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FEATURES
PUMP UP THE JAM ; Eddie Vedder and his Pearl Jam mates are rocking into Boston
Alan Sculley
By Alan Sculley, For The Patriot Ledger
13 May 2010
The Patriot Ledger
RUN OF PAPER
22
The new CD "Backspacer" sounds very much like a Pearl Jam album for many reasons.
First of all, there's that distinctive husky voice of singer Eddie Vedder. There's also an urgency and punkish energy that has characterized many of the Seattle band's best recorded moments over its 19-year history.
And there are certainly songs that directly recall gems from the Pearl Jam catalog. The frenetic pace of the songs "Supersonic" and "Get Some," for instance, immediately bring to mind the unhinged rock of early Pearl Jam songs like "Go" and "Spin The Black Circle," while on tracks like "Amongst The Waves and "Speed Of Sound," the band uses the kind of slow building drama that characterizes such definitive Pearl Jam songs as "Jeremy" or "Given To Fly."
But bassist Jeff Ament says that one of the things he's most proud about with "Backspacer" is the ways in which the CD breaks ground for Pearl Jam, who land at TD Garden on Monday.
"There are a handful of things on this record that I don't know if we've ever really done before," Ament said. "Like every good rock band, they should be challenging themselves to kind of get into some new areas. I feel like on this record we have."
For starters, Ament pointed to "The Fixer" as a different kind of song for Pearl Jam. That song was the lead single from "Backspacer" and recently reached the No. 2 spot on "Billboard" magazine's mainstream rock singles chart.
"In the past when something poppy has come up, we've kind of turned our heads (away) from the poppy element, and I think we've kind of embraced a couple of those things this time," Ament said. "I think 'The Fixer' has probably as poppy an element of a song that we've ever had."
By the same token, while "Backspacer" is possibly the hardest rocking of Pearl Jam's nine albums, Ament sees "The End" and "Just Breathe" - two of the three soft songs on the otherwise hard- hitting CD - as representing another notable shift for the band.
"We sort of did some things differently than we had ever done in terms of putting string arrangements (on songs), and a couple of songs don't have any drums on them," Ament said. "That's all sort of new ground for us, and it was pretty exciting."
Other changes are a bit more subtle. For instance, another difference is how concise and tightly arranged the songs on "Backspacer" are. The 11 songs clock in at less than 37 minutes, and there aren't many wasted notes and excess parts. Again, Ament said this was by design.
"Like we'd be playing a part and we'd be like well what is this part saying?" Ament said. "Is it saying anything, and if it isn't, then it shouldn't be in there . We just found ourselves kind of being hyper-sensitive about the arranging."
There's also an openness in the creative process that went into "Backspacer" that hasn't always existed in Pearl Jam. That was particularly true around the time of the group's third CD, "Vitalogy" (1994), and the next release, the 1996 CD "No Code," when Vedder took considerable control over the songwriting.
It created tensions in the band, as a couple of members felt stifled within the group. Ament, in a 2003 interview, said even he considered quitting Pearl Jam during that period.
Vedder, though, began to step back a bit by the time of the 1998 CD "Yield," and particularly over the past three Pearl Jam CDs - 2002's "Riot Act," the 2006 self-titled CD and now "Backspacer." All five band members - Vedder, Ament, guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready and drummer Matt Cameron - were involved in songwriting and arranging on those discs.
On "Backspacer," the creative process opened even further - as the band encouraged producer Brendan O'Brien's input. O'Brien, who produced Pearl Jam's "Vs.," "Vitalogy," "No Code" and "Yield," offered considerable input on the arrangements and helped set the direction for the CD.
"Everybody in the band has tons of ideas, musical ideas and arrangement ideas, and we would just keep doing different things until he (O'Brien) felt like we were getting something really great," Ament said. "He would be like 'Man, you're onto something right there.' That was helpful, and in a lot of ways, I think that's the reason we made the record quicker than we have in the past. . . . In the past we might have kept beating it over the head . . . until somebody gave up."
Where Pearl Jam's self-titled 2006 CD took nearly a year and a half to record, "Backspacer" needed only a month. That, too, was a sign of change for Pearl Jam.
"We had like really, really good rehearsals for this record with Brendan, and we really hadn't done that in the past," Ament said. "Typically, we would go into the studio with a half-dozen completed songs and then probably another dozen songs that were kind of halfway there. That's why the last record took a year and a half."
One other thing that's different with "Backspacer" is how the CD has been released. After parting ways with Epic Records after "Riot Act," the band released the self-titled CD through a one-album deal with J Records.
For "Backspacer," Pearl Jam did not sign with a record label, and instead put together a multi-tiered release in which the CD has been available through Target and a network of more than 800 independent record stores. iTunes is selling the CD digitally.
"It's been a few years process figuring that out," Ament said of the release plan. "We were only about halfway there when we finished our last record, and that's sort of the reason we did the split deal with (J Records). By the time we were deciding to go in to make this record, we sort of had some pretty good ideas about what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. I think for right now, I think it's the best deal out there in terms of how we put it out. The jury's still a little bit out, but it seems like people who want the record are getting the record."
Now fans are getting Pearl Jam live, as the group does a short spring tour in support of the new CD. Ament said the band is playing about 30 songs each night, making for a show that runs more than two hours. The direct nature and rocking tone of the songs on "Backspacer," he said, is having an impact on the feel of the shows.
"We really honed that stuff (from "Backspacer") down to where it's really super tight and maybe not as complicated as maybe a couple of the uptempo things on the last record," Ament said. "So it's been a little bit easier just to come out and knock those things out. It's pretty instantly easy to make them sound the way they sound on the record."
"We've kind of turned our heads (away) from the poppy element, and I think we've kind of embraced a couple of those things this time."; Jeff Ament; IF YOU GO; Pearl Jam, 7:30 p.m, Monday, TD Garden, 100 Legends Way, Boston. $74.50
FEATURES
PUMP UP THE JAM ; Eddie Vedder and his Pearl Jam mates are rocking into Boston
Alan Sculley
By Alan Sculley, For The Patriot Ledger
13 May 2010
The Patriot Ledger
RUN OF PAPER
22
The new CD "Backspacer" sounds very much like a Pearl Jam album for many reasons.
First of all, there's that distinctive husky voice of singer Eddie Vedder. There's also an urgency and punkish energy that has characterized many of the Seattle band's best recorded moments over its 19-year history.
And there are certainly songs that directly recall gems from the Pearl Jam catalog. The frenetic pace of the songs "Supersonic" and "Get Some," for instance, immediately bring to mind the unhinged rock of early Pearl Jam songs like "Go" and "Spin The Black Circle," while on tracks like "Amongst The Waves and "Speed Of Sound," the band uses the kind of slow building drama that characterizes such definitive Pearl Jam songs as "Jeremy" or "Given To Fly."
But bassist Jeff Ament says that one of the things he's most proud about with "Backspacer" is the ways in which the CD breaks ground for Pearl Jam, who land at TD Garden on Monday.
"There are a handful of things on this record that I don't know if we've ever really done before," Ament said. "Like every good rock band, they should be challenging themselves to kind of get into some new areas. I feel like on this record we have."
For starters, Ament pointed to "The Fixer" as a different kind of song for Pearl Jam. That song was the lead single from "Backspacer" and recently reached the No. 2 spot on "Billboard" magazine's mainstream rock singles chart.
"In the past when something poppy has come up, we've kind of turned our heads (away) from the poppy element, and I think we've kind of embraced a couple of those things this time," Ament said. "I think 'The Fixer' has probably as poppy an element of a song that we've ever had."
By the same token, while "Backspacer" is possibly the hardest rocking of Pearl Jam's nine albums, Ament sees "The End" and "Just Breathe" - two of the three soft songs on the otherwise hard- hitting CD - as representing another notable shift for the band.
"We sort of did some things differently than we had ever done in terms of putting string arrangements (on songs), and a couple of songs don't have any drums on them," Ament said. "That's all sort of new ground for us, and it was pretty exciting."
Other changes are a bit more subtle. For instance, another difference is how concise and tightly arranged the songs on "Backspacer" are. The 11 songs clock in at less than 37 minutes, and there aren't many wasted notes and excess parts. Again, Ament said this was by design.
"Like we'd be playing a part and we'd be like well what is this part saying?" Ament said. "Is it saying anything, and if it isn't, then it shouldn't be in there . We just found ourselves kind of being hyper-sensitive about the arranging."
There's also an openness in the creative process that went into "Backspacer" that hasn't always existed in Pearl Jam. That was particularly true around the time of the group's third CD, "Vitalogy" (1994), and the next release, the 1996 CD "No Code," when Vedder took considerable control over the songwriting.
It created tensions in the band, as a couple of members felt stifled within the group. Ament, in a 2003 interview, said even he considered quitting Pearl Jam during that period.
Vedder, though, began to step back a bit by the time of the 1998 CD "Yield," and particularly over the past three Pearl Jam CDs - 2002's "Riot Act," the 2006 self-titled CD and now "Backspacer." All five band members - Vedder, Ament, guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready and drummer Matt Cameron - were involved in songwriting and arranging on those discs.
On "Backspacer," the creative process opened even further - as the band encouraged producer Brendan O'Brien's input. O'Brien, who produced Pearl Jam's "Vs.," "Vitalogy," "No Code" and "Yield," offered considerable input on the arrangements and helped set the direction for the CD.
"Everybody in the band has tons of ideas, musical ideas and arrangement ideas, and we would just keep doing different things until he (O'Brien) felt like we were getting something really great," Ament said. "He would be like 'Man, you're onto something right there.' That was helpful, and in a lot of ways, I think that's the reason we made the record quicker than we have in the past. . . . In the past we might have kept beating it over the head . . . until somebody gave up."
Where Pearl Jam's self-titled 2006 CD took nearly a year and a half to record, "Backspacer" needed only a month. That, too, was a sign of change for Pearl Jam.
"We had like really, really good rehearsals for this record with Brendan, and we really hadn't done that in the past," Ament said. "Typically, we would go into the studio with a half-dozen completed songs and then probably another dozen songs that were kind of halfway there. That's why the last record took a year and a half."
One other thing that's different with "Backspacer" is how the CD has been released. After parting ways with Epic Records after "Riot Act," the band released the self-titled CD through a one-album deal with J Records.
For "Backspacer," Pearl Jam did not sign with a record label, and instead put together a multi-tiered release in which the CD has been available through Target and a network of more than 800 independent record stores. iTunes is selling the CD digitally.
"It's been a few years process figuring that out," Ament said of the release plan. "We were only about halfway there when we finished our last record, and that's sort of the reason we did the split deal with (J Records). By the time we were deciding to go in to make this record, we sort of had some pretty good ideas about what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. I think for right now, I think it's the best deal out there in terms of how we put it out. The jury's still a little bit out, but it seems like people who want the record are getting the record."
Now fans are getting Pearl Jam live, as the group does a short spring tour in support of the new CD. Ament said the band is playing about 30 songs each night, making for a show that runs more than two hours. The direct nature and rocking tone of the songs on "Backspacer," he said, is having an impact on the feel of the shows.
"We really honed that stuff (from "Backspacer") down to where it's really super tight and maybe not as complicated as maybe a couple of the uptempo things on the last record," Ament said. "So it's been a little bit easier just to come out and knock those things out. It's pretty instantly easy to make them sound the way they sound on the record."
"We've kind of turned our heads (away) from the poppy element, and I think we've kind of embraced a couple of those things this time."; Jeff Ament; IF YOU GO; Pearl Jam, 7:30 p.m, Monday, TD Garden, 100 Legends Way, Boston. $74.50
Up here so high I start to shake, Up here so high the sky I scrape, I've no fear but for falling down, So look out below I am falling now, Falling down,...not staying down, Could’ve held me up, rather tear me down, Drown in the river
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