No Code

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Lore & Background

The recording sessions for No Code began with strife and tension. Bassist Jeff Ament was not made aware the band was recording until three days into the sessions, and said that he 'wasn't super involved with that record on any level.' Guitarist Mike McCready admitted, 'I'm sure Jeff was pissed, but it was more about separating, because if we played all together nothing would get done. We'd all just get pissed off at each other.' At one point Ament even walked out of the recording sessions and considered quitting the band due to lead vocalist Eddie Vedder's control of the creation process. The band's mood improved by the time the album was finished, and the bandmembers gave credit for this to new drummer Jack Irons. Regarding Irons, producer Brendan O'Brien stated that 'everybody was on their best musical behavior around him.' McCready said that Irons urged the band members to discuss their problems, and called him 'a big spiritual influence, if not the biggest.' Vedder said, 'Making No Code was all about gaining perspective.'

In Their Own Story

The band began work on No Code at the Chicago Recording Company studios in Chicago for a week in July 1995 during the infamous Chicago heat wave. During a break in a string of make-up dates for the 1995 tour, the band went into the studio for a week-long session in New Orleans, Louisiana, where they recorded 'Off He Goes.' The rest of the recording took place in the first half of 1996 in Seattle at Studio Litho, owned by guitarist Stone Gossard. The album was then mixed by O'Brien at his mixing facility at Southern Tracks in Atlanta. Due to Pearl Jam balancing recording and touring, Irons commented that the band was 'more on-the-fly during the making of No Code, and some good things happened out of that, but we were also really tired. It was difficult to tour and play these shows that were two or three hours long and then force ourselves to produce something in a studio.' McCready said that a lot of the songs were developed out of jam sessions, and said 'I think we kind of rushed it a little bit.'

Reader's Guide

No Code sold 366,500 copies in its first week of release, topping the Billboard 200, but falling short of analysts' predictions of at least 535,000 copies. This was significantly less than what the band's previous two albums sold in their respective first weeks of release. It was, however, the seventh biggest-selling debut of what was a slow year for the industry. The album became the first Pearl Jam album to not reach multi-platinum status, receiving a single platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the United States. Critical reviews were mixed, with praise for the musical variety but criticism of the album's inconsistency. Pearl Jam promoted the album with tours in North America and Europe in the fall of 1996. The short tour of North America focused on the East Coast of the United States. As with Vitalogy, very little touring was done in the United States to promote No Code because of the band's refusal to play in Ticketmaster's venues.

Did You Know?

• The album's front cover features the eyeball of photographer Lance Mercer, not Dennis Rodman.
• A Polaroid photo inside the album's booklet is of Vedder's foot after he had been stung by a stingray.
• The lyrics to 'Smile' are taken from a note that Dennis Flemion of The Frogs hid inside Vedder's notebook while he was offstage.
• For the first time on a Pearl Jam album, a band member other than Vedder contributed lyrics, with Stone Gossard writing and singing lead vocals on 'Mankind.'
• On October 17, 2014, at the iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois, during the Lightning Bolt Tour, Pearl Jam played the entire album in order as part of their set.

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