Force of Nature, best PJ song in years?

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Comments

  • redeye
    redeye Posts: 620
    good song, classic pj sound, but my fav has to be johnny.. :D
  • wolfamongwolves
    wolfamongwolves Posts: 2,414
    I'm stunned by how much love this song gets. I've been a fan since '92 and for the first time ever there's a song that i feel like skipping every time.

    The "makes me ache, makes me shake" part is the only section I can tolerate & it only lasts about 3 seconds.

    I find the whole rest of the song - both lyrics & music - to be utterly derivative, overwrought & clichéd.
    93: Slane
    96: Cork, Dublin
    00: Dublin
    06: London, Dublin
    07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
    09: Manchester, London
    10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
    11: San José
    12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2
  • rearviewross
    rearviewross Posts: 3,055
    edited October 2009
    wolfamongwolves wrote:
    I'm stunned by how much love this song gets. I've been a fan since '92 and for the first time ever there's a song that i feel like skipping every time.

    You listen to Bugs?
    Post edited by rearviewross on
    Forced to endure, what I cannot forgive.
  • BeerBaron
    BeerBaron Toronto-ish Posts: 4,100
    FON is a great song, but doesn't even crack my top 5 on Backspacer...

    So no "best song in years" talk from me...
    1996: Toronto 1998: Barrie 2000: Saratoga Springs 2003: Buffalo, Toronto 2005: Kitchener, London, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto 2006: Toronto x2, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Gorge #1 2007: London, Dusseldorf, Vic, Lolla 2008: WPB, Tampa, DC, MSG x2, Hartford, Boston x2, Beacon 2009: Toronto, Chicago x2, Seattle x2, LA #3&4, San Diego, Philly x4 2010: Cleveland, Buffalo, Hartford 2011: Montreal, Toronto x2, Hamilton 2012: Missoula 2013: London, Wrigley, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Hartford, Dallas, OKC
  • iOnlyownMymind
    iOnlyownMymind Posts: 2,961
    The song still gives me goosebumps when I listen to it. Definitely one of my favorites on backspacer.
  • fanch75
    fanch75 Posts: 3,734
    rearviewross wrote:
    fanch75 wrote:
    rearviewross wrote:
    I have to say, this is by far my favorite song on this album. Sounds like classic PJ, could have been on Yield.

    Child, please.

    Child, please?

    Not the most intelligent of rebuttals, but I'm guessing you disagree. I'm sure Kiss has a thousand songs that are better, right?

    Come on, son! I wasn't really trying to sound intelligent.

    I was just messing with you. I worship the YIELD album, I just don't hear it in Force of Nature. Amongst the Waves? Definitely.
    Do you remember Rock & Roll Radio?
  • lifewasted_74
    lifewasted_74 Posts: 3
    Great song indeed but my fav is the fixer....

    also according to me the best PJ song in years is Marker in the Sand!
  • megatron
    megatron Posts: 3,420
    KISS THE BABY
  • dustinpardue
    dustinpardue Las Vegas, NV Posts: 1,829
    lifewasted_74 wrote:
    Great song indeed but my fav is the fixer....

    also according to me the best PJ song in years is Marker in the Sand!

    This guy got it right! marker and force of nature are two of my favorites over the past years.
    I don't get all the johnny guitar fanfare though
    "All I Ever Knew" available now in print and digital formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks.
  • thefin190
    thefin190 Posts: 918
    dustinpardue wrote:
    lifewasted_74 wrote:
    Great song indeed but my fav is the fixer....

    also according to me the best PJ song in years is Marker in the Sand!

    This guy got it right! marker and force of nature are two of my favorites over the past years.
    I don't get all the johnny guitar fanfare though

    I am starting to understand the Johnny Guitar fanfare, although it took me a little while for it to catch on. Still not one of my favorite songs, but I think it goes along with the rest of the album being optimistic, concise, and easy to listen to the whole thing.

    As far as Force of Nature goes, it took me a few tries to get used to it, as one person said, the opening riff sounded something like an opening song for an 80's wrestling match, but soon afterwards the song quickly climbed to my favorites as far as Backspacer goes. Once you reach the chorus, you understand why the song is so good.

    While saying its the best song in years is debatable, it is definitely one of their best.
    Member Number: 437xxx

    Pearl Jam:
    Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Sep 21, 2009
    Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC - Sep 25, 2011
    Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Dec 6, 2013

    Eddie Vedder Solo:
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  • dustinpardue
    dustinpardue Las Vegas, NV Posts: 1,829
    haha an 80's wrestling match, that is pretty good. i agree it could use a better beginning, it sounds kind of blah until it finally kicks. A casual listener would probably hit the skip a few seconds in and really miss out, which is why it wouldn't make a good radio single.
    "All I Ever Knew" available now in print and digital formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iBooks.
  • LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun
    LikeAnOpeningBandForTheSun Posts: 6,097
    love the lyrics, but the music doesnt do much for me.
  • rearviewross
    rearviewross Posts: 3,055
    azwyldcats wrote:
    I agree. FON is classic Pearl Jam, albiet stuck in a Sigg water bottle and shaken up. I love it and think it is one of Backspacer's strongest songs. It was awesome live in San Diego. Some disliked Gone or Come Back from Avocado too, but I don't know why.

    I love all 3
    Forced to endure, what I cannot forgive.
  • wolfamongwolves
    wolfamongwolves Posts: 2,414
    rearviewross wrote:
    wolfamongwolves wrote:
    I'm stunned by how much love this song gets. I've been a fan since '92 and for the first time ever there's a song that i feel like skipping every time.

    You listen to Bugs?

    :D Yep. And I like Bugs. Because Bugs knows what it is - it's quirky, it's tongue-in-cheek and it works because of it.

    Force of Nature doesn't work for me because it's trying far too hard to be a great soaring anthem, but it never gets off the ground.

    sorry. :roll:
    93: Slane
    96: Cork, Dublin
    00: Dublin
    06: London, Dublin
    07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
    09: Manchester, London
    10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
    11: San José
    12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2
  • rearviewross
    rearviewross Posts: 3,055
    wolfamongwolves wrote:
    rearviewross wrote:
    wolfamongwolves wrote:
    I'm stunned by how much love this song gets. I've been a fan since '92 and for the first time ever there's a song that i feel like skipping every time.

    You listen to Bugs?

    :D Yep. And I like Bugs. Because Bugs knows what it is - it's quirky, it's tongue-in-cheek and it works because of it.

    Force of Nature doesn't work for me because it's trying far too hard to be a great soaring anthem, but it never gets off the ground.

    sorry. :roll:

    Don't apologize. I completely disagree. That's what's great about music though, right.
    Forced to endure, what I cannot forgive.
  • thefin190
    thefin190 Posts: 918
    rearviewross wrote:
    wolfamongwolves wrote:
    rearviewross wrote:

    You listen to Bugs?

    :D Yep. And I like Bugs. Because Bugs knows what it is - it's quirky, it's tongue-in-cheek and it works because of it.

    Force of Nature doesn't work for me because it's trying far too hard to be a great soaring anthem, but it never gets off the ground.

    sorry. :roll:

    Don't apologize. I completely disagree. That's what's great about music though, right.

    I also have to disagree. Force of Nature is a really good song.
    Member Number: 437xxx

    Pearl Jam:
    Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Sep 21, 2009
    Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC - Sep 25, 2011
    Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Dec 6, 2013

    Eddie Vedder Solo:
    Benaroya Hall - Seattle, WA - Jul 15, 2011
  • wolfamongwolves
    wolfamongwolves Posts: 2,414
    The one thing I agree with you on, 'fin, is the 80s wrestling match analogy. Only thing is, Force of Nature sounds like that the whole way through to me.

    Backspacer harks back to the 80s quite a bit, but generally in a good way - like the breakdown and final chorus of The Fixer, or Amongst the Waves (which sounds like golden-age REM to me)

    But Force of Nature echoes a really awful 80s trend - the power ballad. It sounds like The Scorpions or Whitesnake, and when I first heard PJ, they were such a welcome relief from that kind of histrionic rawk. So now it bother me to hear them start to sound a little like that.

    That's about the best I can explain the reason I don't like the song...
    93: Slane
    96: Cork, Dublin
    00: Dublin
    06: London, Dublin
    07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
    09: Manchester, London
    10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
    11: San José
    12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2
  • thefin190
    thefin190 Posts: 918
    wolfamongwolves wrote:
    The one thing I agree with you on, 'fin, is the 80s wrestling match analogy. Only thing is, Force of Nature sounds like that the whole way through to me.

    Backspacer harks back to the 80s quite a bit, but generally in a good way - like the breakdown and final chorus of The Fixer, or Amongst the Waves (which sounds like golden-age REM to me)

    But Force of Nature echoes a really awful 80s trend - the power ballad. It sounds like The Scorpions or Whitesnake, and when I first heard PJ, they were such a welcome relief from that kind of histrionic rawk. So now it bother me to hear them start to sound a little like that.

    That's about the best I can explain the reason I don't like the song...

    I think the 80s sound comes from the fact that McCready wrote the music for the song, and you have to remember that before Pearl Jam, McCready aspired to be guitarist for an 80s hair metal band. And even in Ten, although its quite a shift from the butt rock of the 80s, they still use some 80s style riffs and sound effects in various songs. I don't think it was until Vs. that they completely rid of 80s power balled/butt rock sound.
    Member Number: 437xxx

    Pearl Jam:
    Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Sep 21, 2009
    Pacific Coliseum - Vancouver, BC - Sep 25, 2011
    Key Arena - Seattle, WA - Dec 6, 2013

    Eddie Vedder Solo:
    Benaroya Hall - Seattle, WA - Jul 15, 2011
  • wolfamongwolves
    wolfamongwolves Posts: 2,414
    Yep, I absolutely agree. And that's still the reason why I don't like the song. And it's probably the reason why I listen to Ten least of all.
    93: Slane
    96: Cork, Dublin
    00: Dublin
    06: London, Dublin
    07: London, Copenhagen, Nijmegen
    09: Manchester, London
    10: Dublin, Belfast, London & Berlin
    11: San José
    12: Isle of Wight, Copenhagen, Ed in Manchester & London x2

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