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3. No Code (1996): No Code is the weirdest Pearl Jam album, the album on which the band retreated from view into solipsism and psychedelia, the album that definitively said to the world at large, "We are no longer interested in being recognized by you." But it's still the most interesting Pearl Jam album, the most varied. And it's interesting not because of the band's motives, but because the band is trying so many different things -- and achieving something special on a pretty frequent basis. Punk rage sits alongside meditative ponderousness; Eastern percussion and melodies butt up against jagged guitars obviously influenced by the band's time serving as Crazy Horse's stand-in. Rockers like "Hail, Hail," "Smile," and "Red Mosquito" have very little in common with one another, but each one is essential.
