INGRAINED AS GREAT: I wouldn't call myself much of a Pearl Jam fan. I tried, though.

I bought the first disc, TEN (if memory serves), the day it came out. I was intrigued by what I'd heard of Green River (Gossard and Ament's earlier band) and by all the critical buzz. I listened to it start-to-finish on a flight to San Francisco, then again on the return flight. It did nothing for me musically or lyrically, and so I sold the disc back to a used record store near my house.

Years later, going through a rough patch in my life, I happened to listen to YIELD, one of their more recent releases. Somehow I latched onto the fourth and fifth songs -- "Given to Fly" and "Wishlist" -- and ever since I can listen to those songs a hundred times in a row without tiring of them. I actually have a preferred listening time: first thing in the morning. I love it when I'm in my office very early, way before everyone else, and I can just unleash them. The first, "Fly," is an admitted rip-off of Led Zep's "Going to California." Funny, 'cause if there's one band I don't like it's LZ. Never could handle Robert Plant. Still, I just love this song, the way it's a kind of march, like many of the songs I loved back in the day by bands like The Call and The Alarm. And "Wishlist" is really a sort of simple, clever poem, ala Billy Collins.

I think I'll listen to 'em again.