Pearl Jam became an astronomically successful band early in their career. While fame had its downsides and generated internal conflicts, it also allowed the group to bear the costs – literally – of risky decisions on No Code (1996), their fifth album, both sonically and in terms of its pressing.
Since Vs. (1993), the group had refused to use conventional plastic packaging, preferring more environmentally friendly, albeit less financially viable, alternatives. “Starting with our second album, we were kind of pushing boundaries. We said, ‘We don’t want acrylic covers, we don’t want plastic,’” recalled bassist Jeff Ament in an interview with Kyle Meredith (via Ultimate Guitar ). “[The record label] was like, ‘Well, we don’t do that.’”
Alternatively, the band decided to split the extra costs for each album sold with the record label so as not to pass the increase on to the end consumer. According to a Los Angeles Times about Vitalogy (1994), each unit of that album had an extra $0.52 for production, a value that reached millions in the final pressing.
“Those packaging designs consumed a good portion of our profits. With No Code , I don’t know if we made any money from that album,” Ament continued. The packaging for the band’s fifth studio album contains 156 Polaroid photos that form the project’s symbol when the four parts are opened.
