"Force of Nature"

BF25394

I listened to Backspacer a couple of times over the past few days, and I was reminded what a great song "Force of Nature" is. I think this might be one of the most underappreciated songs in the band's whole catalog. They've only played it eleven times, and not since 2010.

Spiritual_Chaos

BOSTON

20
10

Bob Mayo on the keyboards Bob

And it SMOKES live too- I am firmly a part of team backspacer. I wish a lot more of those songs were in heavy rotation- force of nature, gonna see my friend and supersonic especially

yosi

I am definitely not on team Backspacer, but this song is FANTASTIC. Easily my favorite on the album and one of my favorites in general. 

Gern Blansten

I listened to Backspacer a few months back in full...it's my least favorite PJ album (something has to be) but it sounded great. Definitely need to get it back in the rotation.

I kind of ignored Riot Act for years and it is now near the top for me

bigbiggzy

One of my favs overall and def one of my BS’er picks…

cp3iverson

Backspacer is a top 5 PJ album for me.  

Great easy listenable songs.  Force of Nature is a classic.  If Speed of Sound was left as the demo Backspacer would be viewed differently by a lot of people.  That would've been a heavy punch towards the end after the radio songs.  

It's their commercial comeback album.  Two radio hits.  Went #1 on the charts.  I have no idea why the hardcore fans don't rank it highly.  Hope the Watt album is similar as far as radio appeal.  

Gern Blansten

cp3iverson said:

Backspacer is a top 5 PJ album for me.  

Great easy listenable songs.  Force of Nature is a classic.  If Speed of Sound was left as the demo Backspacer would be viewed differently by a lot of people.  That would've been a heavy punch towards the end after the radio songs.  

It's their commercial comeback album.  Two radio hits.  Went #1 on the charts.  I have no idea why the hardcore fans don't rank it highly.  Hope the Watt album is similar as far as radio appeal.  

It's my 23 year old daughter's favorite PJ album by far. She would have been 9 when it came out.

We were on vacation in FL when it was released. I got up that morning and went to Target and got the CD, vinyl and a few shirts

yosi

cp3iverson said:

Backspacer is a top 5 PJ album for me.  

Great easy listenable songs.  Force of Nature is a classic.  If Speed of Sound was left as the demo Backspacer would be viewed differently by a lot of people.  That would've been a heavy punch towards the end after the radio songs.  

It's their commercial comeback album.  Two radio hits.  Went #1 on the charts.  I have no idea why the hardcore fans don't rank it highly.  Hope the Watt album is similar as far as radio appeal.  

For me, there are only a few songs I actively like and only one song I love (the aforementioned classic that is Force of Nature). What really sinks the album for me is that a few of the songs that I am more on the fence overall, like Amongst the Waves, Unthought Known, Johnny Guitar, have these really cringey moments that make the songs unlistenable. This in turn just give the whole album a vibe that I just can’t get into. 

yosi

Gern Blansten said:

I kind of ignored Riot Act for years and it is now near the top for me

All Riot Act, all the time. 

Gern Blansten

yosi said:

Gern Blansten said:

I kind of ignored Riot Act for years and it is now near the top for me

All Riot Act, all the time. 

I'm a Yield/Binaural/Riot Act/Avocado guy....I think that is their strongest stretch as songwriters

bigbiggzy

My oldest son adores BS’er. I do as well but for diff reasons than him.

He was born the year before (08) and was essentially raised on that album, lol. We’d zoom around everywhere in my old VW Jetta w him in the backseat just jamming to it. Ha - sweet sweet memories…

I agree w post above… I think BS’er was a critical album for them at this point in their career. Seemed like a huge commercial success… esp at that point in time. 

I just recently revisited the whole album for the first time in forever…Great album. Def among their most carefree and easy going…just very straightforward.

Eraserhead

Speed of Sound. Now that's a song.

Spiritual_Chaos

Eraserhead said:

Speed of Sound. Now that's a song.

The demo version without the weird drums, yeah

Gern Blansten

I think the demo of the Fixer is far superior as well...

Kwieneke

Gern Blansten said:

cp3iverson said:

Backspacer is a top 5 PJ album for me.  

Great easy listenable songs.  Force of Nature is a classic.  If Speed of Sound was left as the demo Backspacer would be viewed differently by a lot of people.  That would've been a heavy punch towards the end after the radio songs.  

It's their commercial comeback album.  Two radio hits.  Went #1 on the charts.  I have no idea why the hardcore fans don't rank it highly.  Hope the Watt album is similar as far as radio appeal.  

It's my 23 year old daughter's favorite PJ album by far. She would have been 9 when it came out.

We were on vacation in FL when it was released. I got up that morning and went to Target and got the CD, vinyl and a few shirts

i had always heard PJ growing up but BS came out when I was around 10-11 and since then i have been hooked on the band. it means a lot to me. I remember going to target with my mom and getting the CD and seeing that weird PJ Target commercial. I go back to BS all the time 

Gern Blansten

Kwieneke said:

Gern Blansten said:

cp3iverson said:

Backspacer is a top 5 PJ album for me.  

Great easy listenable songs.  Force of Nature is a classic.  If Speed of Sound was left as the demo Backspacer would be viewed differently by a lot of people.  That would've been a heavy punch towards the end after the radio songs.  

It's their commercial comeback album.  Two radio hits.  Went #1 on the charts.  I have no idea why the hardcore fans don't rank it highly.  Hope the Watt album is similar as far as radio appeal.  

It's my 23 year old daughter's favorite PJ album by far. She would have been 9 when it came out.

We were on vacation in FL when it was released. I got up that morning and went to Target and got the CD, vinyl and a few shirts

i had always heard PJ growing up but BS came out when I was around 10-11 and since then i have been hooked on the band. it means a lot to me. I remember going to target with my mom and getting the CD and seeing that weird PJ Target commercial. I go back to BS all the time 

The Backspacer shirts at Target were some of the best they have ever produced. Mine are still almost like new.

PJammer4life

Amongst the Waves,Unthought Known, Got Some, The Fixer, and Force of Nature hold up well.

Spiritual_Chaos

Gonna See My Friend, Got Some, (Just Breathe), Unthought Known, (Supersonic), Force of Nature hold up well

Gern Blansten

and we know that Pendulum was going to be on it but got bumped...

lahren

The great thing about PJ albums, they seem to age well. My favorite track on BS is Force of Nature. I couldn't understand why the band doesn't play it live very often. It sounds great live and the fans love it. Getaway on LB seems to be treated the same way. 

BF25394

The thing about "Getaway" is that they were never really able to figure out how to translate it live. Every time they tried, it fell flat. It's so great on the record. I couldn't wait to hear it live, but it just didn't work for whatever reason. I think that's why they abandoned it.

Gern Blansten

BF25394 said:

The thing about "Getaway" is that they were never really able to figure out how to translate it live. Every time they tried, it fell flat. It's so great on the record. I couldn't wait to hear it live, but it just didn't work for whatever reason. I think that's why they abandoned it.

That's because they didn't practice it enough though. Quick Escape was pretty rough at first too.

23scidoo

yosi said:

I am definitely not on team Backspacer, but this song is FANTASTIC. Easily my favorite on the album and one of my favorites in general. 

Me..

yosi

Gern Blansten said:

yosi said:

Gern Blansten said:

I kind of ignored Riot Act for years and it is now near the top for me

All Riot Act, all the time. 

I'm a Yield/Binaural/Riot Act/Avocado guy....I think that is their strongest stretch as songwriters

Could not agree more!

BF25394

Gern Blansten said:

BF25394 said:

The thing about "Getaway" is that they were never really able to figure out how to translate it live. Every time they tried, it fell flat. It's so great on the record. I couldn't wait to hear it live, but it just didn't work for whatever reason. I think that's why they abandoned it.

That's because they didn't practice it enough though. Quick Escape was pretty rough at first too.

You may be right about that with respect to "Getaway"-- I don't get the feeling there's a lot of time devoted to practice-- but I thought "Quick Escape" sounded great from the first time I heard it at Ohana. I've only seen "Getaway" three times, but it sounded muddy and plodding each time. Maybe they were tuning it down for Ed? 

on2legs

Inspired by this thread… I put Backspacer on in the car while driving my 14 year old daughter to basketball practice tonight.  When The Fixer came on the following conversation was had:

Her: Oooh… I like this song.
Me: Really? (She has never said she liked a PJ song despite hearing them hundreds of times)
Her: Yeah… it’s good. 

Me: You should add it to your playlist.
Her: Well… I don’t like it that much.  I meant it was good for your music.
Me: 

True story. 

CP218430

When Backspacer hits: Force of Nature, Speed of Sound, Gonna See a Friend, The End it does amazing things. The decent songs are decent but there's Johnny Guitar, possibly my least favorite PJ song (maybe tied with Leatherman). But I think this album go hate right off for The Fixer, which is fun. 

BSully

Bob Mayo on the keyboards Bob said:

And it SMOKES live too- I am firmly a part of team backspacer. I wish a lot more of those songs were in heavy rotation- force of nature, gonna see my friend and supersonic especially

Supersonic is amazing live... 

Gern Blansten

CP218430 said:

When Backspacer hits: Force of Nature, Speed of Sound, Gonna See a Friend, The End it does amazing things. The decent songs are decent but there's Johnny Guitar, possibly my least favorite PJ song (maybe tied with Leatherman). But I think this album go hate right off for The Fixer, which is fun. 

I'm not a fan of the Fixer or The End....I actually like Johnny though. Funny how we all differ.

Gern Blansten

on2legs said:

Inspired by this thread… I put Backspacer on in the car while driving my 14 year old daughter to basketball practice tonight.  When The Fixer came on the following conversation was had:

Her: Oooh… I like this song.
Me: Really? (She has never said she liked a PJ song despite hearing them hundreds of times)
Her: Yeah… it’s good. 

Me: You should add it to your playlist.
Her: Well… I don’t like it that much.  I meant it was good for your music.
Me: 

True story. 

that's funny...I had a similar conversation with my daughter (23) about the album. She loves the Fixer....I've always despised it but I do like the demo version. I think the song that is on the record is drastically different than Matt intended.