Backspacer is pretty bad

2

Comments

  • peacefrompaul
    peacefrompaul Posts: 25,293
    It's good. Not great.
  • MayDay Malone
    MayDay Malone Posts: 641
    Unthought Known.

    That is all you need to know...
  • pjradio
    pjradio Posts: 6,704
    peacefrompaul wrote:
    It's good. Not great.


    thats about right...still enjoy listening to it though
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  • Digital Twilight
    Digital Twilight Posts: 5,642
    Ledbetterman10 wrote:
    Like Momentary Lapse of Reason and Rocky V, Backspacer is so lame that I don't even consider it part of the cannon.

    :lol:

    There are some great songs on there, Unthought Known is one of my favourite Pearl Jam songs of all time but most of the album I can live without to be honest.
  • DewieCox
    DewieCox Posts: 11,432
    MayDay Malone wrote:
    Unthought Known.

    That is all you need to know...

    Yep...It sums it up nicely....middle of the road....boring and cheesy.
  • High Fidelity 2000
    High Fidelity 2000 New Mexico USA Posts: 4,439
    I would say it's the worst Pearl Jam album... but that it still has a handful of fairly good songs. However, I can count them on one hand: Got Some, Force of Nature, Just Breathe, Amongst the Waves, and... Johnny Guitar (that's right I dig it after originally thinking it sucked). Unthought Known has grown on me, but I still hate the Gems and RHINEstones line. I absolutely hate a couple of songs including The End. I still can't believe they used that take of Ed's vocals which sound cringe-worthy. Hopefully the Ole' album will be better. :)
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  • NAUjackfan
    NAUjackfan Phoenix Posts: 2,340
    I want to see a concept album based on Johnny Guitar next :o
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  • mookieb10
    mookieb10 Posts: 930
    It was different but i liked it.
  • High Fidelity 2000
    High Fidelity 2000 New Mexico USA Posts: 4,439
    NAUjackfan wrote:
    I want to see a concept album based on Johnny Guitar next :o

    :lol: I want to see a concept album based on the GIRL from Johnny Guitar!
    ABQ 93, Las Cruces 95, ABQ 98, Bridge School 10/30/99, Lubbock 00, ABQ 00, Denver 03, State College 03, San Diego 03, Vegas 03, PHX 03, D.C. 03, Camden 7/5/03, NYC 7/8/03 + 7/9/03, Vegas 06, San Francisco 7/15/06 + 7/16/06 + 7/18/06, Kansas City 10, [EV:ABQ 11/6/12], Chicago 13, PHX 13, Denver 14--PJ24!, Telluride 16, Chicago 8/20/16, Chicago 8/18/18, Phoenix 22, Denver 22, Vegas 5/16/24

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  • GS4566
    GS4566 Posts: 69
    Other than Ten, I've bought every album the day it came out.

    Backspacer for me is their weakest album. I'm not going to expand on my reasons.

    If you like it - great.

    But for me, on when I first listened I was disappointed and that has never happened before. It still has not grabbed me.

    In defense, Unthought Known is great live. Nice Arena fueled energy. Crap lyrics.

    http://www.livefootsteps.org/user/?usr=1785

  • pandora
    pandora Posts: 21,855
    luke. wrote:
    I think it's such a boring bunch of radio friendly tunes. No substance, just noise. Sorry but I felt the need to say that. Anyone get anything from it? I mean I like force of nature but that's really it. The rest seems so empty of any pj soul.
    :wave: I had to double check the date on your post luke :?
    did you just get Backspacer?

    maybe you need a little more time to delve into it

    I loved it early on and now a couple of the songs are lifelong PJ favorites of mine

    I think I take the package of Pearl Jam though, and see where they were where they are going
    and then I see my own life and the changes in the last 20 years

    it all fits and I get it :D

    The meaningfulness of the music is there
  • luke.
    luke. Posts: 190
    benjs wrote:
    luke. wrote:
    I think it's such a boring bunch of radio friendly tunes. No substance, just noise. Sorry but I felt the need to say that. Anyone get anything from it? I mean I like force of nature but that's really it. The rest seems so empty of any pj soul.
    1. Radio-friendly ≠ bad
    2. If Pearl Jam kept trying to play with their fan's description of "PJ Soul", we would likely have three albums that sounded like Ten, and they would've called it quits years ago after receiving no record sales due to a derivative and repetitive sound.
    3. Yes, I got a lot from it. The album flows beautifully once you replace Speed of Sound with the demo (in my opinion). Speed of Sound and The End to me are full of real gut-wrenching soul, Gonna See My Friend and Got Some kick my ass in a good way every time, Unthought Known and Amongst the Waves are extremely well-designed songs that crescendo in ways not dissimilar to Given to Fly (which is great).. Just some more personal opinions on specifics.
    4.To say this is 'just noise' shows a weak understanding of pop music - this is a well-crafted pop album, and I think it is a refreshing deviation from what the typical Pearl Jam fan may have expected.
    5. Although this is a pop album, I don't see how "Gonna See My Friend", "Got Some", "Supersonic", "Speed of Sound", "Force of Nature", or "The End" are remotely radio-friendly. Oh - and that's over half the album.

    Get off your high horse pal, you don't have to defend the album like it's yours. I never said radio friendly equals bad. But pearl jam is better than that. Stop twisting words
  • PKTrekGirl
    PKTrekGirl Posts: 747
    I quite like Backspacer. Is it different from Ten, Vs. and the early stuff to middle stuff? Yes, it is. But that is sort of the point: to make new music. Not to rehash what they have already done.

    I think it is a good record.
  • JonnyPistachio
    JonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    benjs wrote:
    5. Although this is a pop album, I don't see how "Gonna See My Friend", "Got Some", "Supersonic", "Speed of Sound", "Force of Nature", or "The End" are remotely radio-friendly. Oh - and that's over half the album.

    Yeah, exactly! all of 17 minutes! ;)

    sorry, had to say it.


    I've always said I love the album up until Unthought Known...the rest im not so fond of.
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  • RiddledWithMetaphors
    RiddledWithMetaphors Posts: 147
    luke. wrote:
    benjs wrote:
    luke. wrote:
    I think it's such a boring bunch of radio friendly tunes. No substance, just noise. Sorry but I felt the need to say that. Anyone get anything from it? I mean I like force of nature but that's really it. The rest seems so empty of any pj soul.
    1. Radio-friendly ≠ bad
    2. If Pearl Jam kept trying to play with their fan's description of "PJ Soul", we would likely have three albums that sounded like Ten, and they would've called it quits years ago after receiving no record sales due to a derivative and repetitive sound.
    3. Yes, I got a lot from it. The album flows beautifully once you replace Speed of Sound with the demo (in my opinion). Speed of Sound and The End to me are full of real gut-wrenching soul, Gonna See My Friend and Got Some kick my ass in a good way every time, Unthought Known and Amongst the Waves are extremely well-designed songs that crescendo in ways not dissimilar to Given to Fly (which is great).. Just some more personal opinions on specifics.
    4.To say this is 'just noise' shows a weak understanding of pop music - this is a well-crafted pop album, and I think it is a refreshing deviation from what the typical Pearl Jam fan may have expected.
    5. Although this is a pop album, I don't see how "Gonna See My Friend", "Got Some", "Supersonic", "Speed of Sound", "Force of Nature", or "The End" are remotely radio-friendly. Oh - and that's over half the album.

    Get off your high horse pal, you don't have to defend the album like it's yours. I never said radio friendly equals bad. But pearl jam is better than that. Stop twisting words

    What high horse? This is a forum for discussions and I find his discussion to be more articulate than yours. Although you didn't explicitly state that radio friendly equates to bad, it is an adjective you used to describe the album as weak. Easily inferred...

    Benjs, good points. Good writing, as always. Keep it up.
  • High Fidelity 2000
    High Fidelity 2000 New Mexico USA Posts: 4,439
    benjs wrote:
    5. Although this is a pop album, I don't see how "Gonna See My Friend", "Got Some", "Supersonic", "Speed of Sound", "Force of Nature", or "The End" are remotely radio-friendly. Oh - and that's over half the album.

    Really? Force of Nature could have been the biggest most radio friendly hit Pearl Jam ever had since the Ten days. It is a very generic sounding song, musically, but actually works pretty good. It is pop if there ever was pop by them. It's shocking they didn't release it as a single and push to get some more of those CDs out of the Targets before they $5 markdowns. ;)
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  • HailRoad24
    HailRoad24 Posts: 133
    It's a pretty bland album and I agree with a previous poster that the recording schedules really bore this out. The album lacks that Pearl Jam essence that prevails through the other records. Got Some is the only song which registers a pulse with me. The others are a bit too mid-tempo or pedestrian. The band is its own worst enemy most of the time. I can almost GUARANTEE you that the ONLY reason they like Supersonic is because of the bridge. The rest of the song is utter shit and Amongst the Waves barely even gets off of the ground. If the next album has the same feel (and if Ole is on it), then I fear this band's time has finally come to a close creatively speaking.
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  • Piper At The Gates
    Piper At The Gates Posts: 460
    I did not like Backspacer at first. The only song I liked was Force of Nature, but now, I love most of the record. Unthought Known has become a big crowd pleaser at shows and makes a great opener. Just Breathe is another great live tune. The Fixer and Got Some are very strong rockers. These four songs are going to be regular staples of their live shows for years to come, and will stand up with songs like DTE and Elderly Woman.
  • happyhourhero
    happyhourhero Posts: 204
    i think b/s is a solid album, its got a good flow to it. that said..nothing is really too great. unthought known is a good song but i wonder if it would still get the same praise if the rest of the songs on the album were better/more creative. i like the album ok, but if this were the 1st pj album i bought and listened to, i would of just forgotten about them to be honest.
  • josevolution
    josevolution Posts: 32,295
    You could of just posted on the other 400 threads on this topic this has been beaten to death .....
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