I like your underwater description earlier.



And I don't know that I'd go so far as to defend that lyric, but it does send a signal that the song is meant to be playful stab at faux mysticism. Without that line the song invites you to take it more seriously, which plays against its strengths

Come to sand, knock on the sand.

It didn't sell enough copies. Net profit was significantly less than previous releases.

Goddammit stip.

Goddammit ABNorman.

Except for the lyrics to I'm Open there's nothing wrong with the album. But as sprawling messes of an album go, in the vein of Exile or the White Album, it's not that successful either. They set out to make the toughest kind of album there is, and while they didnt fail neither did they knock it out of the park.

How badly do you think it negatively affected tenclub dues?

I like I'm Open.

It's good. Not the best writing, but not the worst, and it's got a magnificent backdrop. It's got maybe just a tiny bit of that quality Tomorrow Never Knows has, where the lyrics are corny but are mostly just there to serve the mood of the song, so who cares.

Mankind.

Obviously.

I don't particularly care for Rival but I'll get into it live.

Need to see I'm Open live to complete No Code for my stat tracker trophy.

"Rival" is not on No Code

wow

haters on Habit?

if PJ were more like Habit and less like Future Days we wouldn't be in this current mess today

Habit rocks and the outtro kicks major ass

and the pre-Habit intro that they used to play live, before this band became a plastic statue at the entrance of Wally World, was awesome. that was the Ed that I would pay money to see perform solo, not this puke licker playing corporate gigs between anal bleaching appointments

I'm Open is fine: "this" is what it's like for Ed to be an adult.... that took a while longer to develop than everybody else, but he got there.

the flaw on this album is that Mankind doesn't fit on this album

which has been beforementioned afore

Most Bammer post of all time

I never really heard No Code as being a 'wisdom' record, where Ed imparts to the people what he's learned. Even on stuff like Present Tense or I'm Open, I don't think there's any indication that he is confident about his stances. An album being a catalog of truths learned makes more sense with Yield than with No Code. The latter is sputtering all over the place, trying to make sense of the shitstorm that occurred during Vitalogy. It's what makes it such a compelling listen.

All the pictures in the gatefold of people's stitches and puncture wounds. That shit's gross.

Oops.

I meant Habit.

Where do I turn in my fan club card?

Holla

Only getting certain lyric cards with the CD! Thanks for reminding me of that disappointment. I thought my brother had lost a few when I first listened.

I would say it has two major faults - dodgy tracklisting in the second half and the presence of 'I'm open', a song which I truly hate. Other than that, it's easily one of my favourite pearl jam albums. Depending on my mood I often think it's the best thing they ever did. The musicianship is out of the park on this album, 'red mosquito', 'in my tree', 'habit' are AMAZING rockers. It has a very organic warm sound which I find very pleasant to listen to, and reminds me sonically of 70's Neil Young. Lovely earthy, woodsy vibe. 'Off he goes' has a really classy arrangement and instrumentation as do 'present tense' and 'around the bend'. I find it a shame that they are incapable of such things now, not only the subtlety aspect but good riffs - they write truly shit riffs nowadays. This record actually makes me sad when I think about what they make now - they just write trash for the sake of releasing an album. Great lyrics on this record as well, saying they are bad in comparison to his other efforts is just a non-fact. Stip, I cannot fathom how you think the sick bucket shit that he writes now is better. Though I fucking despise the I'm open lyrics the rest are all pretty good by Ed standards - certainly way better than his post binaural lyrics. Lets look at his newer efforts - When floods they came or tides they raised ever, closer became us? I used to be a crustacian in an underwater nation? Hear the sirens, covering distance in the night, the sound echoing closer, will they come for me next time? Or maybe my particular cringe favourite -

"It's okay, do you want some more?"
I said, "Yeah,..."
"You'll see dragons after 3 or 4..."
I said, "Yeah,...

Just shut the fuck up, Ed!

I'm not saying that No code is made up of masterpiece verse, but if the good lyrics that you are comparing them too are the above I think that is nuts personally. They make me want to gag, and I cannot listen to shit like that. I don't need chest-beating, everything spelled out clearly, pep talk lyrics. I get tons of positivity and joy from in my tree and present tense. This record is underrated by the general public to a massive degree.