In this thread we talk about the best moments in No Code. Ready....GO!


Ten
Vs
Vitalogy

Looking forward to seeing people's answers on this one.

Sometimes: No one moment. Jeff's bass playing throughout, maybe

Hail Hail: Probably the opening riff, or the 'I sometimes realize I'm only as good as you let me' moment. If we were doing a worst moments, I have to say that I really don't like the final few lyrics, which feel lazy and trite following some of Eddie's strongest lyrics

Who You Are: The crazy intro music as it sounds like everyone is struggling to figure out what to do and how to slot themselves into the song. I also really like the high and distant 'so little time before we leave' moment

In My Tree: the chorus

Smile: I miss you already, I guess.

Off He Goes: I like the final few notes in the outro, and not just because it means the song is over

Habit: the outro solo. Probably my favorite moment on the whole record. The opening riff is great too, though

Eddie bloody-mindedly finishing off the word "paint".
The transition from Sometimes to Hail Hail (Yes, Stip)
"It's egg-rolling thick and heavy"
What sounds like somebody strumming above the nut ( ) in Who You Are's intro
Bass enters in Who You Are
Eddie's Blue Sky Home
Eddie's voice rasping on "the sky I scrape"
Imagining Stone's duck walk in studio during Smile's solo
"Three crooked hearts, swirls all around"
"Un-
kept
clothes"
"Until a quarter to ten" - pleasing consonance
When Habit finishes
"Line One, mighty fine"
The riff between "paying me" and "a little visit"
RM has some of my favourite lyrics
Lukin' is barely more than a moment, and works because of that
"Ooh hmm" over that chunky guitar in PT
The raised vocals at the beginning of PT's second chorus
The uptempo part of the outro jam
"Going out like bacchanal"
Falsetto backing vocals in the chorus
The little guitar riffs between lines in Around the Bend's verse
Tremolo-y piano bit

A lot of these songs were the first things I learnt to play on guitar, so hearing certain riffs and notes makes me smile.

Red Mosquito: This is my favorite song on No Code, but I'm having a hard time picking a favorite moment. Maybe the 'if I had known then' outro

lukin: that faint siren sound that mike or stone is playing behind eddie's riff. Are there even three guitars in this song?

Present Tense: the fast part of the outro after the second chorus

Mankind: Maybe it's because its the one I spent the least amount of time with for so long, but this is one of the more interesting songs on no code to me these days. The whole song feels pretty fresh. But if I had to pick something I think I'd pick the sardonic bounce of the verses

I'm Open: Probably nothing. I guess the sense of space in the music is well done. I'm just no longer interested in what's filling it

Around the Bend: this song is a basically just a gentle tenuous mood sustained for the whole song. It's hard to pick a moment

Two observations:

1. Hail Hail is probably my favorite song on No Code now.

2. I think my biggest problem with no code (besides it being the Eddie performance I like the least) is that there just aren't many memorable moments for me. It's an album full of interesting ideas, competently executed, but there's just not that much I find myself looking forward to. I tend to rank this ahead of Binaural or Riot Act, since those albums have a number of songs I just don't like, but even those weaker songs still have moments I think are really cool. That doesn't seem to be the case here. I'm kind of surprised to realize that

good point,and a nice moment

The instrumental breaks in Around the Bend.

does not compute

Ctl + C
Ctl + V
Ctl + S
Ctl + W

that's a good one.

and Brendan O'Brien's (gasp) piano breaks in Around the Bend.

Didnt mike or ed play the piano there?

All of the outtros.

Pretty sure it was the master himself.

The bass driven jam before the outro in Present Tense.

To this day, i still remember the moment in 1997 when I was coming down from an acid trip listening to this. I was laying in bed in my room in my parents basement at 5:00 AM with this song on repeat at a minimal volume. My extrasensory perceptions made it seem huge and loud, and that little 15 second wall of sound seemed like it went on forever.

Drugs are bad, though. Especially acid, kids.

I think Mike's credited with piano on Sometimes, otherwise it's Brendan.

Off the top of my head:

- I love the sense of space in those opening moments before Ed starts playing the main guitar part to Off He Goes.
- Pretty much everything on Hail, Hail but particularly Stone's guitar part that comes roaring in to transition from the bridge back to the final chorus.
- Jack's drumming everywhere but particularly on Habit and the bridge of Mankind. Rock n' roll.

This is such a magnificent record.

present tense instrumental component

runners up:
when the trippy warped-record-player bassline enters in Sometimes
ed's dissmissiveness in Hail, Hail
the second note in Habit, that super low open drop tuning stroke
rag tag singalone in Who You Are
harmonica in Smile
the first slide guitar note in Red Mosquito
Around the Bend

I remember when this album was NEW, and everybody was talking about how far Pearl Jam had fallen, and I was like WTF! - they're finally getting good! I still like it just as much as I did then, while I never listen to Ten anymore because, well, I grew some pubes....

Easy! No Code is among my favorite records, and that's not just because I have a vinyl signed by Ed himself So, here are my top three moments:

Hail, Hail: Towards the end.... I think the lyrics are not lazy and it's simple emotion. Been listening to this song since '96 and it all still holds up very well....chills.

Sometimes realize, I could only be as good as you'll let me
Are you woman enough to be my man?
Bandaged hand in hand

I find it on the run in a race that can't be won
All hail the lucky ones, I refer to those in love, yeah
If you're my only one, so could you only one?
I want to be your one, enough...
Your one...your one...your one...

No. 2 would be Red Mosquito:
if I had known then, what I know now.

Third is the outro/jam to Habit...