Lets Actually Listen to the Album: Backspacer

[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.

why? We know that this happened, after all? There were precipitous drops in the record sales (which does speak to this, especially in that era) after each record until no code, at which point it seems to stabilize.

Again, you should've read my next reply where I agreed with the elaboration of this post.

yup.

I respond as I read, which is a problem when something gets resolved

I do that too!

[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.

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.

I honestly don't get this. Maybe Stupid Mop, out of context. But, Bugs? Even outside of the album, it's a fun little two chord ditty.

[stip]

I LAL'd to this the other day.

It's still great.

[harmless]

Vitalogy is PJ's funniest album, and also their darkest. Hence its greatness.

[its_not_1974]

This album ends pretty strongly.

[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.

I honestly don't get this. Maybe Stupid Mop, out of context. But, Bugs? Even outside of the album, it's a fun little two chord ditty.

I don't get how you can call it a "fun little two chord ditty." Harsh, choppy accordian and no vocal melody. That's annoying to me, not fun.

[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.

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.

I honestly don't get this. Maybe Stupid Mop, out of context. But, Bugs? Even outside of the album, it's a fun little two chord ditty.

I don't get how you can call it a "fun little two chord ditty." Harsh, choppy accordian and no vocal melody. That's annoying to me, not fun.

YES.

[Django Butterworth]

And please, if someone can tell me how Stupid Mop has any sort of redeeming musical quality to it, I'm all ears.

[harmless]

Stupid Mop, and to a lesser extent Bugs, are atmosphere / mood pieces rather than 'songs' as such, so if you don't buy into the fact that they add to the overall aesthetic quality and concept of Vitalogy, they're probably not going to interest you much. If you do, they're going to be crucial elements to the record. Any talk of harshness or abrasiveness is irrelevant to that, because they're obviously not entirely comfortable to listen to, that's the entire point.

[Django Butterworth]

Stupid Mop, and to a lesser extent Bugs, are atmosphere / mood pieces rather than 'songs' as such, so if you don't buy into the fact that they add to the overall aesthetic quality and concept of Vitalogy, they're probably not going to interest you much. If you do, they're going to be crucial elements to the record. Any talk of harshness or abrasiveness is irrelevant to that, because they're obviously not entirely comfortable to listen to, that's the entire point.

That's actually an excellent explanation, well done.

[Mike]

I enjoy Stupid Mop from 5:30 onwards when Jeff comes in.

[stip]

Stupid Mop, and to a lesser extent Bugs, are atmosphere / mood pieces rather than 'songs' as such, so if you don't buy into the fact that they add to the overall aesthetic quality and concept of Vitalogy, they're probably not going to interest you much. If you do, they're going to be crucial elements to the record. Any talk of harshness or abrasiveness is irrelevant to that, because they're obviously not entirely comfortable to listen to, that's the entire point.

That's actually an excellent explanation, well done.

there is a fantastic defense of stupid mop on the old board. If you follow the link in the stupid mop SOTM thread (indexed at the top of the forum) you can read it there.

[Django Butterworth]

I'll check it out, thanks.

[Django Butterworth]

So back to Backspacer...

My least favorite song, Force of Nature. Favorite would be Amongst the Waves.

[stip]

I think I can safely say at this point that FoN is definitely my favorite.

Amongst the Waves has moved up in my esteem more than any other PJ song this year.

[Django Butterworth]

For me it's the intro to FoN. It's always just rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. If I can get past that, I like the chorus and bridge.

[harmless]

I'm absolutely staggered at the hatred ATW receives here.

[EJ]

I'm absolutely staggered at the hatred ATW receives here.

Take comfort in the fact that I dislike The Fixer more than ATW.

[harmless]

I'm absolutely staggered at the hatred ATW receives here.

Take comfort in the fact that I dislike The Fixer more than ATW.

Most people do... but seriously, ATW has its flaws but relatively far fewer compared to other Backspacer songs. People were locked into what this song should be before listening to it, so what it is tends to be lost on them.

[Django Butterworth]

I remember listening to the 2 short YouTube clips of that song and being blown away.

It's held up really well to me and is probably the reason I revisit that album the most.