Reevaluating Old Favorites: Does Pearl Jam's No Code Still Have Its Adolescent Shine 25 Years Later?

It was the band's first commercial failure but that didn't matter to a thirteen-year-old fan

So nineties - the album cover features Dennis Rodman’s eyeball.

Next Friday will mark the thirtieth anniversary of Pearl Jam’s debut, Ten. Considered an all-time classic and the album that launched the grunge movement with Nirvana’s Nevermind, plenty has been said about the record.

But next Friday also marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the band’s fourth record, No Code. An oddity in the band’s long catalog, No Code was met with mixed at the best critical reaction and didn’t fare much better on the charts for a band that had dominated the first half of the nineties.

Ten was a landmark for me when I first found music on my own, but as a teenager unconcerned about critical opinion, No Code was an album I played until the CD was too scratched to continue. Twenty-five years later, I also find it a more interesting document of the band, warts and all.

After releasing their previous album Vitalogy, Pearl Jam notoriously boycotted Ticketmaster after battling the ticket sales monolith over high service fees. The legal battle, which involved the U.S. Justice Department, forced the band to play in smaller towns away from their usual markets and eventually cancel dates as they struggled to find venues not owned by the corporate overlord. It also strained the band’s relationships with each other, leading to a fractured process when it came time to record No Code.

Once again, teaming up with producer Brendan O’Brien who had produced Vs. and Vitalogy, the band convened in Chicago in July of 1995. In line with everything else difficult for Pearl Jam at the time, the sessions were during the now infamous heatwave that led to 739 deaths over five days.

According to a Spin Magazine article from 2001, O’Brien said that while it was a transitional album for the band, the atmosphere was more relaxed than previous efforts. Not for everyone, though, as founding bassist Jeff Ament recalled, “I wasn't super involved with that record on any level. I found out three days into the session that they were actually recording.”

After a session in New Orleans and coming home to Seattle to finish the record, the band was left with a patchwork of songs.

The production on No Code is super raw compared to the arena-ready gloss of Ten and there are no obvious singles as the record alternates between lethargic ballads and crunchy garage rock. Eastern-inspired lead single “Who Are You” was an interesting choice at the time with its polyrhythmic drums and electric sitar. While it topped the Modern Rock Charts, neither of the following singles would crack the Hot 100, ending a streak for the band.

So how does No Code sound twenty years later, away from the mid-nineties hype for Pearl Jam?

Starting with what doesn’t work, the heavier tracks here aren’t in the upper echelon of the band’s catalog. “Hail, Hail” is still fun, but “Habit,” “Red Mosquito,” and “Lukin” are pretty forgettable for first-era Pearl Jam. The worst of the bunch is “Mankind,” featuring lyrics by guitarist Stone Gossard which probably should have been a b-side.

That’s just the kind of album No Code is.

What does work, though, are the slower numbers. In 1996, the band caught fans and the media off guard with these more experimental songs, but they’ve always been my favorite part of the record and have aged beautifully.

Opener “Sometimes” wonderfully slides the listener into the album, contrasting any of the first songs on Pearl Jam’s previous works. With Eddie Vedder, Mike McCready, and Gossard weaving guitar lines around Ament’s fretless bass, it’s always been an odd treasure of mine.

“Off He Goes” is a mid-album highlight and one of the finest in the band’s catalog. Vedder wrote a biographical song about himself being a lousy friend with a fresh sound missing from the autopilot ballads in the band’s later works. The contemplation of “Present Tense” has aged better than some “deep thoughts” from the nineties as Vedder sings, “you can spend your time alone predigesting past regrets, or you can come to terms and realize you’re the only one who can forgive yourself, makes much more sense to live in the present tense.” The same can be said for the E-bow accentuated spoken word of “I’m Open.”

At the time, closer “Around the Bend” was a shocker in the form of a lullaby. Written by Vedder for then drummer Jack Irons’ child as an exercise, it was unlike anything heard from the band at the point. Still a favorite of mine, the relaxed atmosphere suits the band well.

No Code can’t be listened to without noticing Jack Irons’ drumming effort. Before Matt Cameron would be the longtime member manning the throne, Pearl Jam went through drummers like Spinal Tap. Known as the original drummer for Red Hot Chili Peppers, Irons had been floating around the same scene as Pearl Jam, but No Code is his first studio effort with the band. I’m not sure if “Who You Are” and “In My Tree” would have been possible without his influence at the time.

Finally, the best song on the album, “Smile,” fits somewhere in between the rock and ballad tracks. The year before the No Code sessions, the band had recorded with Neil Young, acting as his backing band on the exquisite Mirror Ball album. Neil’s influence is front and center on “Smile” with its crunchy guitar and harmonica. To this day, it remains a live highlight.

The Rolling Stones of the grunge scene, Pearl Jam survived this era and is still successfully recording and touring. While my fandom will never reach the heights it did during No Code and its follow-up Yield (my personal favorite), I’ve got a lot of respect for them and their continued activism.

Now excuse me while I check my old Yahoo email account from the nineties.

Username? pjfan.

If you enjoyed this retrospective, please consider sharing or subscribing to Check This Out! You’ll receive fresh tunes, reviews, and features to your inbox twice-weekly for free.