19961999Released on August 27, 1996, No Code was seen as a deliberate break from the band's sound since Ten, favoring experimental ballads and noisy garage rockers. Although the album debuted at #1, it quickly fell down the charts. No Code included the singles Hail, Hail, Who You Are (sample (help?info)), and Off He Goes. It stood out with its emphasis on subtle harmony (Off He Goes), Eastern influences (Who You Are), and spoken word (I'm Open). As with Vitalogy, very little touring was done to promote No Code because of the band's refusal to play in Ticketmaster's venue areas. A European tour followed in the fall of 1996.
On February 3, 1998, Pearl Jam released its fifth album, Yield. The album was cited as a return to the band's early, straightforward rock sound, but it became the band's first album not to peak at #1 on the Billboard charts since Ten in 1991. Yield debuted at #2, but like No Code soon began dropping down the charts. It included the singles Given to Fly and Wishlist. The band hired comic book artist Todd McFarlane to create an animated video for the song Do the Evolution from the album, its first music video since 1992. A documentary detailing the making of Yield, Single Video Theory, was released on DVD later that year.
In June 1998, Pearl Jam once again changed drummers. Jack Irons left the band due to dissatisfaction with touring and was replaced with former Soundgarden drummer Matt Cameron on an initially temporary basis, but he soon became a permanent replacement for Irons. Pearl Jam's 1998 Yield Tour of North America marked the bands return to full-scale touring. The band's anti-trust lawsuit against Ticketmaster had proven to be unsuccessful and hindered live tours. Many fans had complained about the difficulty in obtaining tickets and the use of non-Ticketmaster venues, which were judged to be out-of-the-way and impersonal. For this tour and future tours, Pearl Jam once again began using Ticketmaster in order to better accommodate concertgoers. The 1998 summer tour was a tremendous success, and after it was completed the band released Live on Two Legs, a live album which featured select performances from the tour.
In 1998, Pearl Jam recorded Last Kiss, a cover of a 1960s ballad made famous by J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers. It was recorded during a soundcheck and released on the band's 1998 fan club single. The following year, the cover was put into heavy rotation across the country. By popular demand, the cover was released to the general public as a single in 1999, with all of the proceeds going to the aid of refugees of the Kosovo War. The band also decided to include the song on a charity compilation album, No Boundaries: A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees. Last Kiss peaked at #2 on the Billboard charts and became the band's most successful single to date.
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