Lets Actually Listen to the Album: Backspacer

[stip]

I think I love everything about GSMF. In my top half of album openers.

[harmless]

I'm listening to ATW now. I really fucking like it and Matt does some beautiful stuff on it.

You dont feel the need to hear more loud the guitars? Im with you in terms of groove and Matt, but this a Stone song and him and Mike feel they only appear at the end.

It's because of the groove that I don't need more guitars. There's a reggae lilt to the drumming which makes the space around it work well. If they'd covered that up with a wall of guitars, the groove would be less noticeable. It's more about atmosphere, ambience and (dare I say it) beauty than rocktastic noise. It manages to create a real euphoric feeling better than something like Unthought Known. It's not about how much Ed fucking loves rocking out in the waves but more about awe and wonder. The real rocky stuff is just the climax at the end. I feel as if they wrote most of these songs to only let loose and rock out towards the end. Whether that works or not (it doesn't work so well in 'Got Some', which should rock out more from the beginning) is up to you.

That's just me.

[harmless]

Also, rhythm section has always been a priority for me, over guitars. So that's a bias that makes songs like this easier to take, and songs like MYM more difficult.

[VinylGuy]

Fuck, i think its a missed opportunity. I need guitars, i need more aggression in them..i need them to be more present in the mix. And the placing of the song requires that...after JB, all i want is to hear Stone and Mike doing what they are doing there so buried in the mix.

[harmless]

The BA-BA.... BA-BA... pushes on the chorus guitars are just lovely against that reggae groove. And yeah, the space around those accents is totally deliberate.

[harmless]

Fuck, i think its a missed opportunity. I need guitars, i need more aggression in them..i need them to be more present in the mix. And the placing of the song requires that...after JB, all i want is to hear Stone and Mike doing what they are doing there so buried in the mix.

That's what the duelling solo's for, and from the solo on it gets a bit more climactic.

But in the end, it just depends what you're into.

Something like Faithfull is less aggressive than any given similar song before it, right?

[harmless]

If there's a missed opportunity in some of these songs, I think it's that they were deliberately mixed to fit this album, rather than each song being mixed to suit its own needs.

[Lounge Lizard]

The intro to GSMF is quite annoying. That high surf guitar has nothing to do with the rest of the song, and it's misleading...

Kind of like... MYM?

[harmless]

The intro to GSMF is quite annoying. That high surf guitar has nothing to do with the rest of the song, and it's misleading...

Kind of like... MYM?

Yeah, it's the same symptom but not as much of a problem in MYM because the music is cooler. Also, it's just half-time, not a totally different style. It's aggressive going into aggressive. I wish that riff had been repeated somewhere else in the song, but hey.

[VinylGuy]

Fuck, i think its a missed opportunity. I need guitars, i need more aggression in them..i need them to be more present in the mix. And the placing of the song requires that...after JB, all i want is to hear Stone and Mike doing what they are doing there so buried in the mix.

That's what the duelling solo's for, and from the solo on it gets a bit more climactic.

But in the end, it just depends what you're into.

Something like Faithfull is less aggressive than any given similar song before it, right?

Yet the guitars in Faithfull sound amazing. I want those guitars in ATW.

[harmless]

Fuck, i think its a missed opportunity. I need guitars, i need more aggression in them..i need them to be more present in the mix. And the placing of the song requires that...after JB, all i want is to hear Stone and Mike doing what they are doing there so buried in the mix.

That's what the duelling solo's for, and from the solo on it gets a bit more climactic.

But in the end, it just depends what you're into.

Something like Faithfull is less aggressive than any given similar song before it, right?

Yet the guitars in Faithfull sound amazing. I want those guitars in ATW.

Fair dos, brah. Yes they do sound amazing.

[Lounge Lizard]

The intro to GSMF is quite annoying. That high surf guitar has nothing to do with the rest of the song, and it's misleading...

Kind of like... MYM?

Yeah, it's the same symptom but not as much of a problem in MYM because the music is cooler. Also, it's just half-time, not a totally different style. It's aggressive going into aggressive. I wish that riff had been repeated somewhere else in the song, but hey.

Actually I totally agree with you on GSMF and SH.

I mean the one in GSMF is just too simple and I don't like the tone of the guitars in it, it feels like a high pitched scream and leaves an overall chalk-on-board or nail-on-glass feeling. Especially because the verse riff is so intricate and interesting, I really-really like that riff (if not the guitar tones, again). And then when the song nears its end it goes back into primitive one note shredding. Major turn off for me. I mean, Rats, which is one of the more musically complex PJ songs with a killer riff during the verse parts, also deteriorates into typical garage shredding at the end, but it's somehow more consistent with the rest of the song, so I'm OK with that. But I'm not OK with GSMF in this regard. It's just not clicking for me.

As for SH, my complaint is pretty much the same, only this time the intro is a bit more complex than the actual riff, it's a four chord loop typical for a lot of "grunge" songs, which suddenly breaks to give way to a riff which is essentially one cord with two other chords used as rhythmic beat fillers but add nothing to the actual melody of the song. I wonder what kind of song it could have been if it were built around the melody of the intro (with certain adjustments in timing and accents).

[Lounge Lizard]

Fuck, i think its a missed opportunity. I need guitars, i need more aggression in them..i need them to be more present in the mix. And the placing of the song requires that...after JB, all i want is to hear Stone and Mike doing what they are doing there so buried in the mix.

That's what the duelling solo's for, and from the solo on it gets a bit more climactic.

But in the end, it just depends what you're into.

Something like Faithfull is less aggressive than any given similar song before it, right?

Yet the guitars in Faithfull sound amazing. I want those guitars in ATW.

That middle part needed to be longer though. Muuuuch longer. I always play that song twice because I don't get enough of that middle part

[harmless]

The intro to GSMF is quite annoying. That high surf guitar has nothing to do with the rest of the song, and it's misleading...

Kind of like... MYM?

Yeah, it's the same symptom but not as much of a problem in MYM because the music is cooler. Also, it's just half-time, not a totally different style. It's aggressive going into aggressive. I wish that riff had been repeated somewhere else in the song, but hey.

Actually I totally agree with you on GSMF and SH.

I mean the one in GSMF is just too simple and I don't like the tone of the guitars in it, it feels like a high pitched scream and leaves an overall chalk-on-board or nail-on-glass feeling. Especially because the verse riff is so intricate and interesting, I really-really like that riff (if not the guitar tones, again). And then when the song nears its end it goes back into primitive one note shredding. Major turn off for me. I mean, Rats, which is one of the more musically complex PJ songs with a killer riff during the verse parts, also deteriorates into typical garage shredding at the end, but it's somehow more consistent with the rest of the song, so I'm OK with that. But I'm not OK with GSMF in this regard. It's just not clicking for me.

As for SH, my complaint is pretty much the same, only this time the intro is a bit more complex than the actual riff, it's a four chord loop typical for a lot of "grunge" songs, which suddenly breaks to give way to a riff which is essentially one cord with two other chords used as rhythmic beat fillers but add nothing to the actual melody of the song. I wonder what kind of song it could have been if it were built around the melody of the intro (with certain adjustments in timing and accents).

Spot on, more or less.

[BurtReynolds]

Against my better judgement i did this again. I'll spare you the gory details and just mention one song.

I cannot fathom how Force of Nature gets the love it does. Its 100% pure 80s movie training montage music. Back before they hired real musicians to make most of the soundtracks and instead hired some guy with a keyboard who was never heard from again. If it were presented as a parody, I might be able to get some enjoyment out of it, but its so serious. Its all the more shameful that it has the best lyrics on the album (for what lyrics are worth). Listening to it today, I could not believe the five guys who made Vitalogy actually sat in a room together, hammered this thing out, and then, unanimously, agreed it was worthy of an album spot (albeit barely, and was probably the last to make the cut I'm guessing).

And what... what is that instrument playing? is it a guitar? is it a keyboard synthesizing a guitar? Whatever it is, Its the most limp dick tone imaginable. It literally sounds like a sweaty wet fart on a 110 degree day. with humidity.

[Lounge Lizard]

Against my better judgement i did this again. I'll spare you the gory details and just mention one song.

I cannot fathom how Force of Nature gets the love it does. Its 100% pure 80s movie training montage music. Back before they hired real musicians to make most of the soundtracks to movies and instead hired some guy with a keyboard who was never heard from again. If it were presented as a parody, I might be able to get some enjoyment out of it, but its so serious. And its all the more shameful that it has the best lyrics on the album (for what lyrics are worth). Listening to it today, I could not believe the five guys who made Vitalogy actually sat in a room together, hammered this thing out, and then, unanimously, agreed it was worthy of an album spot (albeit barely, and was probably the last to make the cut I'm guessing).

And what... what is that instrument playing? is it a guitar? is it a keyboard synthesizing a guitar? Whatever it is, Its the most limp dick tone imaginable. It literally sounds like a sweaty wet fart on a 110 degree day. with humidity.

Good to see someone with fellow taste.
I only ranked FoN second worst because SoS is gawdaweful to a degree unreachable by any shitty song ever.

[harmless]

The chords are lame. The intro lead guitar is lame. I guess your liking for it will depend on whether you like the lyrics enough to forgive a more standard cliched rock backdrop. Also, its performance has energy. Those things have occasionally got me on board with it, but my appreciation is really sporadic. It's pretty weak. I like Mike's guitar on the end though.

[VinylGuy]

Needs more edge for sure, the guitars are weak as fuck and they seemed bored too. Jeff and Matt are cool though.
And Ed vocals are great but too upfront. The production is hideous here, too mainstream.

[Lament]

I think I love everything about GSMF. In my top half of album openers.

Damn. They've had some pretty killer album openers. GSMF actually might be my least favorite.

Last Exit - Brain of J. - Go - Can't Keep - Sometimes - Once - Breakerfall - Life Wasted - Gonna See My Friend would probably be my ranking of openers.

[harmless]

Ed's performance is good, yeah. Another thing to carry you through.