Editorial Reviews Music Review:
Music Review
Arnold: English & Cornish Dances
Anton Adam Bachschmid: Concerti
Music: Struggle for Pleasure [CD-single] [Import]
'64-'95 [Deluxe Edition][Expanded Packaging]
Amazon.com
Though it contains none of the band's radio staples, No Code may be the one Pearl Jam record that holds up start to finish. Partly this is because of the songs, which like the hypnotic "Who Are You" are unusually straightforward. But it's also because this is the most musically varied effort of the band's career: "Hail, Hail" is a full-tilt firestorm, but the quiet "Sometimes" is a hesitating, slow burn. And while "Smile" has a Crazy Horse roar, the unplugged setting of "Off He Goes" lets the song breathe and the emotions sink in. --David Cantwell