Lets Actually Listen to the Album: Backspacer

[Django Butterworth]

There's a lot wrong with Vitalogy too, but it doesn't garner the type of hate Backspacer does.

Take that back you dick!

I will not. Lotta wasted real estate on that record.

[LetMeSleep]

Backspacer is a good 3* album with not enough quality tracks. There aren't many highs throughout the 36mins but there are a couple of lows. This album suffers mostly from having a 4 year wait for it's successor. I enjoy it for what it is, but it's only a quick mindless listen. I love the energy of the 1-4 tracks but then it struggles for air and suffers from poor sequencing (IMO).

I would love to know which tracks were earmarked for the Backspacer Sessions EP. Are all of those featured on LB and was OTE a potential?

[its_not_1974]

There's a lot wrong with Vitalogy too, but it doesn't garner the type of hate Backspacer does.

Take that back you dick!

I will not. Lotta wasted real estate on that record.

What is the wasted real estate?

Hint: If you mean Bugs, AD, or Stupid Mop, you are very wrong.

[Django Butterworth]

There's a lot wrong with Vitalogy too, but it doesn't garner the type of hate Backspacer does.

Take that back you dick!

I will not. Lotta wasted real estate on that record.

What is the wasted real estate?

Hint: If you mean Bugs, AD, or Stupid Mop, you are very wrong.

AD is a cool little nugget, Bugs and Stupid Mop are shit. And I'm not sure how anyone could say otherwise, but I guess to each their own.

[LikeLukin]

There's a lot wrong with Vitalogy too, but it doesn't garner the type of hate Backspacer does.

Take that back you dick!

I will not. Lotta wasted real estate on that record.

What is the wasted real estate?

Hint: If you mean Bugs, AD, or Stupid Mop, you are very wrong.

AD is a cool little nugget, Bugs and Stupid Mop are shit. And I'm not sure how anyone could say otherwise, but I guess to each their own.

Same here. AD is awesome, so is Pry To, but I absolutely hate Bugs and Stupid Mop.

Vitalogy is fuckin killer though. Despite the garbage that is Bugs and Stupid Mop they don't even come to mind to point out when talking about how sick Vitalogy is.

[WaitingForBluey]

I thoroughly enjoy stupid mop... and I don't know how anyone else could say otherwise...

[stip]

bugs is easily my favorite of those 4 tracks. By a large margin

[Norah]

Bugs is great, but Aye Davanita is best.

[harmless]

'Bugs' is like a one-man, one-act circus performance art piece. It has more of the 'Circus of the Grotesque' about it than any other song in the catalogue. For that reason it's the perfect fit on Vitalogy, whose 'concept' is all about the body, anatomy, abuse, psychosis, blood etc.

[stupidmop]

Bugs is amazing. Its like a tom waits tune. And Aye davanita and stupidmop are good. I wish Eddie would do more weird shit nowadays. Musically I mean.

Hell I don't even mind pry to.

[WaitingForBluey]

Bugs is amazing. Its like a tom waits tune. And Aye davanita and stupidmop are good. I wish Eddie would do more weird shit nowadays. Musically I mean.

Hell I don't even mind pry to.

[WaitingForBluey]

Allow me to bring this back on topic for a sec...

Johnny Guitar is a great freakin' song... if BS was a bit more JG and a bit less UK, it really could have been a much more appreciated record.

But that's the same thing as saying... if only Stone would do more of the writing, instead of Ed, then modern day PJ might still be just as good as old school classic PJ.

[harmless]

Allow me to bring this back on topic for a sec...

Johnny Guitar is a great freakin' song... if BS was a bit more JG and a bit less UK, it really could have been a much more appreciated record.

But that's the same thing as saying... if only Stone would do more of the writing, instead of Ed, then modern day PJ might still be just as good as old school classic PJ.

Stone wrote Supersonic (musically) and also the 'rocking' part of ATW, right? So I don't know if that 'Stone would make everything awesome again' theory holds water anymore.

[Tuolumne]

There's a lot wrong with Vitalogy too, but it doesn't garner the type of hate Backspacer does.

There's nothing wrong with Vitalogy.

That's cause Vitalogy didn't come out during the message board internet era. Imagine if it did?

It's 1994, Ten/Vs era in full effect. People are still in love w/ Eddie - long hair, stage diving, singing Jeremy and Black. Then he puts on a guitar on SNL and does "Not For You", then "Spin the Black Circle" comes out as the single. MOST people I knew at the time were iffy on this direction. They wanted "Jeremy" and "Small Town", again and again. Alot still went ahead and bought it to try it out and then pretty much chucked it. Even moreso with No Code and "Who You Are". They were over PJ.

The message boards would have been going apeshit. The LB thread is nothing.

[EJ]

But that's the same thing as saying... if only Stone would do more of the writing, instead of Ed, then modern day PJ might still be just as good as old school classic PJ.

I'm not so sure about that. And, he's my favorite songwriter in the band.

I think it all boils down to commitment with this band - dedicating the time and songwriting to Pearl Jam.

[Tuolumne]

Most Vitalogy "haters" left before there were internet message boards to post on. That's one reason why it seems so perfect now. The Vitalogy lovers (which include me, it's my favorite album) are the ones who stuck around into the late 90s as the PJ internet message boards got going.

[WaitingForBluey]

Allow me to bring this back on topic for a sec...

Johnny Guitar is a great freakin' song... if BS was a bit more JG and a bit less UK, it really could have been a much more appreciated record.

But that's the same thing as saying... if only Stone would do more of the writing, instead of Ed, then modern day PJ might still be just as good as old school classic PJ.

Stone wrote Supersonic (musically) and also the 'rocking' part of ATW, right? So I don't know if that 'Stone would make everything awesome again' theory holds water anymore.

That's the "I'm deflated because no one wants to listen to my ideas anymore so I better just write something the band might want to use" Stone... not the confident "damn, I'm a great songwriter and I've written a lot of great PJ songs so let me keep writing great PJ songs and fuck the band if they don't want 'em" Stone.
We may need to hire a shrink for him to recapture the second version, but he's certainly still in there and you know it's true.

[harmless]

Most Vitalogy "haters" left before there were internet message boards to post on. That's one reason why it seems so perfect now. The Vitalogy lovers (which include me, it's my favorite album) are the ones who stuck around into the late 90s as the PJ internet message boards got going.

I like the fact that you love Vitalogy as much as I do. But that seems like a strange argument otherwise.

[stupidmop]

There's a lot wrong with Vitalogy too, but it doesn't garner the type of hate Backspacer does.

There's nothing wrong with Vitalogy.

That's cause Vitalogy didn't come out during the message board internet era. Imagine if it did?

It's 1994, Ten/Vs era in full effect. People are still in love w/ Eddie - long hair, stage diving, singing Jeremy and Black. Then he puts on a guitar on SNL and does "Not For You", then "Spin the Black Circle" comes out as the single. MOST people I knew at the time were iffy on this direction. They wanted "Jeremy" and "Small Town", again and again. Alot still went ahead and bought it to try it out and then pretty much chucked it. Even moreso with No Code and "Who You Are". They were over PJ.

The message boards would have been going apeshit. The LB thread is nothing.

You're saying the record definitely has problems because of the hypothetical reaction on a hypothetical message board would have hypothetically been quite negative?

I'm not saying it doesn't have problems and you have to love it btw, I don't actually like NFY and nothing man that much (still beat anything on the last 2 albums though )

[harmless]

Allow me to bring this back on topic for a sec...

Johnny Guitar is a great freakin' song... if BS was a bit more JG and a bit less UK, it really could have been a much more appreciated record.

But that's the same thing as saying... if only Stone would do more of the writing, instead of Ed, then modern day PJ might still be just as good as old school classic PJ.

Stone wrote Supersonic (musically) and also the 'rocking' part of ATW, right? So I don't know if that 'Stone would make everything awesome again' theory holds water anymore.

That's the "I'm deflated because no one wants to listen to my ideas anymore so I better just write something the band might want to use" Stone... not the confident "damn, I'm a great songwriter and I've written a lot of great PJ songs so let me keep writing great PJ songs and fuck the band if they don't want 'em" Stone.
We may need to hire a shrink for him to recapture the second version, but he's certainly still in there and you know it's true.

Well, you don't know that. But regardless, I like the theory, and it seems more readily accepted here than the idea that Matt is just treading water.