Re: Match BM: Mind Your Manners vs Happy When I'm Crying
Posted: Mon March 10, 2014 10:35 am
Between 1994 and 2005, Pearl Jam released five full-length albums showcasing an off-kilter sense of musical adventurousness and experimentation across a remarkable variety of song styles and approaches, while still operating reasonably within the limits of rock music. They were mercurial in their approach– sometimes raw and unhinged, sometimes quiet, delicate and mournful. During those 10+ years, they were a band that focused mainly on whatever worked best for whichever song they were tackling, setting aside the general public’s notions of what they were supposed to sound like. This resulted in a band that was free to explore, to stretch and adjust the limits of its own songwriting. 1998′s Yield was built on this very premise, an exercise in egoless songwriting– an entire album predicated on the idea of letting the songs take you where they want to take you, giving way to all kinds of structural oddities and left turns and discoveries. And there was a palpable joy in that process. More than a bunch of guys trying to sound their angriest, Yield sounded like a band indulging in the joy of creating music, and being caught off guard by these creations.
I remember reading an old rumor pit post from the Yield build up that addressed the sound of the new record. I remember it being described as more rocking than No Code but not a step backward. I remember them saying it was more "Hail Hail" rocking than something older.stip wrote:Except, if memory serves, yield was also something of a self conscious return to form (complete with heavy promotion) by design. A walking back of the no code asthetic
That might be a perception stemming from the promotion rather than the development of the record. I do think Stone said something akin to "how can we get people to like us again." But a record that sounds more like a healthier, cleaner, more extroverted version of No Code than a record by The Ten Band is hardly the way you'd go if that was the aim.stip wrote:Except, if memory serves, yield was also something of a self conscious return to form (complete with heavy promotion) by design. A walking back of the no code asthetic
It's only fair.McParadigm wrote:Also, every time someone votes against Happy When I'm Crying I kill a puppy. Not out of vengeance, mind you. It's just my way of putting things right.

This is true; even Riot Act, I remember, had that kind of press associated with it; the album where they rock again! It's more likely record company hyperbole than an accurate description of the records.McParadigm wrote:That might be a perception stemming from the promotion rather than the development of the record. I do think Stone said something akin to "how can we get people to like us again." But a record that sounds more like a healthier, cleaner, more extroverted version of No Code than a record by The Ten Band is hardly the way you'd go if that was the aim.stip wrote:Except, if memory serves, yield was also something of a self conscious return to form (complete with heavy promotion) by design. A walking back of the no code asthetic
Really enjoyed this. Well done, man.theplatypus wrote:(I wrote about it on this post, pardon the blog-plug).