Best Albums !: Pearl Jam. No Code (1996)

No Code is the fourth album by American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released in August 1996 through Epic Records. Following a troubled tour for its previous album, Vitalogy (1994), in which the band engaged in a much-publicized boycott of Ticketmaster, the band went into the studio to record its follow-up. The music on the record was even more diverse than what the band had done on previous releases, incorporating elements of garage rock, worldbeat, and experimentalism.

Although No Code debuted at number one on the Billboard charts, it left a large section of the band’s fanbase unsatisfied and quickly fell down the charts. Although the album is certified platinum in the United States, it was the first Pearl Jam album to not reach multi-platinum status.

While Vitalogy had shifted away from the earlier albums' accessible compositions and polished production, No Code represented a deliberate break from Ten's anthemic stadium sound, favoring experimental ballads and noisy garage rockers. It stood out with its emphasis on subtle harmony ("Off He Goes"), Eastern influences ("Who You Are"), and spoken word ("I'm Open"). Jack Irons lends a tribal drum sound on the songs "Who You Are" and "In My Tree". Vedder said, "We realized that we had an opportunity to experiment." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly stated that "No Code displays a wider range of moods and instrumentation than on any previous Pearl Jam album".

The lyrical themes on the album deal with issues of spirituality, morality, and self-examination. Vedder said, "I think there's a little self-examination in those songs, something that a lot of my friends are going through too, as they approach 30." Vedder has said that he wrote the song "Off He Goes" about himself and how he is a "shit friend". For the first time on a Pearl Jam album a band member other than Vedder contributed lyrics, with guitarist Stone Gossard penning the lyrics to "Mankind". Gossard also sang lead vocals on the track.

The lyrics to "Smile" are taken from a note that Dennis Flemion of The Frogs hid inside Vedder's notebook while he was onstage performing. The words used in the note are taken from the Frogs songs "This Is How I Feel" and "Now I Wanna Be Dead". Flemion is given credit in the "No Code" vinyl, but the credit is inexplicably absent from the CD version. The lyrics to "Red Mosquito" were inspired by Vedder's stay at a hospital in June 1995 due to food poisoning and his attempt to perform at a concert that day at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park in front of 50,000 people. Vedder only made it through seven songs and the band was forced to cancel the remaining dates of the short tour that it was on. "Around the Bend" was written by Vedder as a lullaby that Irons could sing to his son.