through branches of rustic melodies soaring, haunting vocals. There's pain and pleasure in every contortion and note he grasps at and the silence of solitary, arid plains calls to him.The shrill march and psychedelia of Smile is Vedder fully liberated as he aurally slides in behind the steering wheel of a convertible car and down through the lonely highways of America where hitchhikers roam and the memories of past lovers overwhelms him.The low-key and atmospheric balladry of Off He Goes has the sniff of man's loneliness and the isolation of Middle America. The acoustic strum and sobering twang makes it a sombre tale. Habit turns up the heat and sounds remarkably like the hoary Spin The Black Circle off Vitalogy. Red Mosquito and Lukin is all neon lights, sweaty bar rooms, roadhouses, whisky vocals and guitar pyromancy courtesy of Stone Gossard, Mike McCready and Vedder.Speaking of favourite songs, the bittersweet Present Tense with its gentle, rippling and rumbling atmospherics gradually builds into a flood of phasing and tremolo guitars. Vedder sways drunkenly and hypnotically as if in a trance, he stumbles and falls and suddenly the world around spins...The dense throb and catchy melodies of Mankind sounds eerily like a poppy slice of REM and so far removed from Pearl Jam that its unrecognisable while Around The Bend is a shuffling ballad with a twang of country & western blues. No doubt Neil Young's essence and influence was running through Vedder's veins when he penned and recorded this beautiful and Hawaiian-tinged ode.Upon the looming release of No Code there is bound to be much conflict between the Pearl Jam fans of old and those seeking a sign of evolvement into new and unfamiliar terrains. No Code definitely belongs to the latter and differs greatly from Vitalogy. This is an album where discordancy, rage and frustration is left outside the studio door and is a beautiful coming of age album steeped in vulnerability for a man a...
