Rank Em! Backspacer

Johnny Abruzzo
Johnny Abruzzo Philly Posts: 12,540
edited January 2010 in The Porch
It's time for the 9th Rank Em! Today is Backspacer. This is probably the 268th thread in the last few months about determining the best song(s) on Backspacer, but so be it. I don't have any b-sides to go with it - just the 11 songs on the album. Should be a little easier than some of the other ones (although I haven't decided on mine yet).

Here are the songs to rank:
Gonna See My Friend
Got Some
The Fixer
Johnny Guitar
Just Breathe
Amongst the Waves
Unthought Known
Supersonic
Speed of Sound
Force of Nature
The End

Final Results (35 votes in total)
1 Unthought Known 290 pts (16 1st place votes)
2 Amongst the Waves 264 (6)
3 Got Some 228
4 Just Breathe 226 (7)
5 The Fixer 169 (1)
6 Force of Nature 164 (5)
7 The End 131
8 Gonna See My Friend 128
9 Johnny Guitar 126
10 Supersonic 116
11 Speed of Sound 83
Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila,  PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24; Pittsburgh 5/16/25; Pittsburgh 5/18/25

Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • mfc2006
    mfc2006 HTOWN Posts: 37,491
    i'll give it a go...

    Force of Nature
    Unthought Known
    Johnny Guitar
    Amongst the Waves
    Just Breathe
    Got Some
    The End
    Gonna See My Friend
    Supersonic
    Speed of Sound (album version, not demo)
    I LOVE MUSIC.
    www.cluthelee.com
    www.cluthe.com
  • PuncturesInYourNeck
    PuncturesInYourNeck Posts: 105
    Unthought Known
    Amongst the Waves
    The End
    Got Some
    Gonna See My Friend
    The Fixer
    Just Breathe
    Supersonic
    Force of Nature
    Speed of Sound
    Johnny Guitar
  • HeavyHands
    HeavyHands Posts: 2,131
    1. Unthought Known
    2. Got Some
    3. Amongst the Waves
    4. Johnny Guitar
    5. Gonna See My Friend
    6. The Fixer
    7. Force of Nature
    8. Speed of Sound
    9. Just Breathe
    10. The End
    11. Supersonic
    "A lot more people are capable of being big out there that just don't give themselves a chance." -Stone Gossard
  • Johnny Abruzzo
    Johnny Abruzzo Philly Posts: 12,540
    Here's mine:

    1. Unthought Known (I almost dropped to #2 because of BoB piano treatment, but still awesome)
    2. Force of Nature (this is climbing - almost got to #1 today)
    3. Got Some (some of Matt's best work with Pearl Jam)
    4. Amongst the Waves (kind of an attempt at another Given to Fly - close, but not quite)
    5. Just Breathe
    6. Supersonic (I think would've been a slightly better opener than GSMF, but I'm nitpicking here)
    7. Johnny Guitar
    8. GSMF
    9. The Fixer
    10. The End
    11. Speed of Sound (definitely overproduced)
    Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila,  PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24; Pittsburgh 5/16/25; Pittsburgh 5/18/25

    Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
  • inlet13
    inlet13 Posts: 1,979
    Just Breathe
    Amongst the Waves
    The End
    Unthought Known

    Speed of Sound
    Johnny Guitar

    The Fixer
    Force of Nature

    Got Some

    Gonna See My Friend
    Supersonic

    For me, the following have changed. Just Breathe continues to grow on me. Got Some has fallen, not a huge fan relative to the other material. The Fixer has climbed up from the bottom. Unthought Known, although still in my top grouping, has slipped a bit. Speed of Sound has grown on me, even with the lasers.
    Here's a new demo called "in the fire":

    <object height="81" width="100%"> <param name="movie" value="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869&quot;&gt;&lt;/param&gt; <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param> <embed allowscriptaccess="always" height="81" src="https://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/28998869&quot; type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"></embed> </object> <span><a href=" - In the Fire (demo)</a> by <a href="
  • whiteside
    whiteside Posts: 85
    1. Unthought Known
    2. The End
    3. Just Breathe
    4. Speed of Sound
    5. Got Some
    6. Supersonic
    7. The Fixer
    8.Amongst the Waves
    9. Force of Nature
    10. GSMF
    11. Johnny Guitar

    Pretty tough album to rate in that it's pretty consistent without many standout songs. Unthought Known is definitely my favourite song on it but the others were all hard to place. The album version of Speed of Sound still sounds weird after the demo, especially those booming drums, but it's one of the more memorable tunes on the album for me.
    Slane - Jul 10, 1993
    The Point - Oct 26, 1996
    The Point - Jun 01, 2000
    The Point - Aug 23, 2006
    M.E.N. Arena - Aug 17, 2009
    The 02 - Jun 22, 2010
    Odyssey Arena - Jun 23, 2010
  • Abe Froman
    Abe Froman Posts: 5,392
    1. Unthought Known
    2. Got Some
    3. Johnny Guitar
    4. Amongst the Waves
    5. The Fixer
    6. Just Breathe
    7. The End
    8. Gonna See My Friend
    9. Force of Nature
    10. Supersonic
    11. Speed of Sound
  • like.echoes
    like.echoes Posts: 582
    1. Unthought Known
    2. Supersonic
    3. Amongst the Waves
    4. Just Breathe
    5. Got Some
    6. Johnny Guitar
    7. The Fixer
    8. The End
    9. Force of Nature
    10. Gonna See My Friend
    11. Speed of Sound

    Wow, this was much harder than I thought it would be. I did find it easier to rank low-to-high rather than high-to-low, though.

    My top 6 could shuffle on any given day, really. Even right this second I'm not sure if it's right! :?
    nothing's changed but the surrounding bullsh1t
  • he.who.forgets
    he.who.forgets Posts: 4,593
    Here's my ranking...best to worst

    1. Just Breath
    2. Got Some
    3. Unthought Known
    4. Amongst the Waves
    5. Force of Nature
    6. Supersonic
    7. The Fixer
    8. Gonna See My Friend
    9. The End
    10. Johnny Guitar
    11. Speed of SOund
    We were but stones your light made us stars
  • Evacuation Rules
    Evacuation Rules Posts: 2,162
    Amongst the Waves
    Johnny Guitar
    Got Some
    Force of Nature
    Just Breathe
    The Fixer
    Supersonic
    Unthought Known
    The End
    Speed of Sound
    Gonna See My Friend (one of the worst PJ songs ever)
  • RhinoJam
    RhinoJam Raleighwood Posts: 596
    Force of Nature
    Amongst the Waves
    Gonna See My Friend
    Just Breathe
    The Fixer
    Unthought Known
    Got Some
    Johnny Guitar
    The End
    Speed of Sound
    Supersonic
    Charlotte 10/4/96 Raleigh 8/31/98 Charlotte 8/4/00 Raleigh 4/15/03 Asheville 10/6/04
    Bonnaroo 6/14/08 Spectrum 10/30/09 Spectrum 10/31/09 Atlanta 9/22/12 Wrigley 7/19/13
    Baltimore 10/27/13 Charlottesville 10/29/13 Charlotte 10/30/13 OKC 11/16/13
    St. Louis 10/03/14 Greenville 4/16/16 Hampton 4/18/16
    Columbia 4/21/16 Wrigley 8/18/18
  • nevmiles
    nevmiles Ottawa, ON Posts: 1,363
    Unthought Known
    Amongst the Waves
    The Fixer
    Just Breathe
    The End
    Force of Nature
    Got Some
    Johnny Guitar
    Supersonic
    Gonna See My Friend
    Speed of Sound
    Barrie 08/22/98
    Montreal 10/04/00
    Toronto 10/05/00
    Toronto 06/28/03
    Kitchener 09/11/05
    Ottawa 09/16/05
    Toronto 08/21/09
    Toronto 09/11/11
    Ottawa 09/14/11
    Buffalo 10/12/13
    Ottawa 05/08/16
    Chicago 08/20/18
    Ottawa 09/03/22
    Nashville 09/16/22
  • JonnyPistachio
    JonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    Unthought Known
    Johhny Guitar
    Amongst the Waves
    Just Breathe
    Got Some
    The fixer
    Gonna See My Friend
    Supersonic

    I cant rate Force of Nature, Speed of Sound, or the End because I cant listen to them anymore. They bore me to tears.
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
  • circlesdown
    circlesdown Posts: 310
    None of these songs are bad, it's like ranking your kids.

    Amongst the Waves
    Gonna See My Friend
    Got Some
    Force of Nature
    Unthought Known
    Speed of Sound
    The Fixer
    Supersonic
    Just Breathe
    The End
    Johnny Guitar
  • circlesdown
    circlesdown Posts: 310
    Evacuation Rules wrote:
    Gonna See My Friend (one of the worst PJ songs ever)

    blasphemer
  • FenwayFaithful
    FenwayFaithful Posts: 8,626
    Johnny Abruzzo wrote:
    I don't have any b-sides to go with it.

    Why not? What about the sick new EP? :D

    Unthought Known
    Force of Nature
    Amongst the Waves
    Got Some
    The Fixer
    Supersonic
    Johnny Guitar
    Gonna See My Friends
    Just Breathe
    Speed of Sound
    The End

    Also, Backspacer is by far my least favorite album PJ has produced. Riot Act is 20x the album Backspacer is IMO.
    "FF, I've heard the droning about the Sawx being the baby dolls. Yeah, I get it, you guys invented baseball and suffered forever. I get it." -JearlPam0925
  • Evacuation Rules
    Evacuation Rules Posts: 2,162
    FenwayFaithful wrote:
    Also, Backspacer is by far my least favorite album PJ has produced. Riot Act is 20x the album Backspacer is IMO.

    I love it. It's 100% improvement over the suck-fest that was Avocado.
  • Johnny Abruzzo
    Johnny Abruzzo Philly Posts: 12,540
    FenwayFaithful wrote:
    Johnny Abruzzo wrote:
    Why not? What about the sick new EP? :D

    It would be fun to do Avocado & Backspacer over again with some extra songs in there, wouldn't it?

    Not to sound utterly stupid, but what does "IMO" mean?
    Spectrum 10/27/09; New Orleans JazzFest 5/1/10; Made in America 9/2/12; Phila, PA 10/21/13; Phila,  PA 10/22/13; Baltimore Arena 10/27/13; Phila, PA 4/28/16; Phila, PA 4/29/16; Fenway Park 8/7/16; Fenway Park 9/2/18; Asbury Park 9/18/21; Camden 9/14/22; Las Vegas 5/16/24; Las Vegas 5/18/24; Phila, PA 9/7/24; Phila, PA 9/9/24; Baltimore Arena 9/12/24; Pittsburgh 5/16/25; Pittsburgh 5/18/25

    Tres Mtns - TLA 3/23/11; EV - Tower Theatre 6/25/11; Temple of the Dog - Tower Theatre 11/5/16
  • FenwayFaithful
    FenwayFaithful Posts: 8,626
    Its just a dumb way of saying "In my opinion".
    "FF, I've heard the droning about the Sawx being the baby dolls. Yeah, I get it, you guys invented baseball and suffered forever. I get it." -JearlPam0925
  • dimitrispearljam
    dimitrispearljam Posts: 139,726
    Unthought Known
    Amongst the Waves
    Got Some
    Force of Nature
    Gonna See My Friend
    The Fixer
    Just Breathe
    The End
    Speed of Sound
    Supersonic
    "...Dimitri...He talks to me...'.."The Ghost of Greece..".
    "..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
    “..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”

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