Backspacer: Official Album Thread

[stip]

the first verse is a little weak but the second verse has a lot of cool stuff going on in it, and overall the music does really do a nice job reproducing the stormy atmosphere. I'd rank it alongside songs like insignificance for the effectivness of the music in describing the narrative.

plus mike's outro piece is excellent

[VinylGuy]

the first verse is a little weak but the second verse has a lot of cool stuff going on in it, and overall the music does really do a nice job reproducing the stormy atmosphere. I'd rank it alongside songs like insignificance for the effectivness of the music in describing the narrative.

plus mike's outro piece is excellent

im not a fan of his solo at the end, but overall his work there is pretty good. Jeff´s bass lines are cool.

[digster]

That's one of the things I don't like about Force of Nature (and much of their later work, truth be told); I don't here any 'atmosphere' in it, for lack of a better term, at all.

[epilogue]

Force of Nature is a mediocre song. They should play it less often...put Got Some or Amongst the waves to better use and have a funeral for this fart noise.

I like the melody, those guitars,,,the bass lines too. And Ed´s delivery is pretty good too.

PLAY FORCE OF NATURE YOU PUSSIES

It's never done much for me. It sounds like a Garth Brooks B-Side. Not that that's a terrible thing. I happen to like GB quite a bit. But there's nothing dynamic or particularly grabby about FoN to these old ears. But I'm fine no matter what they play live. If this is something folks are dying to hear, then I hope they play if more for those folks.

The music is on the mediocre side but i think the lyrics are outstanding.

I've never understood that. Obviously, you're not alone there. But to me, they sounded worn from the beginning. It's all sort of trite, stone-washed allusions and obvious metaphor. I guess, it's not that the lyrics are bad as much as they're too on the nose. They feel recycled from something else. And they carry zero emotional impact for me. Something like, "I can see the light coming through the clouds in rays" isn't a great lyric either, but it lands on me. I feel that line, even though it's also pretty trite.

[epilogue]

That's one of the things I don't like about Force of Nature (and much of their later work, truth be told); I don't here any 'atmosphere' in it, for lack of a better term, at all.

Agreed. At least as far as FoN is concerned. I'd say there's a fair amount of atmosphere on S/T, though. Not a lot, but a fair amount.

[Thejambi]

Force of Nature is a mediocre song. They should play it less often...put Got Some or Amongst the waves to better use and have a funeral for this fart noise.

I like the melody, those guitars,,,the bass lines too. And Ed´s delivery is pretty good too.

PLAY FORCE OF NATURE YOU PUSSIES

It's never done much for me. It sounds like a Garth Brooks B-Side. Not that that's a terrible thing. I happen to like GB quite a bit. But there's nothing dynamic or particularly grabby about FoN to these old ears. But I'm fine no matter what they play live. If this is something folks are dying to hear, then I hope they play if more for those folks.

The music is on the mediocre side but i think the lyrics are outstanding.

I've never understood that. Obviously, you're not alone there. But to me, they sounded worn from the beginning. It's all sort of trite, stone-washed allusions and obvious metaphor. I guess, it's not that the lyrics are bad as much as they're too on the nose. They feel recycled from something else. And they carry zero emotional impact for me. Something like, "I can see the light coming through the clouds in rays" isn't a great lyric either, but it lands on me. I feel that line, even though it's also pretty trite.

I like the story telling aspect of it. It paints me wonderful pictures as opposed evoking strong emotional feelings.

[Jorge]

It's not open to discussion anymore
She's out again tonight
and I'm alone once more
She's all I have worth waiting for
but baby plays around

[epilogue]

Force of Nature is a mediocre song. They should play it less often...put Got Some or Amongst the waves to better use and have a funeral for this fart noise.

I like the melody, those guitars,,,the bass lines too. And Ed´s delivery is pretty good too.

PLAY FORCE OF NATURE YOU PUSSIES

It's never done much for me. It sounds like a Garth Brooks B-Side. Not that that's a terrible thing. I happen to like GB quite a bit. But there's nothing dynamic or particularly grabby about FoN to these old ears. But I'm fine no matter what they play live. If this is something folks are dying to hear, then I hope they play if more for those folks.

The music is on the mediocre side but i think the lyrics are outstanding.

I've never understood that. Obviously, you're not alone there. But to me, they sounded worn from the beginning. It's all sort of trite, stone-washed allusions and obvious metaphor. I guess, it's not that the lyrics are bad as much as they're too on the nose. They feel recycled from something else. And they carry zero emotional impact for me. Something like, "I can see the light coming through the clouds in rays" isn't a great lyric either, but it lands on me. I feel that line, even though it's also pretty trite.

I like the story telling aspect of it. It paints me wonderful pictures as opposed evoking strong emotional feelings.

That makes sense. But, again, for me, the picture is murky and seen too often.

[bodysnatcher]

Although I'm not a fan of how it turned out, I appreciate FoN for what it's trying to do. It could have easily been a classic PJ-by-the-numbers song with epic peaks and valleys, but they refrained from doing so and kept it very, very linear. I just don't like the execution (mostly Ed's vocals) of the plane they chose. Comes off kinda cheesy.

[IlluminEddie]

Backspacer may be my choice PJ record right now. I was always a Yield guy before this and this was the perfect next step.

For me, a lot of times I associate records with what's happening in my life at the time. I was having my first kid around this time and this record blended perfectly with that. But, in all honesty, I just think it's a nice change of pace record from a band that was the guy who brought up politically divisive comments (think Riot Act or S/T) at the bar in middle of a nice, sometimes humorous philosophical conversation. This record was a departure from Riot Act and S/T in that it was more of them contributing to the conversation by saying "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" and "uh huh". It wasn't quite the contribution of say (No Code) philosophically, but it wasn't also tangental stuff one couldn't really follow (more general audience friendly). Personally, I could understand yeah and uh huh. Maybe not the best choice of words, but overall at least they tried to not derail the fun.

If I had to grade it, I'd say:

1. GSMF C
2. Got Some B+
3. The Fixer C+
4. J. Guitar B+
5. Just Breathe A+
6. Amongst the Waves A
7. Unthought Known A
8. Supersonic C-
9. Speed of Sound (Lazers) B
10. Force of Nature A-
11. The End A+

GPA = Solid B+, Borderline A-

[WaitingForBluey]

There are a few things that I've discovered recently about Backspacer that surprised me a bit:

1) It's the first PJ album to reach #1 on Billboard 200 since No Code
2) It's the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on overall score (79/100)
3) And the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on user score (9.0/10)
4) It's the only PJ album on metacritic (once again, only dating back to Binaural) to receive a perfect 100/100 - LA Times

Considering the general negativity from the fanbase with regards to Backspacer, they must've done something right because the greater music community has received it with very open arms

[Thejambi]

There are a few things that I've discovered recently about Backspacer that surprised me a bit:

1) It's the first PJ album to reach #1 on Billboard 200 since No Code
2) It's the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on overall score (79/100)
3) And the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on user score (9.0/10)
4) It's the only PJ album on metacritic (once again, only dating back to Binaural) to receive a perfect 100/100 - LA Times

Considering the general negativity from the fanbase with regards to Backspacer, they must've done something right because the greater music community has received it with very open arms

First impressions are nice.
Would love to see the divorce rate.

[EJ]

There are a few things that I've discovered recently about Backspacer that surprised me a bit:

1) It's the first PJ album to reach #1 on Billboard 200 since No Code
2) It's the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on overall score (79/100)
3) And the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on user score (9.0/10)
4) It's the only PJ album on metacritic (once again, only dating back to Binaural) to receive a perfect 100/100 - LA Times

Considering the general negativity from the fanbase with regards to Backspacer, they must've done something right because the greater music community has received it with very open arms

Let's hope the band didn't take market research into the studio.

[epilogue]

There are a few things that I've discovered recently about Backspacer that surprised me a bit:

1) It's the first PJ album to reach #1 on Billboard 200 since No Code
2) It's the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on overall score (79/100)
3) And the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on user score (9.0/10)
4) It's the only PJ album on metacritic (once again, only dating back to Binaural) to receive a perfect 100/100 - LA Times

Considering the general negativity from the fanbase with regards to Backspacer, they must've done something right because the greater music community has received it with arms wide open

If you know what I mean.

[VinylGuy]

There are a few things that I've discovered recently about Backspacer that surprised me a bit:

1) It's the first PJ album to reach #1 on Billboard 200 since No Code
2) It's the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on overall score (79/100)
3) And the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on user score (9.0/10)
4) It's the only PJ album on metacritic (once again, only dating back to Binaural) to receive a perfect 100/100 - LA Times

Considering the general negativity from the fanbase with regards to Backspacer, they must've done something right because the greater music community has received it with very open arms

BS was the first record a lot of my friends who, just known PJ form Ten and maybe Yield, love. Its the first one were they actually went to buy and care. Its very respected outside the PJ community.

Its great record.

[epilogue]

It's probably the worst album they've made. But that doesn't make it a bad album.

[melonhead4]

Backspacer took me a while to get into...For some reason i wasnt listening to PJ that much around that time, which is weird considering they had an album coming out but ive grown to appreciate it for what it is...Its also very underrated musically, give it a listen on a good set a headphones and you'll see...Got Some, FoN, Johnny Guitar, UK and ATW are my favorite songs on the record..and really my only complaints about it is the length and the Fixer...its just a terrible song...

[VinylGuy]

Backspacer took me a while to get into...For some reason i wasnt listening to PJ that much around that time, which is weird considering they had an album coming out but ive grown to appreciate it for what it is...Its also very underrated musically, give it a listen on a good set a headphones and you'll see...Got Some, FoN, Johnny Guitar, UK and ATW are my favorite songs on the record..and really my only complaints about it is the length and the Fixer...its just a terrible song...

It took me a while too. I didnt like it at first. But with time ...and i love The Fixer.

[Jorge]

There are a few things that I've discovered recently about Backspacer that surprised me a bit:

1) It's the first PJ album to reach #1 on Billboard 200 since No Code
2) It's the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on overall score (79/100)
3) And the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on user score (9.0/10)
4) It's the only PJ album on metacritic (once again, only dating back to Binaural) to receive a perfect 100/100 - LA Times

Considering the general negativity from the fanbase with regards to Backspacer, they must've done something right because the greater music community has received it with very open arms

This is what I keep bringing up when people talk about how "badly received" Backspacer was. It really wasn't. Like it or not, it wasn't.

[VinylGuy]

There are a few things that I've discovered recently about Backspacer that surprised me a bit:

1) It's the first PJ album to reach #1 on Billboard 200 since No Code
2) It's the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on overall score (79/100)
3) And the highest rated PJ album on metacritic (dating back to Binaural) based on user score (9.0/10)
4) It's the only PJ album on metacritic (once again, only dating back to Binaural) to receive a perfect 100/100 - LA Times

Considering the general negativity from the fanbase with regards to Backspacer, they must've done something right because the greater music community has received it with very open arms

This is what I keep bringing up when people talk about how "badly received" Backspacer was. It really wasn't. Like it or not, it wasn't.

Yeah, most of the music fans just loved it. And they knew PJ had a record out, something that didnt happened with, let say, Riot Act.

Who knowwws riightttt ??