture of energetic, punky, guitar driven songs alongside some more mellow acoustic songs. Therefore when I first heard this album I was suprised, suprised and disappointed. Of course after a few listens certain songs began to stand out (namely Lukin, Sometimes and In My Tree) and the album began to grow on me but after about 5 or 6 listens I was totally converted.

The album is an entirely different proposition to Pearl Jam's more mainstream efforts, it is a diverse and in some ways experimental piece but nonetheless filled from start to finish with well thought out, brilliantly structured and clearly emotional songs. The style of songwriting ranges from Lukin which is a one-minute full on heavy metal rock-out (and a real spectacle live) to Present Tense which is an intense yet down tempo ballad-esque song. In My Tree is largely percussion and bass powered and is one of a few songs on the album dealing with the problems that fame has presented the band with. Other highs include Hail Hail and Smile but the album is too consistent to choose a favourite track.

Overall, this is an album to avoid if you are seeking mainstream grunge along the lines of Nirvana and early Pearl Jam but for anyone looking to expand their musical horizons or any die-hard Pearl Jam fan this is a must have album which I would recommend highly. My favourite PJ album.


review by: Spameister date: 2007-06-02 rating:
One of their best
I am sick of people thinking that No Code and Vitalogy are poor albums. They cannot get Ten out of their head. Isn't it a bit naive to suggest that a band who have 8 studio albums reached their song writing peak with their very first album?

No Code, like its predecessor Vitalogy, is daring and unique. Songs such as 'Hail, Hail', 'In My Tree' and 'Present Tense' are exceptionally well written. Although they are not as immediately catchy as Ten was when you first heard it, given time you should realise that they are considerable more advanced musically and lyrically.

In my opinion, the true selling point of this album (and Vitalogy) is Eddie Vedder's lyrics. 'Hail, Hail', along with maybe 'Satan's Bed' off Vitalogy, has probably the best lyrics he ever wrote.

Be warned, you will have to listen to this album a lot before you 'get it', but once you do, it will be worth it.

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