Compared with "Vitalogy" and "No Code", "Yield" represented more of a team effort among all members of the group. Lead vocalist Eddie Vedder had made the final decisions for "Vitalogy" and "No Code"; however, at the end of the "No Code" recording sessions, Vedder suggested to bassist Jeff Ament that it would be better for the other members to write and bring in more complete songs so Vedder would be under less pressure to finish the songs. Ament said that "everybody took that to heart," and O'Brien added that most of the songs came to the studio finished. Ament also said that Vedder's reaction to the rest of the band's new material kept "everybody energized about their place in the band." Vedder worked with the other band members on their own material before work was started on his. Guitarist Mike McCready noticed a change in Vedder's attitude during the recording of "Yield", stating, "I used to be afraid of him and not want to confront him on things ... We talk more now, and hang out ... He seems very, very centered now."