Review from the sky i scrape

evanser

Pearl Jam has a history of releasing difficult tracks as challenging first singles (who you are, nothing as it seems, I am mine—even given to fly is not instantly catchy). The Fixer is much more in the vein of a Worldwide Suicide or Spin the Black Circle—quick, fun, and catchy as hell. And in that respect this was an excellent choice. A first listen on the radio is not the time to challenge listeners. A single should capture your attention, draw you in, and make you want to hear more, and The Fixer certainly does that.



Musically this has an 80s new wave meets jangly R.E.M. feel to it (with some unusual flourishes like the piano intro into the bridge). In fact, I think this sounds like it could have been an R.E.M. song (that’s a good thing to my ears). The band is perfectly balanced, to the point that it is hard to distinguish any one particular band member or part of the song. No one is an individual star here. It’s a little weird, actually, since most Pearl Jam songs usually have a dominant riff and some solos and flourish to color it. When I listen carefully individual moments and little hidden high spots pop out but (at least on the myspace stream, which granted is not the best way to hear music) they recede when you’re not specifically listening to them. It’s hard to say if that means this song will get old faster or if it’ll be full of little discoveries that will keep it fresh.

Eddie said in an interview earlier this year that writing felt different after Bush. He certainly sounds like a weight has been lifted from him. There is a hope and optimism in the performance that has been missing for a long long time. Even songs like World Wide Suicide with catchy, upbeat music has an undercurrent of anger to them. In The Fixer Eddie sounds almost relieved, and there’s an unaffected enthusiasm to his performance. This has the punch of the vocals on S/T filtered through the expansiveness of Into The Wild. He makes very smart choices here. It has energy and punch without any strain.



Lyrically the song is about a returning sense of agency, of feeling that a person can take a broken life or a broken world and put it back together again. It’s not a very subtle song lyrically (usually this message is implicit in Pearl Jam songs—it’s very in your face here), and while there aren’t many memorable lyrics the repetition, delivery, and vocal melody make the whole much stronger than its parts (and the last lyric in each verse leading into the ‘fight to get it back again’ line work really well). I think my favourite moment in the song may be the way Eddie delivers the line leading into the bridge (If there’s no love I want to try to love again)—the way his voice drops and sounds almost unsure of himself, as if he’s not sure if this is still okay anymore. And then the bright piano fill jumps in, answering his question. Yes, it finally is.



The only two criticisms I’d make of what is otherwise a strong single is the uh huh huhs that start the song (and come out of the bridge). Normally I love Eddie’s wordless vocalizations but they seem a little too hushed given the energy of the rest of the song. And for gods sake stop with the fucking fade outs. Just end your damn songs!



I’d give this 4 stars. Bring on the rest of the record!

the wolf

like the review. now if this FREAKING WORK DAY WOULD END !!!!! so i can go home and listen to it mysef !!!! all would be good.

thanks for posting the review.

decides2dream

cool.
good read.
and the last comment made me laugh....

G Force

I agree with this review... and the fade out thing is like a direct quote from me after the first time I heard it.

COME ON... Your gonna have to finish the song in concert... why not do it on the record. I'm always stunned that they do this. Wishlist is one of the most shocking.

Lyrics are a bit funny at parts but I'm cool with them... It is a nice change to have Ed singing seemingly happy songs. I feel like the sun is shining and its a great warm feeling.

I'm not going to read a lot of the angry brutal negative criticism. I just don't want it in my life right now. Probably going to take a little break from the forum too and enjoy some PJ the way I always have... with my own opinion and joy firmly in tact without influence and the overwhelming mass negative public.

Cheers.

Keep on Jammin

The other good thing is, after Obama continues to F things up, Eddie will have another opportunity to write angry lyrics again.

wolfamongwolves

Still undecided about the song myself, but i will say - though I'm not a fan of fade-outs - the fade-out on The fixer isn't nearly as bad as on Life Wasted - which is a travesty on an opening song. I think the fade-out on The Fixer might make sense in the context of the album - it will depend on how it sounds juxtaposed with the next song.

dimitrispearljam

thanks alot,,great post..

woundedorgan

I agree about the uh huh huhs but I appreciate the fadeout. Especially being the first single, it leaves you wanting more. You kinda want to hear how the band naturally ended the song during the recording similarly to Lightyears. Maybe the fadeout has a better flow on the full album too, there could be an overall purpose to the fading in an out.

My 2 cents.

My vote is a 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. The base and drum volume seemed just a tad too high as compared to the other instruments but maybe that is what they were going for.

If this album is only going to be 36 minutes, they best be rolling out some B-sides that did not make the cut or some Itunes bonus thing...I just need more new music...more I say

kiljoythemerciful

TipJammer wrote:

I agree with this review... and the fade out thing is like a direct quote from me after the first time I heard it.

COME ON... Your gonna have to finish the song in concert... why not do it on the record. I'm always stunned that they do this. Wishlist is one of the most shocking.

Lyrics are a bit funny at parts but I'm cool with them... It is a nice change to have Ed singing seemingly happy songs. I feel like the sun is shining and its a great warm feeling.

I'm not going to read a lot of the angry brutal negative criticism. I just don't want it in my life right now. Probably going to take a little break from the forum too and enjoy some PJ the way I always have... with my own opinion and joy firmly in tact without influence and the overwhelming mass negative public.
Cheers.

Couldn't agree more, pj is one of the big positives in my life and in general I am avoiding all the negativity. I'm confident in my own feelings about this band and their music to where I can read the critical posts, but just won't engage them. It's really interesting how divisive this song seems to be and the second I began to hear the verse and the lyrics people were going to have a problem with it.

I tend to agree with Stip's review. Now if it was a whole album full of Fixeresque songs I might be a little disappointed, but I know that there are songs like Unthought Known and The End which are really interesting lyrically.

2-feign-reluctance

agreed. great review!

CitizenRick

Keep on Jammin wrote:

The other good thing is, after Obama continues to F things up, Eddie will have another opportunity to write angry lyrics again.

Nice attitude! Let me guess...another sore loser righty? Obama is brilliant...yet is faced with a fucked up job that will take time to repair. I'll eat my words if within 3 years we are worse off...but I seriously doubt it.

BTW...I'm starting to really come around to "The Fixer". At first it seemed punchless...but now I'm hearing the subtle things and liking it. Very catchy and 80's poppy. Sort of like it should follow "Hard Sun" on an album.

Stephen Flow

Good review... that little piece before the bridge reminds me so much of The Cure it's not even funny.

TEEJAM11

Word!!! Jeah Jeah Jeah!!!Yeah !!!!yeah!!! yeah!!!!

IGotShit76

Good review. I found this song average at first but the more I listen the more I dig it.
Lyrics are certainly not the best in PJ catalogue but I still think this song has better lyrics than Yellow Submarine
I agree completely with the "uh uh uh" comment and the fade out. So now I'm curious to hear how they end it during a concert.

PJStatTracker

Great review. Stip is the man.

luvisatower

after one very fast listen at 6am this morning and seven or eight more listens since i've been able to sit here and listen uninterrupted....

i concur with this review
and cannot FREAKING WAIT to hear this live!
yeah yeah yeah yeah

i've always been able to do without the fadeouts or "odd" endings (immortality, my 2cnd favorite ever even tho i don't like how it ends)
but as a first and foremost die-hard beatles fan, i L O V E the yeah yeah yeah yeahs

moyboy

I like the uh huh huhs...
Reminds me of the song from the movie SINGLES (p westerberg)...
Funny that this is their single and cameron crowe is attached (kinda).
Anyhow, you can't deny it's catchy and feels good to me.

tcaporale

I don't see what's wrong with a fade out...plenty of great songs end that way...if there wasn't a fade out the ending section would just be repetitive.

kiljoythemerciful

tcaporale wrote:

I don't see what's wrong with a fade out...plenty of great songs end that way...if there wasn't a fade out the ending section would just be repetitive.

I don't think its that big of a deal, but I always kind of like the last beat of sustain on the drums and instros. Not a deal breaker, though.

Zoso

very cool review... I didn't get an R.E.M. 80's feel but I like that idea anyway.

DreamOfAngels

I'd prefer to not have the yeah, yeah, yeahs. Seems like filler. I do think Ed's voice sounds great though. There were so many people writing about his voice being strained on some of the faster songs on the last release. I think this one allows us to hear that he can sing and still has range!

In terms of the fade out, I really don't care one way or another but one thing I thought was that maybe this digital release is this way... but maybe on the album - it keeps going and they don't want us to hear how it ends just yet...now, there's a thought!