Anytime you hear an album is less than 40 minutes, an alarm should go off. Is this record really finished? Are the songs really done? I remember when Stone Temple Pilots tried to get out a record in between Scott Weiland jail sentences. STP’s “No. 4” came out sounding very short and incomplete. I guess it was the best they could do given the circumstances, but it wasn’t a good album. There were probably three songs on the record that sounded finished, the rest about two-thirds of the way done.
Luckily Backspacer doesn’t sound that way upon initial listen. The songs are definitely trim, and aside from Johnny Guitar and maybe one other, I can’t really find songs that sound not quite done. Sure maybe a tweak here or there, but relative to early studio efforts, Pearl Jam’s 9th studio effort sounds like what you’d expect from the best band of a generation. It’s tighter and deeper than some of their earlier efforts. The quality range of the songs is much tighter, which should happen as a band matures. Importantly, Backspacer adds more to the Pearl Jam catalog than it dilutes. Unlike some of the earlier records from the 2000s, this one doesn’t appear to have many perishable tracks on it.
Pearl Jam isn’t irrelevant with Backspacer. They’re not nostalgic, trying to recapture a sound or vibe from earlier, more popular days. They’re doing what Pearl Jam has always done. They evolve. They feed off their extensive and impressive influences to process out a uniquely sounding Pearl Jam album. They’re not sitting upon a perch at the top of the world of rock simply sucking in praise from the next generation of rock, such as the Kings of Leon and Wolfmother, only to have their product’s quality deteriorate to a sub standard level. They’re still growing and leading the charge of rock n roll, as strong as ever.
Of all the truly great rock bands in history, and I mean the consensus top 10 all around of all time, they have perhaps the most consistent quality of albums as any. They are not like The Who and U2, whose catalogs are filled with absolute Grand Slam rock songs shelved right next to horribly unlistenable clunkers. Pearl Jam is a lot more like Led Zeppelin in that they don’t have a really bad album or weak effort. Many have argued to this point that Zep’s worst album was worse than whichever Pearl Jam album you find the weakest, though Zep’s high points are practically impossible for anyone to ever match up to.
Whereas Riot Act might have suffered from a few too many, or a couple wrong songs being included on the record, Backspacer leaves only the option of error on the short side. You can hear a lot of different sounds on this record. There’s a lot of Ramones influence in there, as obviously perhaps no band had a closer relationship with the Ramones than members of Pearl Jam, especially Ed. There’s also a hint of R.E.M. Some have mentioned a flash of “new wave,” and also your garden variety “rock gods” that Pearl Jam has been lucky enough to play with and befriend like the Stones, the Boss, the Neil, etc.
What you end up with again, is a new and different Pearl Jam album. After the last two albums were quiet wordy and dense, Backspacer is concise and trim. Most Pearl Jam albums are in part a reaction to the album before it. This one is no different, most notably by Backspacer’s songs being learned and honed in before going into the recording studio, and Avocado being so wordy relative to the simpler and lyric lighter Backspacer.
I’ve waited a long time to give it a first couple listens. I wanted to have the chance to go through it about three times back to back, to just take whatever impressions first hit me and spill them out onto the page. Not a too much thought, but more of unedited reaction and initial impression. Kinda like the way this record was made.
Gonna See My Friend
The opening spot of Pearl Jam records is a special place in the track listing. Usually the band spend a lot of time, up to months, figuring out the proper way to sequence an album, knowing it will be debated and dissected by the devoted Jamily for years and years to come. This band doesn’t make singles, it still makes albums. And sequencing to an album is critical. Just think of how you craft your own mix to give to someone, geek.
The opener has set the tone for each record. Ten, Vs., Vitalogy, No Code, Yield, Binural, Riot Act, and Avocado all feed off and build from the opening song on the record. Backspacer is no different. Reminding me a bit of Binural and Avocado, where the band came out swinging, Gonna See My Friend opens up Backspacer with a howling Vedder bouncing around a bit of funky and punky riffs, while mixing in a couple jazzy Motown sounding notes as well. Lyrically the song is very simple, in a Ramones kinda way, but there’s a lot going on in this one musically. There’s much to listen to behind it as you give it more spins.
I can see this one being played early in the main set of their live show to get the juices flowing and bodies rocking to the groove. It’s a solid opener with a nod to so many PJ influences, including even the Beach Boys, to get the energy going.
Got Some
This might grow up to be the best song on the record. It famously appeared on the first episode of the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and thankfully doesn’t sound all that different here. One thing that struck me watching the Tonight Show was how scorching the guitars sounded and how great the drum fills were. The studio effort here captures more than most of that with a couple extra production nuggets added which take a bit of its edge off.
The studio effort for Severed Hand off Avocado was awful. Its opening is long and over thought, and the speed of the song seems nearly two times slower than the ripping live versions that have become a staple. Severed Hand tears the cover off it during a live show, and Got Some will become a live staple too, with its natural “clap up” ramps conveniently installed. It’s got a bit of an R.E.M. vibe to it, a bit of a Police vibe, some Ramones, and a splash of “new wave” to it too. This is a great fit for the two hole on Backspacer. Here’s hoping for a Corduroy / Severed Hand / Got Some stretch at some point early in a show this tour.
The Fixer
Tight, poppy, happy, and digestible. Sounds like a great recipe for a first single. Pearl Jam appear to have followed Bono’s famous recipe for a first single and radio hit, “tight and less than 3 minutes.” But The Fixer does that much better than Bono’s last effort, the clunky and poorly produced U2 song “Get on Your Boots.” “Boots” flopped in the US, and “No Line” is still floundering in the US, perhaps waiting to get off the ground if either of the two decent American rock radio singles from that record are ever released.
The Fixer is classic Matt Cameron with the signature odd timing and jangling riff. Cameron wrote the music for this one, which Eddie apparently heard and then largely rearranged the order of in the middle of the night on his own in the studio. He’s been known to do that from time to time, for better or worse.
Some in the Jamily have already turned sour on The Fixer because it’s been popular on radio, although who listens to radio anymore, and is going to be plastered all over TV for a couple weeks in a Cameron Crowe directed Target spot. I mean, they did an actual video for the song! But that doesn’t make The Fixer a bad song.
The message of it is great and empowering. “When something’s gone…I gotta fight to get it back again.” Isn’t that the “comeback” American spirit? It’s a great message that already has been applied in a couple of ways. At first, some thought it was about Obama hopefully leading America back to a position of power and respect in the world. Then it was thought the song was really just about Eddie trying to work with the songs the band brings in, to be the guiding force in Pearl Jam.
But ultimately, the explanation I like best is that of trying to fix people, or relationships. The Fixer then kinda mirrors the feel of Coldplay’s classic “Fix You,” but in an earlier and much more optimistic phase. Many of us have tried fruitlessly to fix someone, or been the subject that someone was trying to fix. And that connection might carry this song a lot further than recent Pearl Jam singles.
There’s something to admire about the spirit of trying to fix things, but there’s also so much more wisdom in knowing when it’s not worth the effort, and best to walk away. This song lives on the happy and optimistic side of that equation, and it’s an admirable attitude to have in this world of imperfect people. That’s the signature Pearl Jam spirit that will never die.
Johnny Guitar
By its title and topical nature, this one reminds me of Leatherman, the kinda dorky but poppy sounding B-Side from Yield that used to get mixed into Pearl Jam live shows too often for the caliber song it is. This one was supposedly written after a trip to the bathroom and inspection of its wall filled with different old album covers. Upon first listen, this one is the weakest track on the record. The only bright spot to me is the really nasty sounding guitar solo, which collectively sound better on this album from top to bottom than they have in some time.
The song is probably sequenced properly though. After the blistering three song start, the record needs a way to break up that momentum and set up for the gear shift into the powerful and attention needing “Just Breathe.” If nothing else, Johnny Guitar accomplishes that. But it sounds exactly like a “should’ve been B-Side” track.
Just Breathe
One of the hardest things to do in music is to write a heart felt ballad without it sounding like you’re trying too hard. That line of sounding like you’re trying to hard is really paper thin, but the listener knows it instantly when it’s been crossed. The outcome is almost always harsh. Nothing can sink the integrity of a song or band like putting out a ballad that oozes with cheese. You can’t over do it. There’s only one “Every Rose Has it’s Thorn,” but a million song writers out there trying not to repeat it, minus the commercial success of course.
I think Eddie approaches that line in this song, as nearly every ballad naturally does, but he pulls this one off in fine fashion. On Avocado, much was said before the record came out about Parachutes being potentially an all-time PJ ballad. It’s just not on that level, as nice a Beatles sounding song as it is. Just Breathe is different sounding Pearl Jam. Parts of it sound like it could be played in the Dentist’s office on the “soft rock” radio station. Parts sound like My Morning Jacket’s influence spread into Pearl Jam a bit. But that’s not all bad, and the well produced thumping bass line guides the four minute journey quite nicely. The song tells a story, it’s well played, and it plays a lot deeper emotional chord than it probably seems upon first listen.
Just Breathe no doubt has the influence of the Soundtrack masterpiece “Into the Wild” which Eddie wrote in a unique and galvanized way. That experience changed the direction of Ed’s song writing. It’s only going to make it better from here on out, but it’s also so recent that its true effect can’t be completely evaluated or measured by how Backspacers stands up over time. We need another album or two to appreciate ITW’s real influence.
Amongst the Waves
Waiting for anathematic Pearl Jam, here it is. Stone recently talked about knowing they can pull these types of songs off (Alive, Given to Fly, Present Tense, etc.) that threaten to become too big, which can backfire. They’ve done a good job of keeping the governor on writing too many of these and basically becoming Bon Jovi. This one is easy on the ears, and in the old days would probably splattered all over radio to the point of regurgitation by the listener.
Amongst the Waves has a unique sound in that it’s not really dominated by heavy distorted guitars, but left rather fit and trim like the rest of Backspacer. I’d like to hear it glossed with bigger and fuller guitars, but that’s a personal preference. This song is good enough that in the old days the band could’ve tried it a couple dozen ways and really beaten the life out of it.
The song sounds very finished and exact, down to each note of the very fine guitar solo. It reminds me a bit of Rush, or maybe even a Springsteen effort with its precision and focus. Doesn’t sound like there’s a lot of room inside this one, but again it’s only a studio version. They’ll start playing this one live as the tour opens in Seattle this weekend, and we’ll have to see how the song breathes alive. AtW is one of the best songs on the album.
Unthought Known
I was fortunate to be at the Vedder solo show, DC 1, in August of ’08. One of the top moments of that night was when Ed said he had just written a new song the other day and wanted to bring it out for a spin. From the first 30 seconds of hearing UK with just Ed and his acoustic, I knew this one was gold. “See the path cut by the moon…for you to walk on,” was an early line that stuck right away. This one was going to work well.
I must admit I had great trepidation when I learned this one was going to be taken from the stage of Eddie solo and transferred into a band song. The same thing happened with “Gone” on the Avocado record. That studio recording is brutal. Gone is such a solid song, and really not bad at all when the band plays it live. But the recording is waaaaaaaaay too slow and sluggish. It sounds like the car being driven in the song can’t get out of 2nd gear. If you listen to Gone with just Ed solo, or even a live version with the band, you’ll think it’s a totally different song than the clunky sounding cut on Avocado.
I’m happy to say Brendan O’Brien didn’t crash the care with UK. It sounds really well done on Backspacer. Maybe a bit more piano driven than I’d like, but overall it really didn’t change much from the way it was written. And, the band didn’t get in their own way on this one. UK might be the best of its type since Thumbing My Way from Riot Act. I’m not sure it’s as good as Thumbing, but it’s probably the best of that type since then. It has a potentially transcendent quality to it that maybe only one or two other songs have on the record. It’s all relative though. We’re talking about Pearl Jam. They have a couple dozen transcendent songs, whereas the average rock band fights for one during their whole career.
Supersonic
Need a fun dancing rock song, play this one. If you don’t like this one or don’t get moving to the groove, you’re not a big music person. And that’s okay, but I am. Supersonic sounds to me still like R.E.M. and the Ramones had a baby. How bad ass is the dueling guitar solo in the break down. This one easily could’ve been the first single instead of a B-side to The Fixer.
Here’s another one though where the ending is cut too short. Ed does a nice job of introducing a back and forth “yea, yea yea…” at the end with the crowd/listener, but it’s cut too short. They should’ve revived that ending “yea, yea, yea…” part one more time to extend the connection at the end. It would not have made it too long and repetitive. I’m sure when it’s played live that ending will be doubled or tripled.
Supersonic is a killer groove that demonstrates the work that was put into this song before recording it. It’s pretty complete and exact, like all the record really. Supersonic gets in, gets it done, and gets out. It’s probably the best “cruiser” on Backspacer.
Speed of Sound
This one finds Pearl Jam stretching a bit into new territory. New sounds, new structures, not just the standard Pearl Jam punky riffs and odd timing. Yet it’s another that ends abruptly. Though not as bad an ending as The End or Supersonic, anytime you have an ending that brief, it does make you wonder if the song really was done, or if it was determined to be done before it fully grew.
A lot of the effort in making Backspacer was to undo the painful democratic process that was “Pearl Jam,” aka the Avocado album. Neil Young has long said you want to record as close to the source as possible and with the least amount of editing possible. Sometimes Young has gone into recording a song before he even knew how it went or how the lyrics would even come about. You’d be stunned that some of his best and most well known songs came out that way.
Backspacer represents Pearl Jam’s greatest effort to let the songs come out without too much tweaking or over editing since Ten. Whenever you do that, you do risk leaving a bit of an unsprouted seed in a given song. Speed of Sound might have a bit of that in it. But some songs take longer to hit and process though, and this is just an initial review. So don’t take all I say here too deeply and definitively if I later amend my view. This one needs more time to set in.
Force of Nature
Featuring some of the signature “odd timing” that Pearl Jam has become known for, as they’ve always tinkered to avoid writing the “easy hit,” this mid tempo rocker features again a tight composition and a great bluesy lead and outro solo. It’s not the easiest song to understand what Ed’s singing upon first listen, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a weak effort. Jeff Ament has said the lyrics on this record might be the best overall that he’s ever been a part of. Coming from Ament, who doesn’t overstate much and doesn’t need to hype up Pearl Jam songs in efforts to sell more records (they sell enough) or sell concert tickets (they’ve sold them all out for the last decade or so), it’s worth noting.
Avocado was a very “wordy” album. So much so that Eddie said in the making of Backspacer he paid special attention to the use and number of words that went into the songs. If there’s a blanket criticism of Avocado, it’s that the songs are too dense and wordy. Backspacer will not receive the same comments. It’s supermodel thin.
The End
The End is a beautiful song with an unfortunate ending. How ironic is that? Backspacer’s last track lacks a couple bars of fading music to play the song out. It ends too abruptly. Well that’s the point, you say. The abrupt drop off just doesn’t work, and takes away more from the song than it gives. It makes “The End” a “what could’ve been,” rather than a potential classic.
Rock Producer of his era Brendan O’Brien has a recent tendency of cutting off songs before they were ready to end. Examples include Springsteen’s best song off Magic, Long Walk Home, and another solid Magic track called Livin’ in the Future. O’Brien’s idea is to somehow leave them wanting more rather than to take it to its max. Well, that works sometimes. But not on those tracks, and not on a couple Backspacer tunes, including The End.
I get that putting a long jam on an album can become a long wondering pile of drool. I’ve heard the bad Dave Matthews albums. But cutting a jam short can kill a tune too. It can take a song from the brink of special to the scorn of disappointing “what could’ve been.” O’Brien’s recent tendency reminds me of when I was a caddie. On occasion, I’d get a bit “short” in reading putts, and started under reading the breaks in the greens. Without appreciating the full arc a putt needed to take to find the proper speed to fall in the hole, I’d cut the suggested path short and end up with a lot of close misses. It wasn’t a conscious effort, but one I had to become aware of to avoid. I humbly suggest Mr. O’Brien reflect on his current move to over trim the ending of rock songs.
The End reminds me of the last song on U2’s new record “No Line.” Cedars of Lebanon is a bitter sounding slow burner that comes really close to putting a great wrap to an album that is a bit ahead of its time, at least in America. But the problem with Cedars is the end cuts short and drops to dead air out of nowhere. It lets all the air out of the room. The song is left incomplete. And the emotion that slowly built for the previous minutes is invalidated by the sudden disappearance of all sound. The song is quickly lost and left for dead, leaving the listener wondering where it all went, rather than “wow, that immediate and sudden ending was just awesome.”
I get the idea of the immediate and sudden ending to “The End.” I just don’t think it works as well as a fading instrumental fade out would’ve. I fear the song goes from the category of “potentially great” to “not quite complete” as the track suddenly goes silent. It’s especially disappointing given the ending of Pearl Jam’s “Marker in the Sand” on Avocado was cut too short. That’s two albums in a row with key endings cut short. I can’t wait to for the day when I hear Marker with a couple minute jam added to that song’s inspiring and uplifting ending. It’s an intoxicating piece of music that’s cut off way too soon for its own good. I wish I didn’t have to say the same about “The End.”
Overall
Initially, Backspacer leaves me excited for the future of Pearl Jam. The whole album sounds very fresh and alive. This one doesn’t leave me thinking the end is near, they’re out of ideas, or they’re just going through the motions. In fact, the next batch might end up coming much sooner than later, as supposedly there’s already about a half dozen ideas nearly ready to be finished. One of them is a 9 minute Eddie piece that Stone’s recently described as “a monster.”
So perhaps like Brendan O’Brien did with Springsteen recently, maybe he can get Pearl Jam right back in the studio to rip off another record right quick instead of waiting another 3 years. Maybe we’ll end up comparing the 9 minute track to the Boss’ Outlaw Pete, which opens Workin on a Dream. I kid. But don’t necessarily expect the next album to be much like Backspacer. There probably won’t be as many strings and horns included on the next one. It might end up being a bit more stripped down and thrashing throughout, ala past records.
It’s an awful difficult task to follow the band’s self-titled and possibly best album. Fortunately Backspacer doesn’t try to recreate, borrow from, or even pick up where “Pearl Jam” left off. It charts a totally new course, with a totally different direction and feel. We’ll now need a bit of time to see how Backspacer holds up to growing older.
