•
Rating: In 1991, a band was officially born that many consider, along with their "rivals" Nirvana, the spearhead of the new musical and cultural movement, grunge. Instead, four Hard Rock musicians, with an amazing vocalist and "universal" guitarist, were giving life to what I believe is the last great rock band on the planet; after them, nothing better recognizable as a rock band has "emerged." Ten (1991), Vs (1993), Vitalogy (1994) are three absolute gems, then comes No Code (1996), which in some ways serves as a watershed between the band's initial grunge side (but for me more Hard Rock) and a new, more universal, and perhaps more genuine style that their music would adopt from here on. Yield (1998) is the first production from the "new" PJ and is one of the albums I personally prefer. Brain of J., Do the Evolution are powerful hard rock tracks with excellent guitar interventions, including those from vocalist Vedder who has now become a regular third guitarist in the band; Pilate, for me one of the most beautiful tracks of the lot, Faithfull, and Given to Fly are rock with blues undertones, with Vedder proving to be a hypnotizing singer like we haven't heard since the days of Morrison. Low Light, Wishlist, and In Hiding are splendid semi-acoustic ballads, the first two folk, and the other more psychedelic and rarefied. All Those Yesterdays and the hidden track Hummus (beautiful) encompass all the band's versatility by blending rock, blues, folk, and psychedelia, which is not bad for a "grunge" group. After Yield, PJ will continue down this path by releasing great albums, but perhaps without reaching the heights of this work.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Brain of J. (02:59)
Who's got the brain of JFK?
What's it mean to us now, yeah?
Pause, it sounds distrust.
I can tell ya this is no lie
The Whole world will be different soon
The whole world will be relieved
The Whole world will be different soon
The whole world will be relieved
You, you been taught, whipped into shape
Now they've got you in line
Stand behind the stripes
That will be yours; so give it good mind
The Whole world will be different soon
The whole world will be relieved
The Whole world will be different soon
The whole world will be relieved
(Slow Part)
Lend my name
The name they gave me
The name I'm letting go..
The Whole world will be different soon
The whole world will be relieved
The Whole world will be different soon
The whole world will be relieved
The whole world will be different
The whole world will be relieved
The Whole world will be different soon
SOON!
02 Faithfull (04:18)
Plaque on the wall says that no one's slept here
It's rare to come upon a bridge that has not been around
Or been stepped on
Whatever the notions, we laced in our prayers
The man upstairs is used to all of this noise
I'm through with screaming
And echoes nobody hears, it goes, it goes, it goes
Like echoes nobody hears, it goes, it goes, it goes
We're faithful, we all believe, we all believe it (4X)
And echoes nobody hears, it goes, it goes, it goes (2X)
We're faithful, we all believe, we all believe it (3X)
So faithful, we all believe, we all believe it
M.Y.T.H. is
Belief in the game controls that keeps us in a box of fear
We never listen
Voice inside so drowned out
Drowned you are, you are, you are everything
And everything is you
Me you, you me, it's all related
What's a boy to do?
Just be darling and I will be too
Faithful to you
04 Given to Fly (04:01)
He could have tuned in, tuned in, but he tuned out
a bad time, nothing could save him
Alone in a corridor, waiting, locked out
he got up out of there, ran for hundreds of miles
He made it to the ocean
had a smoke in a tree
The wind rose up, set him down on his knee
Wave came crashing like a fist to the jaw,
Delivered him wings, "Hey, look at me now..."
Arms wide open with the sea as his floor
Oh, oh oh...
He's flying! Woah!
Whole! Woah! Oh...
Floated back down 'cause he wanted to share
his key to the locks on the chains he saw everywhere
But first he was stripped, and then he was stabbed
by faceless men, well...fuckers, he still stands.
And he still gives his love, he just gives it away
the love he recieves is the love that is saved
And sometimes is seen a strange spot in the sky
a human being that was given to fly
Flying! Woah...
Whole! Flying! Woah...
Flying Woah...
Oh Woah...
05 Wishlist (03:26)
I wish I was a neutron bomb
for once I could go off
I wish I was a sacrifice
but somehow still lived on
I wish I was a sentimental
ornament you hung on
the Christmas tree, I wish I was
the star that went on top
I wish I was the evidence
I wish I was the grounds
for fifty million hands upraised and opened toward the sky
I wish I was a sailor with
someone who waited for me
I wish I was as fortunate
as fortunate as me
I wish I was a messenger
and all the news was good
I wish I was the full moon shining
off a Camaro's hood
I wish I was an alien
at home behind the sun
I wish I was the souvenir
you kept your house key on
I wish I was the pedal break
that you depended on
I wish I was the verb to trust
and never let you down
I wish I was a radio song
the one that you turned up
I wish ...
06 Pilate (03:00)
Talk of circles, punching out
Looking in, drawing circles down
Falling off the south marking ground
Talking out of turn, drawing circles down
Like Pilate, I have a dog
Like Pilate, I have a dog
Walks me out of town, still one's a crowd
Making angels in the dirt, looking up, looking all around
Like Pilate, I have a dog (obeys, listens, kisses, loves)
Like Pilate, I have a dog (obeys, listens, kisses, loves)
Stunned by my own reflection
It's looking back, sees me too clearly
And I swore I'd never go there again
Not unlike a friend that
Politely drags you down, you down, you down, you down
Like Pilate, I have a dog (obeys, listens, kisses, loves) }x4
07 Do the Evolution (03:54)
I'm ahead, I'm a man
I'm the first mammal to wear pants, yeah
I'm at peace with my lust
I can kill 'cause in god I trust, yeah
It's evolution, baby
I'm at peace, I'm the man
Buying stocks on the day of the crash, yeah
On the loose, I'm a truck
All the rolling hills, I'll flatten them out, yeah
It's herd behavior, uh huh
It's evolution, baby
Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, he's my clone
Yeah yeah, yeah yeah
This land is mine, this land is free
I'll do what I want but irresponsibly
It's evolution, baby
I'm a thief, I'm a liar
There's my church, I sing in the choir:
Hal-le-lu-jah
Hal-le-lu-jah
Admire me, admire my home
Admire my son, admire my clones
Cause we know, appetite for a nightly feast
Those ignorant Indians got nothing on me
Nothin', why?
Because, it's evolution, baby!
I am ahead, I am advanced
I am the first mammal to make plans, yeah
I crawled the Earth, but now I'm higher
2010, watch it go to fire
It's evolution, baby
It's evolution, baby
Do the evolution!
Come on
C'mon, c'mon!
09 MFC (02:27)
Sliding out of reverse into drive, this
Wheel will be turning right, then straight
Off in the sunset she'll ride
She can remember a time denied
Stood by the side of the road, spilled like wine now
She's out on her own and I'm high
There's no leaving here
Ask- I'm an ear
She's disappeared
They said that timing was everything
Made him want to be everywhere
There's a lot to be said for nowhere
There's no leaving here
Ask- I'm an ear
He's disappeared
There's no leaving here
Ask- I'm an ear
Fuck it- we've disappeared
11 In Hiding (05:00)
I shut and locked the front door
No way in or out
I turned and walked the hallway
And pulled the curtains down
I knelt and emptied the mouth of every plug around
But nothing's sound, nothing's sound
I stayed where my last cap left me
Ignored all my rounds
Soon I was seeing visions and cracks along the walls
They're upside down
I swallow my words to keep from lying
I swallow my face just to keep from biting, I, I..
I swallowed my breath and went deep, I was diving, diving
I surfaced and all of my being was enlightened
Now...I'm in hiding, yeah
I'm in hiding, yeah
I'm in hiding, yeah
I'm in hiding
It's been about three days now
Since I've been aground
No longer overwhelmed and it seems so simple now
It's funny when things change so much
It's all state of mind
I swallowed my words to keep from lying
I swallowed my face just to keep from biting, I, I
I swallowed my breath and went deep, I was diving, I was diving
I surfaced and all of my being was enlightened
Now I'm in hiding, yeah
I'm in hiding, yeah
I'm in hiding, yeah
Now I'm in hiding, yeah
I'm in hiding, yeah
I'm in hiding, yeah
I'm in hiding, yeah
I'm in hiding...
12 Push Me, Pull Me (02:28)
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?
Push me, pull me, push me, but pull me out.
So if there were no angels would there be no sin?
You better stop me before I begin.
But let me say:
If I behave, can you arrange a spacious hole in the ground?
Somewhere nice, make it nice
Where the land meets high tide.
Push me, pull me, or pull me out.
Like a cloud dropping rain I'm discarding all thought.
I'll dry up leaving puddles on the ground.
I'm like an opening band for the sun.
Push me, pull me, or just pull me out out out ..
I've had enough, said enough, felt enough, I'm fine.
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By cliffburton86
I was immediately struck by the expressive tension of the album.
"Low Light", in my opinion, one of the most beautiful songs ever written by the group.
By TheBlackAngelsDeath
The band no longer assaults microphones, guitars, drums, and whatever else with the divine fury that inevitably accompanies those who know they carry the unbearable lightness of eyes, fists, and clenched teeth of a generation.
We are no longer in the humid and slightly sinister night of a Seattle among smoky manholes and vagabonds warming their ungloved fingers with timid bonfires on the sidewalks.
By Goodwolf
"Turn on the engine, press play, and 'Brain of J' makes you speed up by 40 km per hour."
"My favorite album from the Seattle five. A bow. Must-have at all costs."
