10 Albums That Were Hated Before They Even Came Out
6. No Code - Pearl Jam
Most Pearl Jam fans knew that the band were really in a rough spot coming off of Vitalogy. While Eddie Vedder already had reservations about how big the band was becoming, their lawsuit against Ticketmaster led to some moments on the album that went off the rails, like the strange accordion ditty Bugs or the final minutes of the album being this random drony piece of music called Stupid Mop. Those still felt like the band pushing each other forward, but No Code was the moment the band started to question if they were having any fun.
Although there are still some quality Pearl Jam material on here like the thrasher Hail Hail and the acoustic ballads like Off He Goes and Around the Bend, it feels like the band were trying to make every eccentric part of Vitalogy the focus on here, from the weird sounds of a song like I'm Open to releasing Who You Are as the promotional single, which consists of just a handful of guitar licks and a melody that seems more tribal than anything else. There are even a few songs that feel like they belong on completely different albums, like Mankind feeling like it should be tucked away on a Stone Gossard solo project.
The band themselves also voiced not being happy with the way things were turning out, from tortured sessions to Jeff Ament threatening to quit the band after they decided to start recording without him a few weeks into the process. Pearl Jam had always remained a grunge family through the years, but this feels like the moment where the members really needed some time away from it all.