Pearl Jam Yield

Though one of the most successful hard rock bands of the ’90s, Pearl Jam has never completely embraced hard rock. The group certainly plays it, but never lets it dominate its approach. Singer Eddie Vedder has always sounded just as much at home with an intimate ballad, and his tendency to slow the group down has made the band’s sound more brooding and ominous as a result. “Given to Fly,” its fifth album Yield’s first single, openly courted Led Zeppelin’s “Going to California” for its moody hook, while other low-wattage burners such as “Low Light” and “In Hiding” further dug a deep, committed groove from a band accustomed to serving the arena masses. “Wishlist” turns on the power-pop inspiration. “Brain of J.” and “Do the Evolution” fulfill the band’s bluster potential with a raw, unvarnished charm. But in the end, it’s the emotional struggles behind “Faithful” and the yearn behind “All Those Yesterdays” that makes Pearl Jam a band able to sustain a career at a time when so many others return to anonymity after a few loud shouts to the world at large.