Lets Actually Listen to the Album: Backspacer

[stip]

I think I figured out a problem with backspacer strategizing for the song tournament. Quite a few backspacer songs ( I tested this with GSMF, fixer, amongst the waves, and just breathe but I think this will hold true for other songs) benefit tremendously getting packaged with some of the heavier/weightier songs from earlier records. Backspacer is a celebratory record, but it is not clear on the album what is being celebrated, so none of it feels earned, and lightweight as a result. That's because backspacer is reacting to the back catalog. It makes sense in that context, but that is a hard thing to keep in your head as you listen to an album.

My mix was a pretty weighty mix. In some ways it was an exhausting listen, since so many pearl jam songs ( and pretty much everything I drafted) are practically drowning in a sense of their own importance. And so a random backspacer song following a bunch of those ends up feeling earned. It feels cleansing. It feels like the victory lap it was supposed to be. You understand what Eddie means when he sings I'm gonna fight to get it back again. GSMF feels freeing. Amongst the waves no longer sounds anemic. Just breathe sounds more tender. Because something was lost and found again.


I am sure this would work with other songs as well but try listening to animal, comatose, save you, corduroy, RVM and then one of those songs. This would probably even work with save you, cord, and RVM. I found it pretty remarkable how different the bs songs felt. Do it with headphones if possible. Play it loud

[LetMeSleep]

The Fixer, Johnny G, SoS and FoN are the main tracks for me.

The UK, AtW, GSMF, GS and maybe The End (at a stretch)

And then SS and JB. Really don't care for these two.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

As I've just listened to this thing again, I feel compelled to rank the tracks:

1. Amongst the Waves
2. Just Breathe
3. Speed of Sound
4. Johnny Guitar
5. The End
6. Got Some
7. The Fixer
8. Unthought Known
9. Gonna See My Fried
10. Force of Nature
11. Supersonic

This is how I ranked them back in January of 2013:
1. Just Breathe
2. Amongst the Waves
3. Got Some
4. The End
5. Speed of Sound
6. Johnny Guitar
7. The Fixer
8. Unthought Known
9. Gonna See My Friend
10. Supersonic
11. Force of Nature

I don't know exactly how i would rank then right now, but my top 3 would be force of nature, the end and johnny guitar, the rest would probably be a toss up, but i haven't been straight through the album in a while

I'm gonna need to go back and change my Rank The Catalog thread... damn....

I was thinking that too cuz Im using it to help me decide in the song tourneys, and i think a few should be moved around a bit

[epilogue]

I goddamn love the BS version of Speed of Sound. I LOVE it.

Its growing on me, ever since i heard the demo and realized how good of a song it is, I've kinda been able to look past the extra stuff i don't love.

See, I like the album version a lot more.

You like it more then the demo?
I just like the straight forward song better then the one with all the carnival sounds. Though like was mentioned earlier, the unique stuff is nice, but i think they tried a bit too hard to make this one a unique song and hurt a very good song

Yeah, the demo is kind of stiff, to me. I like, not only the layering, but the focus and deliver on the studio version better.

Its definitely growing on me, and watching the web cam for the wrigley soundcheck and hearing it live made a big difference also

Force of Nature is growing on me a bit, too.

[epilogue]

As I've just listened to this thing again, I feel compelled to rank the tracks:

1. Amongst the Waves
2. Just Breathe
3. Speed of Sound
4. Johnny Guitar
5. The End
6. Got Some
7. The Fixer
8. Unthought Known
9. Gonna See My Fried
10. Force of Nature
11. Supersonic

This is how I ranked them back in January of 2013:
1. Just Breathe
2. Amongst the Waves
3. Got Some
4. The End
5. Speed of Sound
6. Johnny Guitar
7. The Fixer
8. Unthought Known
9. Gonna See My Friend
10. Supersonic
11. Force of Nature

I don't know exactly how i would rank then right now, but my top 3 would be force of nature, the end and johnny guitar, the rest would probably be a toss up, but i haven't been straight through the album in a while

I'm gonna need to go back and change my Rank The Catalog thread... damn....

I was thinking that too cuz Im using it to help me decide in the song tourneys, and i think a few should be moved around a bit

Yeah, I've been using that too in that tourney. It's definitely time to change things. But it's taken nine months for things to really change for me. That's not bad, really.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

I goddamn love the BS version of Speed of Sound. I LOVE it.

Its growing on me, ever since i heard the demo and realized how good of a song it is, I've kinda been able to look past the extra stuff i don't love.

See, I like the album version a lot more.

You like it more then the demo?
I just like the straight forward song better then the one with all the carnival sounds. Though like was mentioned earlier, the unique stuff is nice, but i think they tried a bit too hard to make this one a unique song and hurt a very good song

Yeah, the demo is kind of stiff, to me. I like, not only the layering, but the focus and deliver on the studio version better.

Its definitely growing on me, and watching the web cam for the wrigley soundcheck and hearing it live made a big difference also

Force of Nature is growing on me a bit, too.

Even though its still near the bottom of your list, that makes me happy

[epilogue]

I goddamn love the BS version of Speed of Sound. I LOVE it.

Its growing on me, ever since i heard the demo and realized how good of a song it is, I've kinda been able to look past the extra stuff i don't love.

See, I like the album version a lot more.

You like it more then the demo?
I just like the straight forward song better then the one with all the carnival sounds. Though like was mentioned earlier, the unique stuff is nice, but i think they tried a bit too hard to make this one a unique song and hurt a very good song

Yeah, the demo is kind of stiff, to me. I like, not only the layering, but the focus and deliver on the studio version better.

Its definitely growing on me, and watching the web cam for the wrigley soundcheck and hearing it live made a big difference also

Force of Nature is growing on me a bit, too.

Even though its still near the bottom of your list, that makes me happy

Baby steps, Doc. Baby steps.

[stip]

And because I never met a ranking thread I didn't like


1. Force of nature
2. GSMF
3. The fixer
4. Amongst the waves (major bump)
5. Just breathe
6. The end
7. Johnny guitar
8. Got some

Those are all 4 star songs for me though

9. UK
10. Speed of sound

Pretty good but with noticeable flaws

11. Supersonic

One of the worst songs on a pj record

[epilogue]

And because I never met a ranking thread I didn't like


1. Force of nature
2. GSMF
3. The fixer
4. Amongst the waves (major bump)
5. Just breathe
6. The end
7. Johnny guitar
8. Got some

Those are all 4 star songs for me though

9. UK
10. Speed of sound

Pretty good but with noticeable flaws

11. Supersonic

One of the worst songs on a pj record

I'm gonna credit my rad tourney team for the bump in AtW. No no! You don't have to say anything! You're welcome.

[Lounge Lizard]

I'd rank them this way:

Johnny Guitar
ATW (although it's missing a riff badly)
The End
Unthought Known
GSMF
Supersonic
Just Breathe
FoN
Got Some
The Fixer
Speed of Sound

[Kevin Davis]

1. Johnny Guitar
2. The End
3. Gonna See My Friend
4. Force of Nature
5. The Fixer
6. Got Some
7. Speed of Sound
8. Just Breathe
9. Supersonic
10. Amongst the Waves
11. Unthought Known

[joostone]

1-Got Some
2-Speed of Sound
3-GSMF
4-the Fixer
5-The End
6-Unthought Known
7-Johhny Guitar
8-Amongst the Waves
9-Just Breathe
10-Force of Nature
11-Supersonic


If you would ask me to make a top 50 ranking of all the PJ tracks then 'Got Some' is probably the only one who makes it....

[HardTI]

This album is growing on me with age. There is one song that still does nothing for me, and most of you will think I'm nuts, Johnny Guitar. I appreciate why people like it and it's very clearly a well constructed song. I just don't "get" Pearl Jam humor so the theme and lyrics really take away from this song for me. The music, like I said, is pretty interesting, but not something I feel like coming back to. I almost always skip this. I'd say GSMF and Just Breathe are the 2 tracks I have grown to really enjoy, and The Fixer honestly gets better with age. I was a fan, to a degree since it was released, but I find it rather enjoyable now.

[HardTI]

1-Got Some
2-Speed of Sound
3-GSMF
4-the Fixer
5-The End
6-Unthought Known
7-Johhny Guitar
8-Amongst the Waves
9-Just Breathe
10-Force of Nature
11-Supersonic


If you would ask me to make a top 50 ranking of all the PJ tracks then 'Got Some' is probably the only one who makes it....

I'd pretty much agree with that. Depending on the mood while making the ranking, The End could sneak its way in that list for me.

[harmless]

I'm awful at ranking anything. I started but then gave up.

[HardTI]

I find ranking things nearly impossible.

[harmless]

All I know is that Johnny Guitar is at the top and Supersonic at the bottom. Everything else is totally interchangeable and sometimes really enjoyable. Objectively I also know that Speed of Sound is near the top. So is The End, that's possibly second in my non-existent ranking.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

As I've just listened to this thing again, I feel compelled to rank the tracks:

1. Amongst the Waves
2. Just Breathe
3. Speed of Sound
4. Johnny Guitar
5. The End
6. Got Some
7. The Fixer
8. Unthought Known
9. Gonna See My Fried
10. Force of Nature
11. Supersonic

This is how I ranked them back in January of 2013:
1. Just Breathe
2. Amongst the Waves
3. Got Some
4. The End
5. Speed of Sound
6. Johnny Guitar
7. The Fixer
8. Unthought Known
9. Gonna See My Friend
10. Supersonic
11. Force of Nature

I don't know exactly how i would rank then right now, but my top 3 would be force of nature, the end and johnny guitar, the rest would probably be a toss up, but i haven't been straight through the album in a while

I'm gonna need to go back and change my Rank The Catalog thread... damn....

I was thinking that too cuz Im using it to help me decide in the song tourneys, and i think a few should be moved around a bit

Yeah, I've been using that too in that tourney. It's definitely time to change things. But it's taken nine months for things to really change for me. That's not bad, really.

Nope, not bad at all, i think at some point (maybe even today if i get bored enough) before LB comes out, im gonna rearrange my big board, then somewhere around the 6 month mark for LB i will try to add it into the list

[VinylGuy]

Ok, i listened to this one yesterday and about to do the same today.

[epilogue]

Nope, not bad at all, i think at some point (maybe even today if i get bored enough) before LB comes out, im gonna rearrange my big board, then somewhere around the 6 month mark for LB i will try to add it into the list

I like that plan. I'll do the same. Though, probably not today.