There was a suffocating bleakness to much of VS. (in “Rats,” humans are compared most unfavorably to those animals) that would have dragged down a lesser rock band. But singer Eddie Vedder had the support of one of the most transcendent of all classic-rock bands, with a supple rhythm section and two creatively complicated guitarists equally at home with the thrashy pulse of “Go,” the delicate prettiness of “Elderly Woman…” (check out the layered, stereo guitar work there) and the new wave angularity of a song like “Glorified G.” It was serious, but also serious rock and roll.

Wider in scope than any 70mm film, VITALOGY is the album on which Pearl Jam demands that the pigeonholing cease and desist once and for all. Whether by throwing meatless bones at some blindly zealous fans, or by moving their sound out of the grunge-land that they once called home, Vedder & Co. present this 55-minute tour de force as a treatise to win over the alternative non-believers and drop the excess baggage of fame.
There’s nothing fancy to VITALOGY: no ACHTUNG BABY or OUT OF TIME-like transformations, no post-modern gimmickry, no Steve Albini sound. Nevertheless, VITALOGY is revolutionary by Pearl Jam standards because it presents a collection of actually crafted songs, and succeeds in spotlighting the band’s growing diversity.
The proof is all over the place: “Corduroy” is an honest-to-goodness pop song, disguised in Seattle garb; “Not For You” brings the band’s Crazy Horse fetish to the forefront, combining a folky melody with a ripping, electric arrangement; while “Bugs,” “Aye Davanita,” and “Hey Foxymophandlemama” are, respectively, an accordion-driven stomp, a raga-like instrumental, and a feedback-laden sound collage. All are delivered with such taste and assurance, that rather than sounding unnatural and forced, they only further illuminate Pearl Jam’s artistic strides. Each helps make VITALOGY a proud notch on the band’s growing musical belt.

Of all the bands to emerge from the early `90s grunge scene, Pearl Jam was easily the most consistently interesting and longest-lived. After several albums that found the group taking an increasingly experimental direction, the Seattle quintet returned to it’s straight ahead hard rock roots with 2006’s self-titled effort, but then, in 2009, surprised fans again with an album that was its catchiest-sounding effort up to that point. According to vocalist Eddie Vedder, the most of the new material was written prior to recording, which was a significant departure form the group’s usual in-studio jamming method of composition. The result is some of Peal Jam’s most focused and accessible work since the debut album TEN. The debut single “The Fixer” (written my drummer Matt Cameron) is a KISS-like bit of straight-up pop masquerading as hard rock, while “Just Breathe” is melancholy acoustic singer-songwriter music so sharply crafted it would fit well on an Jack Johnson album. Throughout, Pearl Jam performs with its trademark directness, with an earthy, cohesive sound that only veteran bands can deliver.

Tracklisting
1. Gonna See My Friend
2. Got Some
3. The Fixer
4. Johnny Guitar
5. Just Breathe
6. Amongst The Waves
7. Unthought Known
8. Supersonic
9. Speed Of Sound
10. Force Of Nature
11. The End

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (pp.73-74) – 4 stars out of 5 — “[W]ith the shortest, tightest, punkiest tunes they’ve ever banged out….Eddie Vedder’s heart-on-fire vocals are the main attraction, as always.”

Spin (p.76) – “The band hasn’t put together a trifecta this energized and from-the-gut in a decade…”

Billboard (p.52) – “The whole album has a pleasurable mix of lean, mean rock’n'roll and pensive ballads that reflect both the state of the world and the band’s place in it.”

Q (Magazine) (p.119) – 4 stars out of 5 — “[I]t’s largely characterised by joyous new wave-influenced rock’n'roll, and for the first time in their 19-year career, Pearl Jam actually sound — whisper it — fun.”

Paste (magazine) (p.50) – “Most of their new album’s first half alternates between gritty guitar-led jams and able pop-rock…”

Nay-sayers and trends be damned. Pearl Jam’s follow-up to 1996’s NO CODE continues down the path of aggressive rock and roll, existential musings and musical experimentation. This isn’t your older brother’s grunge. Opening with the hard-driving “Brain Of J,” YIELD goes from a punky swagger representing man’s arrogance in asserting his lofty place on the food chain (”Do The Evolution”) to a free jazz approach and a disembodied Vedder vocal questioning the meaning of life (”Push Me, Pull Me”).

Most of YIELD continues to ply the standard Pearl Jam sound: Vedder’s pained emoting, the interesting use of dynamics between McCready and Gossard’s guitars and solid rhythm-work from the Ament/Irons rhythm section. Rather than falling into the creative rut many huge bands succumb to, Pearl Jam’s music has instead developed its own identity while still walking the fringes of the unorthodox. Hence the inclusion of a weird, untitled percussive instrumental cut in Jack Irons’ home studio and an Eastern-flavored hidden track pointing towards the influence of the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

“Do The Evolution” was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance and Best Short Form Music Video. YIELD was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Recording Package.

Tracklisting
1. Brain Of J
2. Faithfull
3. No Way
4. Given To Fly
5. Wishlist
6. Pilate
7. Do The Evolution
8. Red Bar
9. Mfc
10. Low Light
11. In Hiding
12. Push Me, Pull Me
13. All Those Yesterdays
14. Hummus

Professional Reviews
Rolling Stone (2/19/98, pp.55-56) – 4 Stars (out of 5) – “…even the rockers have an uncommonly easy touch that’s new to Pearl Jam….Vedder is singing more frankly about his life as an adult….shows that Pearl Jam have made the most out of growing up in public…”

Spin (3/98, p.129) – 8 (out of 10) – “…Part touchstone, part pariah, Pearl Jam have tried arty gestures; they’ve ostentatiously declined to rock; and now they’ve come back with an album full of gracefully ambivalent anthems. All commodities should be this unstable, and have this much blood pumping through them.”

Entertainment Weekly (2/6/98, pp.58-59) – “…an intermittently affecting album that veers between fiery garage rock and rootsy, acoustic-based ruminations. Perhaps mindful of their position as the last alt-rock ambassadors with any degree of clout, they’ve come up with their most cohesive album since their 1991 debut, TEN…” – Rating: B

NME (Magazine) (1/31/98, p.44) – 7 (out of 10) – “…Here’s where Pearl Jam put on their diverse boots and stomp across their bluesy roots, careering through various styles and pop-mongous strops…”