a 'Live Backspacer' for Dr. Zoidberg

tremors · October 2010

(HERE IT IS!):

http://rearviewmirrorbootlegs.blogspot. ... pacer.html

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Greetings.

As people will know, Stip, the moderator from the 'Red Mosquito' Pearl Jam forum has been posting some scorching reviews of the backspacer album track by track, sharing what he has been writing for Red Mosquito with us here. He has almost finished the complete album now - A Guided Tour of Backspacer

http://community.pearljam.com/viewtopic ... 4&t=141478

I think many people agree that this is one of the best things we have read on the Porch for ages, and I think it has been really generous of Stip ('Dr. Stip Zoidberg'!) to take the time to come over here, share these with us and take the trouble to discuss further and exchange ideas; and there's been lots of great writing and insights to be found.

Anyway, partly to thank Stip for his trouble and generous spirit (actually I've assumed Stip is a man, but I'm not sure whether I know this for certain... you kind of pick these things up along the way!!) - and partly because we have had a discussion about this in the thread - I thought it would be interesting for us to try and compile a definitive 'Live Backspacer' for people to listen to as an occasional alternative to the studio album, and to continue with some of the themes raised in the Guided Tour thread.

There are a few reasons for this (has there been a 'Live Backspacer' thread on this already? - and if so, can somebody link me to it here?). The main reasons in my mind are these.

There has been some discussion about whether the songs on the studio Backspacer have been delivered better elsewhere, and whether some of the shortcomings of the album have been put to rights on the road
It might be fun trying to agree on and compile an alternative live version of the album - in this case partly to thank Stip for his efforts, and their success in generating some meaningful discussion on the porch, but also because it's interesting in itself.
Dr. Zoidberg doesn't tend to listen so much to the live bootlegs and all his reviews focus on the studio albums, so it would be interesting to see what he made of this

Now my hunch is the best live versions of Backspacer songs which may impress Dr. Zoidberg are ones which have a 'studio' quality to them - clear rich vocals, tight playing, good sound and production, with maybe a bit of extra energy etc. So in this case I don't think we are looking for the most 'wild' versions necessarily, but rather the ones where people clearly think the song 'comes off' better than the album version.

I'm not sure how this will work out - but this is my version of 'Got Some', which I think beats the studio version and does full justice to the song:

Got Some, London 2010

Any takers??

guypjfreak · October 2010

its not wot you want but i like it so here goes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3m4gvJDrlo
happy Sunday all

Pap · October 2010

1) Gonna See My Friend, Berlin 2010
2) Got Some, Salt Lake City 2009
3) The Fixer, Bristow 2010
4) Johnny Guitar, Cleveland 2010
5) Just Breathe, Werchter 2010
6) Amongst The Waves, Kansas City 2010
7) Unthought Known, Los Angeles 2009
8) Supersonic, Portland 2009
9) Speed Of Sound, Hartford 2010
10) Force Of Nature, Boston 2010
11) The End, New York (Night 2) 2010

Enjoy!

tremors · October 2010

Pap wrote:

1) Gonna See My Friend, Berlin 2010
2) Got Some, Salt Lake City 2009
3) The Fixer, Bristow 2010
4) Johnny Guitar, Cleveland 2010
5) Just Breathe, Werchter 2010
6) Amongst The Waves, Kansas City 2010
7) Unthought Known, Los Angeles 2009
8) Supersonic, Portland 2009
9) Speed Of Sound, Hartford 2010
10) Force Of Nature, Boston 2010
11) The End, New York (Night 2) 2010

Enjoy!

Hahaha - the end!!

I'm gonna have to listen to all those now to check! thanks. A good start - thanks for taking the trouble.

I think what we're really looking for are performances which 'work' better than the album versions - for one reason or another, in doing justice to the song and delivering the intention of the piece, the words, the themes, the aims. A great starting point for reflecting on these factors would be Stip's reviews!!

The reason I chose the London version of Got Some is because I think that song and its message is all about shaking yourself out of a lethargy - calling on our reserves, our connection with the band and the music, and saying 'Let's go!!' - and for me this version has that effect - so in this case I find it not the most polished performance, but the one that delivers what I hear the song it trying to do and say - so another song will require a different kind of delivery. If anyone wants to say why they like a particular version or why they think it delivers the song better than on the album, I'm all for it!! If not, then that's cool too. Like I say, I've no idea if this thread is going to go anywhere in particular. Thanks for the responses so far!

tremors · October 2010

guypjfreak wrote:

its not wot you want but i like it so here goes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3m4gvJDrlo
happy Sunday all

Yes this is a really good video. I remember watching it from last year. Thanks, it's relevant!

wolfamongwolves · October 2010

Pearl Jam Online put together a Live Backspacer a few months back. I personally don't think they've got the "best" versions on there, particularly since there's been a few more to choose from since then, but for what it's worth, you can find it here: http://www.pearljamonline.it/mp3.htm

tremors · October 2010

wolfamongwolves wrote:

Pearl Jam Online put together a Live Backspacer a few months back. I personally don't think they've got the "best" versions on there, particularly since there's been a few more to choose from since then, but for what it's worth, you can find it here: http://www.pearljamonline.it/mp3.htm

Thanks, yes, I'm sure I had read something about this somewhere. I'll have a listen, thanks. Maybe we could work out from there!

theserialthrilla · October 2010

also dont forget an album is made just to be played..if its you at home in the car or jogging ...it a different beast altogether live.even its evil/better twin brother.

i do find it hard to say a live recording is greater then an album track..ok if you went to the show and saw it played live that again brings hightened feeling towards that track.but is it better then a studio version.i dont know..yeah its different ..

sorry if this has all been said in stips thread but ive not read it .....which i will correct now ..

edit ..just read some of it ...shit theres alot to get though..i see why you like it..your sort of writing.shame i cant write like that .but

i will come back to my point above...sometimes music just needs to be played and left alone..enjoy it dont dissect it.a song may mean one thing to you and another to me...and i bet something totally differnet to the band member that wrote it..

ok tremors dont go writing a page back at me telling me your agree..3 words will do

ok 4

tremors · October 2010

Fair enough, and good points. I agree mostly.

I don't mind if people don't want to get involved in or want to read the longer discussions about the music at all. But what I don't like is when people wade in and criticise the people who do enjoy reading or writing longer pieces about Pearl Jam on the Porch, or who like to join the discussion, either with a few words or a longer piece themselves. I love the chatty parts of the forum - but I don't think I've ever gone out of my way to tell anyone to 'shut up' if their post is too short, or not what I want to read. (I'm not referring to you here thrilla, you is one of the good guys!!)

I think what Stip's thread does is show that there are plenty of people who want to read stuff like that who visit the Porch - many probably rarely post here. Maybe they would feel able to join in more if some current Porch members weren't so quick to attack any kind of more reflective writing. As I quoted over in the other thread - this is what the Porch is supposed to be about:

The Porch
Step out on the porch to discuss Pearl Jam's music, tour, appearances, causes they support, etc. It's all about Pearl Jam here.

theserialthrilla · October 2010

i said in 4 words.lol

tremors · October 2010

I know! dammit :(

Where's dimi? Probably talking about the box set or playing Monopoly with Stone. Sounds much more fun than my idea!!

I'll probably go find him soon!

theserialthrilla · October 2010

lol..ok ok so you really want me to write a long draw out reply about why i like backspacer live over the normal album..

i cant on many levels.

1.i like the album alot and as said above feel live songs dont replace studio tracks .two different things
2.i dont think i can remember which track of unthought known is the best live. or any other track
3.im not as gifted as you in the lingue world.
4.writing this much is making my come over in a cold sweat.
5.i think most of what need to be said has been covered.
6.when death on ten legs coming out .

dimitrispearljam · October 2010

theserialthrilla · October 2010

watch out stone has

T-Bone 82 · October 2010

Wouldn't it be cool if PJ (as a fan-club only, or even download only) went back and compiled live cuts of every album and released a live version of each studio album?

The only problem I could forsee is the fact that they might not have played every single song live, i.e.) "red dot" on Yield. Or maybe the songs that are very seldom played do not have great versions out there.

But off the top of my head, they could definitely do this for Ten, Vs., ST, Binaural, and Backspacer. Probably could do No Code and Yield. Vitalogy would be a struggle. Riot Act could be done, but I don't know how many people would want to hear it (sorry Riot Act fans. just my opinion).

tremors · October 2010

theserialthrilla wrote:

lol..ok ok so you really want me to write a long draw out reply about why i like backspacer live over the normal album..

i cant on many levels.

1.i like the album alot and as said above feel live songs dont replace studio tracks .two different things
2.i dont think i can remember which track of unthought known is the best live. or any other track
3.im not as gifted as you in the lingue world.
4.writing this much is making my come over in a cold sweat.
5.i think most of what need to be said has been covered.
6.when death on ten legs coming out .

No sorry - miscommunication - it wasn't my intention to give you that impression thrilla- for once I wasn't being sarcastic!! Don't want you cold sweating - you're fine as you are!!

theserialthrilla · October 2010

your lucky i love ya..lol

tremors · October 2010

T-Bone 82 wrote:

Wouldn't it be cool if PJ (as a fan-club only, or even download only) went back and compiled live cuts of every album and released a live version of each studio album?

The only problem I could forsee is the fact that they might not have played every single song live, i.e.) "red dot" on Yield. Or maybe the songs that are very seldom played do not have great versions out there.

But off the top of my head, they could definitely do this for Ten, Vs., ST, Binaural, and Backspacer. Probably could do No Code and Yield. Vitalogy would be a struggle. Riot Act could be done, but I don't know how many people would want to hear it (sorry Riot Act fans. just my opinion).

Yes that would be really cool. Interesting too. But I'm wondering if we could do something like that ourselves - would be hard to agree! - but it might be worthwhile. We could just make votes for favourite cuts, if we didn't want to have the lengthy discussions!!

tremors · October 2010

I agree with thethrilla also - that the studio albums are different beasts entirely - but I would be interested in hearing something like this, just as an occasional alternative - I sometimes think people like the most 'rocking' live versions the best - and I never quite know why one person prefers one live version over another - it's just some live versions have a different 'magic' than on the albums - I always think of Garden in Milan 2000 for example.

theserialthrilla · October 2010

but can i have love regin o'er me on any album form the o2 2009 that blow me away

Black Diamond · October 2010

I think I said this somewhere else, but BS is the first PJ album where I enjoy the actual album than hearing them live... With the exception of Unthought Known, I don't think they translate well to the live shows. Can't say that about any of the previous albums. In fact, I prefer to listen to boots of all the rest of their catalog vs the albums themselves.

a 'Live Backspacer' for Dr. Zoidberg

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