BACKSPACER...6 months In What Do We Think

Solid rock record. Nothing special.

Better than Riot Act, but that's it for me.

jets521 wrote:

The Rock wrote:

Absolute classics:
Just Breathe
Amongst The Waves
Unthought Known
Speed Of Sound
Force Of Nature
The End

Brilliant songs:
Got Some
Johnny Guitar
Supersonic

Good songs:
Gonna See My Friend
The Fixer

Overall, I adore this record. I loved it instantly and it hasn't eased off. Well done guys!

"absolute classics" and "brilliant" ?

i love the enthusiasm but come on...its only been six months and your calling songs classics!?

Hell yeah. The band floored me with this album from the start. I already prefer some of these songs to older songs in the band's catalogue. This is the album I was hoping for, they delivered big time.

Yay, my 2 cents...
Great, like GREAT great:
The Fixer- still awesome, everytime I hear it...
Got Some- Love that sigh/grunt in the opening verse...
Unthought Known- I was delighted to find out other people dig this 1 too...

Average
Everything else, except for...

M'eh
The End

Cheers.

Gonna See My Friend - I think this is a great opener, good rocking song.

Got Some - Sooo much better than the Conan appearance led me to expect!

The Fixer - It's not great poetry, but it is a fun, upbeat, optimistic song, and I think it is perfectly okay and even normal for the guys to produce something like it at this stage in life. I also think it sounds a hundred times better live.

Johnny Guitar - Definitely grew on me. I listen to it and imagine Ed singing it with a "Can you believe I am singing this?" grin on his face. Tons of fun.

Just Breathe - My ten-year-old loves this song, was thrilled to hear it four times in Philly and "just let it wash over me." I think it's beautiful, and I also think there is room in PJ's catalogue for some songs like this.

Amongst The Waves - Might be a little, teensy bit... no, I'm not going to say it's cheesy. Given to Fly is not cheesy, neither is this. I expect a rock band to wear its heart on its sleeve occasionally, and to give voice to feelings that I am unable or unwilling to express myself.

Unthought Known - Made itself a permanent part of my brain at NJPAC, has not left. Vaulted straight into my top ten, with no plans of leaving, ever. Best song since Yield.

Supersonic - Not great art, but great fun; reminds me of the Ramones -- short, loud, fast. I tend to look at these songs in context. Supersonic reminds me of Big Wave, and it holds up fine next to Big Wave. I think comparing it to Black would be pointless. My only complaint is that the transition from Unthought Known to Supersonic is jarring.

Speed Of Sound - Yes, I skip it sometimes. It's nice enough, but Just Breathe and The End are far superior.

Force Of Nature - Sounds better with each listen. Sounds awesome on my iPod. Great song, one of my top two or three from this album.

The End - Tough to listen to at times, because it's so damn sad. But, yeah, it's a great song, too.

The diversity of PJ's songs and albums is a major reason why I like and respect the band so much. I don't want every album to sound like "Ten" (or "Yield"). I think "Backspacer" is the perfect album to make given where the guys are in their lives and careers; it would have been a head-scratcher in 1995, but here and now it makes sense. In the same way, releasing an album like "Vitalogy" now would seem out of place, age-inappropriate, just... not right.

I do not think every album from here on out will sound like "Backspacer." Each PJ album has been its own beast, and I have no reason to expect that that is going to change. If anything, I would expect the next album to be much more experimental.

It rocks & is still cool. Last time i played it i had been listening to shit dance & r&b rubbish as work. It had never sounded so good. Johnny Guitar is still fav but Amongst The Waves is becoming a standout for me. Backspacer rocks, turn it up after you have cleaned your ears!

I will never understand the Speed of Sound hatred. I enjoyed it on first listen but it still gets better every time. Happy to agree to disagree but it's a shame that i hear it so much differently than so many of you.

Overall, i really like Backspacer. It's a great short listen. It's fun for the most part.

Hope the next one goes in a bit of a different direction but this one was perfect for the time.
Much better than Avocado and i'd have to say Riot Act as well (very different albums though)

Also, i don't compare new PJ albums to older ones. Granted Vitalogy may be much stronger but i still listen to the newer one more. I've spun Vitalogy about 1 milliion times in the past. It's good to move on.

One of their better albums. Best since Yield. Some of the ranking have changed for me though...

1. Just Breath - One of the best PJ songs in years. I dont understand how most fans dont like this song. Brilliant, gorgeous. Well done.

2. The Fixer - Like someone says this song keeps growing on me. This is a really good tune.

3. The End - Another brilliant slow burner and a great way to end the album.

4. Got Some - Classic Rock song. Should be the third single if they ever come out with one.

5. Supersonic - Just bad ass. Quick, punchy. Love it. Rockin'

6. Gonna See My Friend - Cant get enough of the chord progression in the chorus. In your face bad ass song.

7. Amongst the Waves - Decent tune. The first verse makes me cringe...Once he goes to "Once outside the undertow" Im hooked. I wish they used different lyrics in t hat first verse...The way he says Resevoir just makes me cringe everytime. Great chorus though...Is it cut for the radio? No.

All these songs are incredible tunes...It drops off from there for me.

8. Unthought Known - Though this song had potential...The after 6 months its really just lazy PJ. A rip off version of wishlist with a chrous that has 2 words annoyingly repeated over and over...Maybe in another 6 months I'll reappreciate this tune.

9. Force of Nature - Just doesnt cut it for me. Similar to Army Reserve for me. Both blah. FON beats out Army by a long shot however.

10. Johnny Guitar - Still cant figure out if I like this song or not. It was last 6 months ago. Now in ten. I think in 6 months it could surpass Unthought known...It might have done that already.

11. Speed of Sound - Ehck...Just yucky. The demo version should be on the album... That would be in my top 5.

The song I loved from the get-go was and is "Got Some". It's damn catchy.

The Fixer continues to grow on me...

Speed of Sound and Force of Nature are starting to bore me.

I never liked Gonna See My Friend