The "Post Your Own Backspacer Reviews Here" Thread

goo

thing is, Eddie's voice just sounds so shot to me. when he sings in his lower bass/baritone on certain tracks I'm more eager to listen, but it's almost like I don't care to listen to any of the new stuff where he has to hit a lot of high notes. it sounds like it's killing him to do it and that he's struggling. it just doesn't do it for me. but I'm totally up for hearing him struggle through RVM on Oct. 1! anything from the old days, Eddie!

SuperStickman

Overall Backspacer is a good, solid album...8-8.5 out of 10.

Someone above, though, mentioned one of Eddie's songs sounding like a track that didn't make it onto Into the Wild. I think all the songs Eddie wrote sounded like that...like his solo stuff, not like songs that belonged on a PJ record. I would have liked a few more rockers for Stone, Mike, Jeff, and Matt to really be able to melt my face off. There's a reason I didn't go see Eddie on his solo tour.

I am hoping they grow on me after a few more listens, or maybe after listening to them on Vinyl.

\S/

LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun

goo wrote:

thing is, Eddie's voice just sounds so shot to me. when he sings in his lower bass/baritone on certain tracks I'm more eager to listen, but it's almost like I don't care to listen to any of the new stuff where he has to hit a lot of high notes. it sounds like it's killing him to do it and that he's struggling. it just doesn't do it for me. but I'm totally up for hearing him struggle through RVM on Oct. 1! anything from the old days, Eddie!

really? i think he sounds better than he has in a long long time. i'm sure that has a lot to do with Brendan's help, but he sounds great and his enthusiasm is absolutely infectious. As much as i like "low voice Eddie", i don't think he is necessary here. I'm sure he will struggle with a few of these live though.

Irish Al

goo wrote:

thing is, Eddie's voice just sounds so shot to me. when he sings in his lower bass/baritone on certain tracks I'm more eager to listen, but it's almost like I don't care to listen to any of the new stuff where he has to hit a lot of high notes. it sounds like it's killing him to do it and that he's struggling. it just doesn't do it for me. but I'm totally up for hearing him struggle through RVM on Oct. 1! anything from the old days, Eddie!

Really? I thought he his high notes were pitched perfectly for where his voice is at now. Lets be honest its not as powerful as it was, but how could it be, he's been wailing for 20 odd years now !!

Irish Al

Bump for a week in

decides2dream

Irish Al wrote:

Bump for a week in

a week?
record came out on the 20th...today is the 24th...what world do you live in with a 4 day week?


i LOVE 2 songs...ok, maybe 4/5.....l 'like' a couple more.....and a few others, still not connecting.

i find with some...i like the music...but not the lyrics and/or vocal delivery....
or
i like the lyrics....but the music...not so much.
that's my backspacer conundrum.
:P



but did i mention how i LOVE 2 songs? true love!

blondieblue227

Lol! I just listened to it with the lyrics in front of me last night I thought I should post again in this thread.

Just Breathe has got to be the most beautiful pj song ever. (lyrically)

Ed is really showing us some feelings in this album. Showing us his heart.

The guitar sounds much better with headphones. Heck, everything does.

I like this album way more now I’ve sat down and listened with headphones and lyrics.

The fast songs all have a 50’s rock n roll feel to them.

My favorite tracks are Just Breathe and Supersonic.

acutejam

I’m kinda thrilled that Pearl Jam are keepin’ on keepin’ on -- being a band that caters to two pretty disparate modalities...

Some folks want/prefer Pearl Jam to be about Blood, Leash, Lukin, Animal, Deep, Why Go and Supersonic. Others want more Black, Daughter, Betterman, Last Kiss, Light Years, Parachutes, Just Breath and The End. And guess what, they’re both.

It’s pretty cool that Backspacer has catered to both crowds – I’d throw Supersonic, See My Friend, Got Some and Johnny Guitar in the hard rock category, while Just Breath, The End and Speed of Sound fall into the soft rock scene.

And they’ve been doing this FOREVER – look at VS and No Code with their hard and soft aspects. I was about to say I can’t recall an album that was as balanced as Backspacer but when I went back and looked, yeah, this is what they do!

I was content and accepted that I was beginning to prefer EV solo to Pearl Jam – I’m just about Eddie’s age, very much dealing with the stuff he’s writing and singing about. Last two years I’ve gathered just about every boot I can of Ed’s presets, and I just can’t get enough of it – it’s like cowbell for me! I’m really looking forward to watching Eddie continue on like so many other elder statesmen of Rock and Roll – like Clapton, say.

But then Backspacer came out and SHAZAM! I like what Eddie does with the band. I just dig it. I’m bouncing between all the songs all week, and one day it’s Supersonic I can’t get enough of, the next it’s Force of Nature, today it was Just Breath. And yeah, Got Some and The Fixer are gonna be staples in setlists for years to come methinks…. Those songs were every bit as kick ass as anything at Outside Lands last month.

As another aside, I found part of any “ho hum” I had about the album was simply because I’D ALREADY HEARD SOME OF THE BEST STUFF ON IT! Got Some, The Fixer, The End and Speed of Sound weren’t new to me – I could skip them on the CD, “Yeah, yeah, heard this already…” And yet those are all seriously kick ass songs … just that some of that new car smell has faded from them. They’ve been staples for me all summer already!

Once I kinda wrapped my head around that – I began to recognize what a great album this is – there’s not a song I’m skipping yet. Sure, I like the solo acoustic SoS better (same as Santa Cruz). But I can just let this album play over and over and over. That hasn’t been true for the past few albums for me. Sorry, just found Severed Hand and Comatose … silly. Love Boat Captain? Oh come on… Too each his own….

But I like ALL the “harder” stuff here, I’d count as five: Friend, Got Some, Fixer, Johnny, Supersonic – and that’s probably because none of it is really on a level with Blood or Deep or their truly hardcore stuff (which I can’t rattle off cause it’s not as much my thing ANY MORE as the softer side -- gimmie a break, I was all Metallica, Motorhead, Megadeath, Mercyful Fate and shit all through the 80s).

And I really love the softer stuff here: Just Breath, Speed of Sound, Unthought Known, The End.

And then, I’m not really sure where Force of Nature and Amongst the Waves belongs – yeah,yeah, it’s soft rock, but not at the delicate level of The End or Just Breath. And I’m really beginning to dig these in-between songs so much more than Off He Goes or Given To Fly. (Again, I think that has to do with the new car smell!)

And c’mon, ya’ll hear that Cowbell in Force of Nature!?!?!?
OMG – If I see Eddie come out with a cowbell in SD or LA, I’m gonna lose it!

DP13

I

PJSEMPRE

Favourites
Gonna See My Friend
Got Some
Unthought Known
Just Breath
Amongst The Waves
The End

I like, but not so much
The Fixer
Speed of Sound (I love the demo version, but I am not a big fan of the album version)
Supersonic

I don't like
Johnny Guitar
Force of Nature

decides2dream

PJSEMPRE wrote:

Favourites
Gonna See My Friend
Got Some
Unthought Known
Just Breath
Amongst The Waves
The End

I like, but not so much
The Fixer
Speed of Sound (I love the demo version, but I am not a big fan of the album version)
Supersonic

I don't like
Johnny Guitar
Force of Nature

man, we think SO similarly on this album!
and i really like the lyrics to force of nature, as in - reading them - just the tune as a whole doesn't do it for me. johnny guitar, i think is a love or hate song. i do not like the vocal phrasing of that song, at all tho i do enjoy the music and the story of it. the fixer lyrics don't do it for me either but i like the music. however, the first 4 tunes you list (tho perhaps reordered).....LOVE.

breakmarysfall

I did my review, spontaneously, on/at? Gern's post: -set the songs in order-
It was after two listenings…
by now I guess I am around ten times…
so, good post Al.

where to start?
well, I guess, I would change the ranking already,
Force of nature wow! What a song!, and of course Unthought known ohhhh! What a song!!!, but also supersonic right after brings you perfectly back on earth…
Oh, they all get me so well.

It is really a good record, I am amazed, very happy, and really in rock.
Got some good feelings and some answers, and just pure pleasure…

So I take this post also to say thanks to the music.
I am always very excited when a new PJ album comes out, but this time it is really a big one,
so musically full of so many instruments and tones, makes me really stunning.
and the lyrics, ach where to start......

And: I also think my friends could like it, too,
there are just so wonderful melodies and just great rock songs on it,
all with so many little tunes and rhythms and turn arounds… it is a great one!

so,
backspacer keeps me busy for a while :P

dissident31

I love it, but my immediate reaction was just not enough McCready. I need a few more killer riffs and solos. Maybe that makes me a bit simple, I'll take it. But 3 of my favorite PJ songs (In Hiding, In My Tree, GTF) don't have big solos, but they do have killer melodies and riffs. So obviously, I love Against the Waves and Got Some on here. Even a song like The Fixer - how about a little solo in there?

Here's my rating system, starting with the best level:
Love more than beer: Got Some, Uthought Known
Love like a family member: Amongst the Waves, Supersonic, Force of Nature
Like like a high school crush: Gonna See My Friend, Johnny Guitar, The Fixer, Speed of Sound
Would prefer if these songs were on Into the Wild: Just Breathe, The End

Ms. Haiku

I'm totally loving the lyrics, they seem much more clear than last album, and I feel more connected with them. As is the case the music brings out the best of the lyrics, and I'm very impressed with this. If I had to describe the album in one word I would use the word clarity.

NotMozart

It feels like Pearl Jam trying to make a Ramones record, which, to me, is a good thing. I like the energy, the lyrics are great, the melodies great. Yes, I could've had more McCready solos, but the playing is concise and fits the songs. In response to previous reviews: we already have "Ten", they do not need to make it again. I was always more interested in "Vs.", "Vitalogy", and "Yield" anyways. "Pearl Jam" was a great and welcome return to the howling vs. quiet vocals, although I dug the in-between records also (especially "Binaural"). The only PJ record I didn't particularly like was "No Code", but it did have a few great songs on it. I bought the new record on both vinyl and CD, and it is worth your purchase. To me, Pearl Jam is the reincarnation of my favorite band of all-time, The Who, and they are worthy successors, every album has a new tinge to it. I love me a band that evolves. This album, although short, is a good record and worth the $12. Buy it folks.

crazybootsie

Love the album.

Standouts for me

Just Breathe
Amongst the waves
Unthought Known

can't wait to hear them live.

klem62

Albums (and songs) are like photographs, even if you get the same five people together five years later and they do the same pose or music, its still different. Its amazing to watch this band roll on after all these years. Backspacer is just another picture of the band at this space in time, A little older, wiser, still rocking, and with Eddie still feeding us slices of life from his unique point of view. Very refreshing to hear the band add more pictures to this already very cool repetoire. The more I listen, the more I like, that`s pretty much how I can sum up this album. Still hearing new things with every listen, but at this point I find it a very solid offering from PJ. Can`t wait to hear the new stuff live. See you guys in Philly !