Era of the moment: 1997-1998

[nightmareblack0206]

I really loved this Era of PJ history. It was a good time to be a PJ fan once again. One of their finest/collaborative albums in their Discography was released, YIELD. I remember when I first heard the initial single like it was yesterday. I had just received my drivers license and I was cruising around when my local radio station started to hype up how within the hour they were going to play the new PJ single called GIVEN TO FLY. It was the day after or before Thanksgiving. I remember driving fast so I can get home to tape it.

I remember hearing Given to Fly for the first time. I THOUGHT IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I was so happy. (No Code was a tremendous disappointment to me) within the next few days, maybe a week they played DTE/IN HIDING/FAITHFULL and NO WAY. I couldn't wait for YIELD to be released. I remember when the single was released. Given to Fly/Pilate/Leatherman. LOL I played that CD Single morning -noon-night! Then one afternoon on my way home from High School, the local radio station was hyping up how later on that evening they were going to be playing the entire album from front to back commercial free. I couldn't believe it. I actually didn't believe it.

When the time came later on that night, sure enoughthey pplayed the whole thing! I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I remember when the album finally did release like 2 months later I purchased the CD/Cassette and even the vinyl.

PJ was being touted everywhere as being "BACK TO FORM"

WAS A GOOD TIME TO BE A PJ FAN!

[WtOB?]

Something happened to Ed during this time that made him overjoyed at everything. Maybe it was the MDMA ??

[WtOB?]

Do you still have it on vinyl nightmare? I'd love for you to send it to be for free..

[bada]

Looking back I'd say this era was probably the pinnacle of my fandom/obsession with the band though I don't think I knew it at the time. Don't want to say it was all downhill from there but Live On Two Legs was probably my last full on these guys are perfect Pearl Jam geek out moment. After that I started having issues with them.

[Blenheim Augustine]

Looking back I'd say this era was probably the pinnacle of my fandom/obsession with the band though I don't think I knew it at the time. Don't want to say it was all downhill from there but Live On Two Legs was probably my last full on these guys are perfect Pearl Jam geek out moment. After that I started having issues with them.

This is probably me too.

I saw them in Wellington in 1998 and it immense. It was like seeing the Pope if I was Catholic. Still used to buy magazines for the sole reason that there was an article about Pearl Jam. SVT was amazing - used to love watching that. However, I remember that most people weren't that interested in Pearl Jam records anymore. You started getting the "oh they are still together / have a new record out?" type thing. For many people they had become fossilised as some long haired guy being all angsty, singing about depressing things and sounding like was pushing out a shit. It wasn't worth arguing. Have played Yield more times than any other Pearl Jam album - whenever I start it I have to finish it. Never skip anything on it. Remains top 2 with Vitalogy for me. 1st place depends on the weather and my mood.

[lowlight79]

I wasn't crazy about this era. I was really into hard rocking music in 1997 and 1998 and for some reason this album just didn't register with me at the time. Mostly because I had given up on ever seeing the band as it was impossible to see them and was in my last phase of MTV brainwashing.

I wasn't crazy about Jack Irons, I have never felt and still feel he was the wrong choice for the band. But I did finally get to see them in Septmeber of 98 in New Jersey. I was in the 300 hundereds and grabbed a single the day of the show on the floor. I remember seeing Matt Cameron back there and the sound just blew me away. I think this was when I came back to the band. Ed's voice was insane and the band was tight. Probably one of the best versions of Go ever.

[liebzz]

I remember the Yield album and buildup like it was yesterday as well. The nonsense of screaming something Pearl Jam related every time we passed a Yield sign on the road was in its moment at this point.

1998 was also the first time I had a real out of body experience seeing them live (pretty much half of the MSG 2 show that year), on the floor about halfway back. It was also the first time I saw them multiple times on a single tour (MSG 1, MSG 2, Hartford).

[stonefury]

Remember when Given to Fly was like the first mp3 problem for the music industry? I remember the dude that ripped it from the radio and posted it online got in big trouble.

Anyway, I agree with a lot of the sentiment I am reading. The buildup and anticipation for Yield, with the media ramping up the "return to classic Pearl Jam" rhetoric, was unlike anything I had experienced before or since. I was old enough to fully appreciate every aspect of said buildup and not be at the mercy of my parents to buy the album, go to shows, etc etc. So 1997-98 was when I was at the peak of my fandom. The fact Yield delivered so well made it all the better. Such great memories.

[VinylGuy]

It seemed like a return to form, specially after No Code, a record so criticized at the moment.
I didn´t quite liked Vitalogy or No Code at the time and Do The Evolution, with the awesome animated video got me thinking about PJ again...also SVT.

very cool stuff.

[Rangi Guy]

I saw them in Wellington in 1998 and it immense. It was like seeing the Pope if I was Catholic. Still used to buy magazines for the sole reason that there was an article about Pearl Jam. SVT was amazing - used to love watching that. However, I remember that most people weren't that interested in Pearl Jam records anymore. You started getting the "oh they are still together / have a new record out?" type thing. For many people they had become fossilised as some long haired guy being all angsty, singing about depressing things and sounding like was pushing out a shit. It wasn't worth arguing. Have played Yield more times than any other Pearl Jam album - whenever I start it I have to finish it. Never skip anything on it. Remains top 2 with Vitalogy for me. 1st place depends on the weather and my mood.

I would have to say that I fit into this exactly. Up to this point I had a friend at university trying hard-core to get me into the Pearl Jams, but I was going through an R.E.M. obsession stage. Finally caved and started listening to the band - bought Ten and Vitalogy. By the time Yeild came out I was fully fledged fan-boy - plus getting to see them in Wellington just added to that. the rest is history really, but this is the point that I look back on as being the pinnacle of by fan-boydom.

[nightmareblack0206]

Keep it coming guys and gals. ...GOOD STUFF

[Blenheim Augustine]

Remember when Given to Fly was like the first mp3 problem for the music industry? I remember the dude that ripped it from the radio and posted it online got in big trouble.

I also remember that they released a 30 sec wav/mp3 of Given to Fly before it was released. It was the build up bit and I played it over and over. When I finally heard the full version that bit was like a well worn path on a long road. Great.

They did this again with Backspacer but I think they over did it by doing it for each song. I also got way too excited about ATW...

[WtOB?]

Remember when Given to Fly was like the first mp3 problem for the music industry? I remember the dude that ripped it from the radio and posted it online got in big trouble.

I also remember that they released a 30 sec wav/mp3 of Given to Fly before it was released. It was the build up bit and I played it over and over. When I finally heard the full version that bit was like a well worn path on a long road. Great.

They did this again with Backspacer but I think they over did it by doing it for each song. I also got way too excited about ATW...

And it was also to promote some phone company like Verizon or something.

I remember the 30 sec snippets they had on the Synergy site for all the albums. They even had one for each of the 00 bootlegs. I used to play them often before I had all the albums.

[stip]

I don't remember much of a buildup for yield, but I was in college in Maine at the time and so it is entirely possible it just would have passed me by

Yield was a tough record for me. I loved everything when it first came out (tends to be the case) and then, for a while afterwards, I found myself trying to convince myself that i loved a few tracks more than I did since I so desperately wanted to love that album like I loved the first 3.

Other than ATY (which I like more than I used to) , this is the pearl jam record that has aged the worst for me. Even the best songs on the record (GTF, DTE, Brain of J, and wishlist) I don't listen to that much any more, and all the other songs I have grown to like less over the years.

[Hatfield]

I don't remember much of a buildup for yield, but I was in college in Maine at the time and so it is entirely possible it just would have passed me by

Yield was a tough record for me. I loved everything when it first came out (tends to be the case) and then, for a while afterwards, I found myself trying to convince myself that i loved a few tracks more than I did since I so desperately wanted to love that album like I loved the first 3.

Other than ATY (which I like more than I used to) , this is the pearl jam record that has aged the worst for me. Even the best songs on the record (GTF, DTE, Brain of J, and wishlist) I don't listen to that much any more, and all the other songs I have grown to like less over the years.

par for the course

[Jorge]

it is entirely possible it just would have passed me by

It's a reeeal possibilityyyyyyyyyy

[mastaflatch]

it is entirely possible it just would have passed me by

It's a reeeal possibilityyyyyyyyyy

[McParadigm]

golden

[nightmareblack0206]

it is entirely possible it just would have passed me by

It's a reeeal possibilityyyyyyyyyy

Everytime I hear this part of the song i laugh. And I love this song

[Heathen]

Other than ATY (which I like more than I used to) , this is the pearl jam record that has aged the worst for me. Even the best songs on the record (GTF, DTE, Brain of J, and wishlist) I don't listen to that much any more, and all the other songs I have grown to like less over the years.

It BAFFLES me how anyone could think this album has aged the worst. I think it has aged the best. It doesn't scream NINETIES and it's probably their most mature album, as in it doesn't sound like like teen angst and it doesn't sound either like 'hey we need to do weird stuff to prove we're not just a teen angst band'. Sounds like, maybe for the first time, making great music without caring about what Pearl-Jam-the-band should be doing or how it would be perceived was the only thing that mattered.