My Backspacer review

Ricsard

Not bad but Johnny Guitar and Amongst The Waves deserve a lot more appreciation if you ask me...

323656

Speed of Sound (album version) has surpassed Sleight of Hand as my least favorite PJ track. I actually really dig Johnny Guitar though.

halszka123

Speed of Sound is crap in album version.
if they didn't have much time for making it better, They shouldn't release it this way at all.

I feel badly destroyed listening this one.


I HAVE TO USE CAPS LOCK, THOUGH I DO IT RARELY.

WHERE, THE HELL, WAS MIKE WHEN BACKSPACER WAS RECORDED?

DragonsAfter3or4

I love Johnny Guitar!!

And Amongst the Waves is an incredible song. Not sure why some are downplaying it so much:(

No_ones_rival

DragonsAfter3or4 wrote:

I love Johnny Guitar!!

And Amongst the Waves is an incredible song. Not sure why some are downplaying it so much:(

I think for me the problem with Amongst The Waves isn't as much the song itself as the fact that in a lot of the early reviews they made it sound like it was an epic like Given To Fly and one I remember comparing it favorably to Alive. I guess it just didn't live up to expectations.

Anarmyofpeace

Ricsard wrote:

Not bad but Johnny Guitar and Amongst The Waves deserve a lot more appreciation if you ask me...

I agree completely. These are prob my favorite 2 on the album and definitely kick major ass. I could easily see "Amongst the Waves" on Yield, also.

Good review tho!

Kilgore_Trout

jbain15 wrote:

I could easily see "Amongst the Waves" on Yield, also.

:shock:

pouch15

s_rockvam wrote:

I knew I was going to get flamed for my Johnny Guitar review... oh well, to each their own

You hate the songs that I like the most on the album hehehe hey don't you think the beginning of Johnny Guitar sounds a lot like the song Strutter of Kiss?

No_ones_rival

I just listened to them back to back... yeah, they are similar!!! oh and I don't hate either song... just don't love em!

Ltrain76

I'm a Pearl Jam lifer but I am not going just to praise this album because they are my favorite band. Overall this album is terrible. I am so so mad and disappointed at it. Overall it's a weak uninspired effort - the guitar is hardly there and you hear cheesy keyboards - very 80's throughout. The solos are terrible. This is not a good album. There are two great tracks - The Fixer and Supersonic. Speed Of Sound, Amongst The Waves, Unthought Known, Force Of Nature ARE BRUTALLY BAD. The rest is ok but nothing special. They still are my #1 band BUT THIS IS A DUD............

Kilgore_Trout

Ltrain76 wrote:

I'm a Pearl Jam lifer but I am not going just to praise this album because they are my favorite band. Overall this album is terrible. I am so so mad and disappointed at it. Overall it's a weak uninspired effort - the guitar is hardly there and you hear cheesy keyboards - very 80's throughout. The solos are terrible. This is not a good album. There are two great tracks - The Fixer and Supersonic. Speed Of Sound, Amongst The Waves, Unthought Known, Force Of Nature ARE BRUTALLY BAD. The rest is ok but nothing special. They still are my #1 band BUT THIS IS A DUD............

thanks for some sense

i know its new... but i cant understand the unconditional praise this thing is getting so far

its definitely worse than S/T... and that means a step backwards... and i didnt even like S/T that much

im all for them having some fun... and maybe alot of these songs just have to get out of their system in order to do something bigger and better... but i hope this isnt a new direction... matt needs to step up his influence a bit and actually SHOW UP on some tracks... seeing him disappear more and more with each album just keeps disappointing me

still my favorite band too (others are tied at this point) but i was just expecting more... its not something you can put in when youre in the car and just enjoy from beginning to end

rats619

Kilgore_Trout wrote:

Ltrain76 wrote:

I'm a Pearl Jam lifer but I am not going just to praise this album because they are my favorite band. Overall this album is terrible. I am so so mad and disappointed at it. Overall it's a weak uninspired effort - the guitar is hardly there and you hear cheesy keyboards - very 80's throughout. The solos are terrible. This is not a good album. There are two great tracks - The Fixer and Supersonic. Speed Of Sound, Amongst The Waves, Unthought Known, Force Of Nature ARE BRUTALLY BAD. The rest is ok but nothing special. They still are my #1 band BUT THIS IS A DUD............

thanks for some sense

i know its new... but i cant understand the unconditional praise this thing is getting so far

its definitely worse than S/T... and that means a step backwards... and i didnt even like S/T that much

im all for them having some fun... and maybe alot of these songs just have to get out of their system in order to do something bigger and better... but i hope this isnt a new direction... matt needs to step up his influence a bit and actually SHOW UP on some tracks... seeing him disappear more and more with each album just keeps disappointing me

still my favorite band too (others are tied at this point) but i was just expecting more... its not something you can put in when youre in the car and just enjoy from beginning to end

WAAA...WAAA...WAAA...you guys are worse than my kids

yieldjames

i think the albums kicks major ass! i think they actually sound their age in the way they're rocking out but feel comfortable with it. they're not trying to pretend to be young and sound pretensious. <-spelling? haha. just another great example of how the band evolves with their music and grows. the record sounds honest.

but definitely the whole album gets a 4/5 from me.. favourite tracks just breathe and force of nature. great songs!

brother123

Kilgore_Trout wrote:

Ltrain76 wrote:

I'm a Pearl Jam lifer but I am not going just to praise this album because they are my favorite band. Overall this album is terrible. I am so so mad and disappointed at it. Overall it's a weak uninspired effort - the guitar is hardly there and you hear cheesy keyboards - very 80's throughout. The solos are terrible. This is not a good album. There are two great tracks - The Fixer and Supersonic. Speed Of Sound, Amongst The Waves, Unthought Known, Force Of Nature ARE BRUTALLY BAD. The rest is ok but nothing special. They still are my #1 band BUT THIS IS A DUD............

thanks for some sense

i know its new... but i cant understand the unconditional praise this thing is getting so far

its definitely worse than S/T... and that means a step backwards... and i didnt even like S/T that much

im all for them having some fun... and maybe alot of these songs just have to get out of their system in order to do something bigger and better... but i hope this isnt a new direction... matt needs to step up his influence a bit and actually SHOW UP on some tracks... seeing him disappear more and more with each album just keeps disappointing me

still my favorite band too (others are tied at this point) but i was just expecting more... its not something you can put in when youre in the car and just enjoy from beginning to end

I agree with you both.

This album is not Pearl Jam. It's uninspiring and dull. Repetitive lyrics and Into The Wild b-sides.

Poppy kid rock songs at best

Ledbetterman10

I've listened to it several times now and I still don't really have an opinion on it. I don't dislike it by any means. But I'm also not very into it. I listen to it over and over because it's new PJ. But I wonder what I'll think of it years from now.

I really like Got Some, Johnny Guitar, Gonna See My Friend (except for the chorus), and Amongst the Waves a lot. The End is really good too.

I don't care one way or another for Just Breathe, Force of Nature and Supersonic. I kinda zone out when they're on.

Unthought Known is another I don't really care about but I think it'll grow on me.

I think I liked Speed of Sound better in it's demo form.

Still hate The Fixer.

kenny olav

OK, it looks like this has become THE review thread, so I'll post mine here...

I've listened to it about 20 times since I got the leaked copy on Saturday. Today was my first proper listen. I took the CD out of the sleeve with Tom Tomorrow's hilarious drawing of the band, put it in my stereo system, and with a glass pipe in one hand and a lighter in the other, I played it loud. The speakers are on shelves at the same level that my head is at when I'm standing in front of them. This is my favorite way to listen to music, although listening while driving in my car is a close 2nd. OK, so I'm already familiar with all of the songs, and I'm rocking out, dancing the tall man's dance, singing along, just having a great time. It's a great album.

Gonna See My Friend - I like it. I really like it. I'm kinda lovin it actually.
Got Some - LOVE this song. Brendan O'Brien's production genius becomes evident here.
The Fixer - lovin it's vibe. Matt Cameron is the man.
Johnny Guitar - coolest song on the album. I bet Mike will jam out at the end of this one when they play it live.
Just Breathe - love this one the most. beautiful song.
Amongst the Waves - didn't like it at first, but it snuck up on me and made me love it.
Unthought Known - wasn't liking this one at first either, it was too simplistic, but I'm digging it now. listen to that bastard Eddie sing. finally, a Pearl Jam album where Eddie nails every song.
Supersonic - misplaced? comes out of nowhere? yeah, but i'm used to PJ doing that. Stone is a dork. this song rocks.
Speed of Sound - big fat cheesy 70's groove. applause. love it to the death.
Force of Nature - this one I liked it at first, then I didn't like it, and now I like it again. I might love it one day.
The End - God damn you Eddie. Don't make me cry.

And that's my review! I wish Brendan O'Brien had produced the last 3 albums. Also, one 36 minute pop album is enough. Let's hear Mike wail on the next one and hit us with some psychedelia! But I approve of this outing, the Backspacer pop rock adventure. Makes me want to play drums in space.

pouch15

s_rockvam wrote:

I just listened to them back to back... yeah, they are similar!!! oh and I don't hate either song... just don't love em!

Must be Mikes idea, hes a big Kiss fan!! do we know already who wrote the songs on the album?

inmyrvm

speed of sound makes me cringe. it has no place on the album. rest is just ok. pearl jam isn't a pop band, and they tried that avenue on this album. come back.

musicismylife78

its an odd record. This is the record that people were talking about when they said Avocado was a return to form. Its not a return to form so much as a step in a new direction.
The lyrical content is so odd, I still cant really describe the feeling of listening to a Pearl jam record that isnt angry, upset, urgent and political. This album is the opposite of every word I just listed.

The band sounds happy. The album is more polished than any other PJ record in the catalogue.

The lyrical themes of love and loss of love are so bizaare coming from this band. The outside world and the strife and conflicts that the band has made such a public thing in the past are basically non existant. The president, the war, the environment, jobs, etc... are completely absent in this world of the band at this point. Or at least the landscape of this music.

The band rocks out, but I also get an aging vibe from the album. The band is mellowed the hell out. They still can bring the RAWK, but its a very parent album, which makes sense as most of the band is married with kids.

As I said in another thread, love features prominently, which is odd to a certain extent. But the love songs feature characters who are dying, or scared of losing that love. The love songs arent cheery happy ones, they are ones where fear of losing love is the focal point.

I dont know how I feel about the record. Its great. But as I said, Avocado was way more immediate. I loved that album, It described how I felt at that moment precisely, to the T.

Who would have thought, in 2009 in some of the most political times in history, that Pearl Jam a political band, would create an album that lacks political themes, isnt really pissed off and angry and talks a great deal about love and parenthood and finding hope in watching the stars and the sky? I sure wouldnt have dreamt it in a million years

Uncle Bruce also put out an album with similar themes with Working on a Dream. That album too was an odd one. It lacked the anger, desperation and uplifting anthems that make Bruce, well, Bruce. Politics and the war were nonexistant. That album seemed to me to be a big fail.

This album is similar, as to if it works or not, I dont know.

UpSideDown

Fixer is more than just simple pop.......is a great signature by Matt, with nice layered guitar work.

Speed of Sound has great melody and warmth to it.....i really like it.