Lets Actually Listen to the Album: Backspacer

[stip]

old thread archived here

listen to the album and share your thoughts

[Mike]

I'm doing this right now and it's way better than I remembered. Maybe reading and talking more about it than listening to it influenced my opinion a little bit. Amongst The Waves just finished playing and it was surprisingly enjoyable. Maybe thinking about it as an attempt at a new soaring anthem made me think less of it. I really like the instrumentation in the verses and even though the chorus isn't the strongest I somehow came around to it. [Ed Mode] The Chorus is kind of...ehm..like..you know... floating on a wave...all relaxed.[/Ed Mode] I don't think they wanted this song to be "huge".

Oh no, Supersonic is starting. That song really ruins the mood.

[harmless]

I don't feel right about posting my negative feelings on this album again.

But Mike, you're totally right about ATW. This album is a consistently enjoyable listen apart from Supersonic. Johnny Guitar and The End are the most fully-realised pieces of awesomeness, I think.

[Mike]

I don't feel right about posting my negative feelings on this album again.

But Mike, you're totally right about ATW. This album is a consistently enjoyable listen apart from Supersonic. Johnny Guitar and The End are the most fully-realised pieces of awesomeness, I think.

Force Of Nature is starting. Fuck the haters, that song is awesome. Yeah, the intro is cheesy as fuck and the riff isn't the most inspired piece of art but Ed totally makes this song. And the piano is a nice touch.

[harmless]

I don't feel right about posting my negative feelings on this album again.

But Mike, you're totally right about ATW. This album is a consistently enjoyable listen apart from Supersonic. Johnny Guitar and The End are the most fully-realised pieces of awesomeness, I think.

Force Of Nature is starting. Fuck the haters, that song is awesome. Yeah, the intro is cheesy as fuck and the riff isn't the most inspired piece of art but Ed totally makes this song. And the piano is a nice touch.

I like the piano in the second verse, yeah. The riff, the chords, the melody, are all fairly uninspired but it's all... nice enough. It works to put you in a good mood. I feel as if SOS is so ridiculously busy that it's very easy to mock, but it's good. I think it would've sat better in a more experimental pop album.

[Mike]

I don't feel right about posting my negative feelings on this album again.

But Mike, you're totally right about ATW. This album is a consistently enjoyable listen apart from Supersonic. Johnny Guitar and The End are the most fully-realised pieces of awesomeness, I think.

Force Of Nature is starting. Fuck the haters, that song is awesome. Yeah, the intro is cheesy as fuck and the riff isn't the most inspired piece of art but Ed totally makes this song. And the piano is a nice touch.

I like the piano in the second verse, yeah. The riff, the chords, the melody, are all fairly uninspired but it's all... nice enough. It works to put you in a good mood. I feel as if SOS is so ridiculously busy that it's very easy to mock, but it's good. I think it would've sat better in a more experimental pop album.

Yeah, SOS is way too busy and it almost ruins the song. The base of the song is pretty awesome but the studio version ends up being mediocre.

What instruments are being played on The End? Strings and horn?

[VinylGuy]

SOS is wonderful my friends....im happy we got the full band version.

[harmless]

I don't feel right about posting my negative feelings on this album again.

But Mike, you're totally right about ATW. This album is a consistently enjoyable listen apart from Supersonic. Johnny Guitar and The End are the most fully-realised pieces of awesomeness, I think.

Force Of Nature is starting. Fuck the haters, that song is awesome. Yeah, the intro is cheesy as fuck and the riff isn't the most inspired piece of art but Ed totally makes this song. And the piano is a nice touch.

I like the piano in the second verse, yeah. The riff, the chords, the melody, are all fairly uninspired but it's all... nice enough. It works to put you in a good mood. I feel as if SOS is so ridiculously busy that it's very easy to mock, but it's good. I think it would've sat better in a more experimental pop album.

Yeah, SOS is way too busy and it almost ruins the song. The base of the song is pretty awesome but the studio version ends up being mediocre.

What instruments are being played on The End? Strings and horn?

Yup.

[harmless]

I think the Orchestration on The End works, actually. Hopefully the stuff all over FD will be more The End and less SOS.

[harmless]

I still think The Fixer has more going for it than against it.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

I don't feel right about posting my negative feelings on this album again.

But Mike, you're totally right about ATW. This album is a consistently enjoyable listen apart from Supersonic. Johnny Guitar and The End are the most fully-realised pieces of awesomeness, I think.

Force Of Nature is starting. Fuck the haters, that song is awesome. Yeah, the intro is cheesy as fuck and the riff isn't the most inspired piece of art but Ed totally makes this song. And the piano is a nice touch.

Best song on the album, i love it

[warehouse]

no thanks

[Mike]

I think the Orchestration on The End works, actually. Hopefully the stuff all over FD will be more The End and less SOS.

Yep, I agree.

Thoughts on the instrumentation on Backspacer that might be BOB's fault/idea:
The Fixer - I'm not really sure what instruments are being played here next to the main ones but I like whatever I'm hearing. Piano/Keyboard?
Just Breathe - The flute (or is it flute-like sounds on a keyboard? ) in the verses are nice. The chorus is too over the top.
Amongst The Waves - I like the keyboard/organ thats played in the background. In the second verse it plays a little bit more but it's never really too much. Makes everything sound fuller and more colourful.
Unthought Known - Not really a fan of the piano here.
Speed Of Sound -
Force Of Nature - The piano makes the song better.
The End - See above.

Conclusion: I don't really know what to think about BOB's ideas. (I just assume that it's all BOB. ) Sometimes they make the songs richer and sometimes they almost ruin them.

[philpritchard]

Johnny Guitar, Force of Nature and The End are the high points on this one for me. There's not much that I dislike, but there's also not much that I'm a huge fan of.

[Release_Me]

I don't feel right about posting my negative feelings on this album again.

But Mike, you're totally right about ATW. This album is a consistently enjoyable listen apart from Supersonic. Johnny Guitar and The End are the most fully-realised pieces of awesomeness, I think.

Force Of Nature is starting. Fuck the haters, that song is awesome. Yeah, the intro is cheesy as fuck and the riff isn't the most inspired piece of art but Ed totally makes this song. And the piano is a nice touch.

Best song on the album, i love it

This.

[harmless]

I think the Orchestration on The End works, actually. Hopefully the stuff all over FD will be more The End and less SOS.

Yep, I agree.

Thoughts on the instrumentation on Backspacer that might be BOB's fault/idea:
The Fixer - I'm not really sure what instruments are being played here next to the main ones but I like whatever I'm hearing. Piano/Keyboard?
Just Breathe - The flute (or is it flute-like sounds on a keyboard? ) in the verses are nice. The chorus is too over the top.
Amongst The Waves - I like the keyboard/organ thats played in the background. In the second verse it plays a little bit more but it's never really too much. Makes everything sound fuller and more colourful.
Unthought Known - Not really a fan of the piano here.
Speed Of Sound -
Force Of Nature - The piano makes the song better.
The End - See above.

Conclusion: I don't really know what to think about BOB's ideas. (I just assume that it's all BOB. ) Sometimes they make the songs richer and sometimes they almost ruin them.

Agree with all these, I think. And you've just reminded me how much he actually added. I keep reverting to the two songs we knew he had a hand in arranging (Just Breathe and SOS) but there's a lot more. The piano in Unthought Known spoils a really enjoyable song up to that point.

[stupidmop]

You can't make me!

[Mike]

"Supersonic" is like "Mankind" [from 1996's "No Code"] on steroids.

Yeah, that's probably not too crazily far off. I wrote the riffs. The verses are what I wrote last. The original arrangement was overly complex. When I first heard Ed start singing it, I thought it had this Ramones or Springsteen thing going on. It feels very New York.

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/ ... page=0%2C4


Now I want to hear the original arrangement.

[harmless]

That whole interview is a highly uncomfortable read.

[stupidmop]

I love, LOVE the fact that seemingly the entire band thought the fixer was about ed fixing other peoples songs, and ed finding out via interviewer. Fucking hilarious. Gives you an idea about both how they feel about it, and about eds character, that they think he'd be so forward as to actually write a song about 'fixing' everyone else's songs.