Backspacer: Official Album Thread

[Fuzzcharger]

I put this on again today. Ed's voice sounds like he has a bit of a cold. This album is growing on me a little but it's still only a 5 or 6 out of 10 album.

Good
Amongst the Waves
Just Breathe

Okay
Unthought Known
Gonna See my Friend
Got Some
The End
Johnny Guitar
The Fixer

No good
Speed of Sound
Supersonic
Force of Nature

[its_not_1974]

I actually like the Speed Of Sound demo......why they decided to make the studio version sound cheesy as hell I'll never know.

I feel like Brendan O'Brien just had an egotistical wank fest over that entire song.

I agree, in reality he should have been the one to keep it reigned in.

[bodysnatcher]

This is probably a stretch, but was listening to NIN The Fragile just now, and it struck me how "The Great Below" seems (to me) so similar to "Force of Nature" in terms of imagery and theme.

Just found it interesting to see how a topic so similar can be expounded so differently.

The Great Below

Staring at the sea
Will she come?
Is there hope for me
After all is said and done?

Anything at any price
All of this for you
All the spoils of a wasted life
All of this for you

All the world has closed her eyes
Tired faith all worn and thin
For all we could have done
And all that could have been

Ocean pulls me close
And whispers in my ear
The destiny I've chose
All becoming clear

The currents have their say
The time is drawing near
Washes me away
Makes me disappear

And I descend from grace
In arms of undertow
I will take my place
In the great below

I can still feel you
Even so far away

[Jorge]

The sea is commonly used as a metaphor for loneliness, nostalgia and romantic longing. See "I Cover the Waterfront":

Away from the city that hurts and knocks,
I'm standing alone by the desolate docks,
in the still and the chill of the night
I see the horizon, the great unknown,
my heart has an ache, it's as heavy as stone
With the dawn coming on, make it last

I cover the waterfront, I'm watching the sea
Will the one I love be coming back to me?
I cover the waterfront in search of my love
And I'm covered by a starlit sky above

[WtOB?]

Eddie sounds like he has a cold on this whole record.

[nightmareblack0206]

Mediocre PJ album. It almost feels like they wrote this entire album in 3 days. Not one track on this album is memorable and/or powerful. NOT ONE

[VinylGuy]

Listened again for the first time in a long time, maybe a year...and i liked it very much.
Its a really uplifting record, the mood through the whole album is positive...GSMF is a great start and gotta say the first tracks are strong...great work from Jeff and Matt.

its true that some songs could have been better, maybe heavier...ATW specially...but overall i really like this album.

[stip]

GSMF is one of my favorite PJ openers period. There's so much life in that song.

[Heathen]

Bacteria

[VinylGuy]

GSMF is one of my favorite PJ openers period. There's so much life in that song.

yeah, its really uplifting, and even if the song theme is about an adict the main goal for the guy is get the fuck off a bad moment.

Special kudos to Matt. His amazing there.

[mastaflatch]

GSMF is one of my favorite PJ openers period. There's so much life in that song.

yeah, its really uplifting, and even if the song theme is about an adict the main goal for the guy is get the fuck off a bad moment.

Special kudos to Matt. His amazing there.

right now, it's probably my favorite song off Backspacer and it suffers from the Backspacer plague: keeping everything short and not letting the band follow its collective instinct. this one works though - i always picture a 45rpm spinning when it plays. nice Who feel too from Ament and Cameron.

[stip]

matt and jeff are very strong on this whole album. The vocal melodies are also top notch throughout, for the most part.

[VinylGuy]

matt and jeff are very strong on this whole album. The vocal melodies are also top notch throughout, for the most part.

Yeah, they are also strong on Avocado too...i love how Jeff sounds in this one, specially in songs like Got Some or The Fixer...really groovy.

[Birds in Hell]

Gonna See My Friend is the only song on Backspacer I enjoy a lot, but it's crying out for rawer production. The guitars sound so tame and piecemeal; like most of the record, it doesn't sound like an organic performance (and I think that approach works best for these guys.)

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

matt and jeff are very strong on this whole album. The vocal melodies are also top notch throughout, for the most part.

I do love the vocal melodies, ed did great even though his voice isn't great

[mastaflatch]

funny thing, guys, is that i think that The Fixer is a lot better than i thought.

[Dr. Van Nostrand]

funny thing, guys, is that i think that The Fixer is a lot better than i thought.

I don't know why it gets a bad rap, its good

[VinylGuy]

funny thing, guys, is that i think that The Fixer is a lot better than i thought.

I don't know why it gets a bad rap, its good

i love The Fixer. I think most of PJ fans are pretty uptight.

[mastaflatch]

funny thing, guys, is that i think that The Fixer is a lot better than i thought.

I don't know why it gets a bad rap, its good

i love The Fixer. I think most of PJ fans are pretty uptight.

i know why i had a bad reaction to it initailly; the 80s overtones, the easy ''yeah yeah yeah'''s and, in fact, jsut the way it sounds atypical to PJ's way of building songs but now i take it as a successful experiment in the pop-rock area. making a whole album with that goal in mind is another thing though. this is why Backspacer mostly sucks.

[WtOB?]

I watched the Got Some performance on Conan's Tonight Show today. Boy was Ed sick that day.