Pearl Jam is one of those rock bands that are just not of this world, earning a place alongside the greats of old--Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Clash, Queen--bands that continued to thrill, experiment, grow, and simply rock with more power and ingenuity with each release. Why don't more Christians push themselves to such levels? The deep gulf separating the quality of this album with the best Christian-made releases is astounding. Granted, much of this is due to Vedder's one-in-a-billion vocals and Pearl Jam's insane recording and production budget, but there's more to it than that.
Yield takes the sounds of No Code and places them in a more consistent framework. It is a bit more low-key too, without the jagged peaks that surprised listeners on the last album. Pearl Jam mixes radio-friendliness with authenticity better than almost any other band, providing hooks and choruses galore while delving into whatever weird music they please. Those who still think of them as the anthemic grunge soundtrack to frat-house life should have another listen. The rhythms are steady; the guitars classic but exploratory and dirty; the vocals versatile and captivating as ever; the lyrics intriguing. It's refreshing in today's market to finally hear an album where each song stands strong and apart from every other song on the album.
Yield also makes you wonder about Vedder and Co.'s thoughts on spirituality. There is an air of humility and longing here, alongside many strange but incomplete references to Christianity. "Pilate" jumps between sadly quiet and swaggering, as it goes, "Like Pilate, I have a dog...obeys, listens, kisses, loves". Apparently bassist Ament wrote the song after hearing a legend about how Pilate sat on a hill with his dog after Christ died, wishing he had finished his last conversation with him. The picture in the sleeve below the lyrics is of Ament standing on top of a snow-covered mountain, hands raised, looking up to the sky with an expression of wonder. Interesting....
"Do the Evolution" seems to appropriately mock humanism, the idea that mankind is progressing toward some ideal state, by pointing out how we are all still stupid and messed up. Christianity as a religion is included in the imperfection:
Yeh...it's herd behavior
It's evolution baby
I'm a thief, I'm a liar
There's my church, I sing in the choir
Hallelujah...hallelujah
An odd caricature-like choir joins Vedder on the hallelujahs, which creates quite an interesting effect.
The first single, "Given to Fly," describes a "human being that was given to fly" who "floated back down cause he wanted to share...the key to the locks on the chains he saw". Despite the Christ-like imagery, this is more likely a description of a Bodhisattva which is, in certain Buddhist sects, someone who achieves nirvana, but sticks around to help others achieve it too, so they can all escape the suffering-filled cycle of life together.
"Push Me, Pull Me," featuring a deep voice, background chorus and weird music, sounds a lot like a mega-produced Mike Knott/LSU song. The spoken-word, beat poetry-type lyrics discover a bit of truth and ask an all-important question which the asker's belief in evolution fails to answer:
I had a false belief
I thought I came here to stay
We're all just visiting
All just breaking like waves
The oceans made me
But who came up with love?
Like Christ said, it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven, and that's no doubt the case with Pearl Jam. In the midst of their fame and riches, they have managed to maintain their integrity and explore many truthful philosophies, but it is regrettably obvious they have not yet found the light. All things are possible with God, however, and some truth filters through this excellent project, as it always must in a world created. Let's pray they keep digging until they strike God's impossible possibility.
5 tocks
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