What is Each Album's Major Flaw?: Backspacer

[Heathen]

If Lightning Bolt came out a week after Backspacer, they would both still suck.

Yup.

[Norah]

If Lightning Bolt came out a week after Backspacer, they would both still suck.

it's true

[McParadigm]

If they were releasing albums with any sort of consistency, they wouldn't sound or write the way they do now, either.

So the albums you know as Backspacer and Lightning Bolt wouldn't even exist.

[96583UP]

whoa whoa whoa

and all this time I thought the spacetime continuum was being manipulated in relation to Jeff's diarrhea..... this changes everything

[Django Butterworth]

Including Force of Nature.

Should've left it off the record.

[bodysnatcher]

the album artwork has an illustration of Tim Bierman.

that sums it up.

[PHATJ]

I posted this in another thread but it probably belongs is here:

"I think Backspacer is by far and away the worst album. There are very few redeeming qualities there. I don't even totally enjoy a single song on the album. My top two songs are amongst the waves and Johnny guitar and I think they are both C- level quality. Every other PJ album has at least a couple great songs (A level), but Backspacer just sucks across the board. "

[Wendy Carlos's Twin]

I think it's better than S/T and Lightning Bolt, but that isn't saying much. Ultimately, who cares? It's like arguing over which turd has the nicest smell.

[Yeddie Yedder]

Most of the opinions I've read are fair, if not spot on. I like Backspacer; however, every time I try to describe why I like the record…I end up using some sort of backhanded compliment. The only pJ record I listen to less is S/T. I think it just has some catching songs, but I feel like I am describing a U2 record when I try to explain myself.

[Jessica Fletcher]

the album artwork has an illustration of Tim Bierman.

that sums it up.

The artwork as a whole is pretty bad. I guess that comic guy is good at what he does, but for an album it comes off pretty cheesy. It's kind of like an extension of the DTE video, but not good.

Production and some blah tracks aside, I kinda like the album. I'm a sucker for Force of Nature, which seems to get a lot of hate. That and The End are done well.
Just Breathe sucks.

[dimejinky99]

i'll never understand amongst the waves sittin beside unthought known..theyre two sides of the same coin..maybe thats what im missing..

[twoheadedboy]

The major flaw, as others have stated, is a lack of execution of what's important, in favor of areas that aren't.

What was done well was quick and clean pop song structures, glossy production (compared to S/T's muddy, almost unmastered sound), and a tone that is positive or wistful throughout. So essentially, you have an album from a band that has completely abandoned the identity it had for the past decade (even pre-Roskilde), for better or for worse. You saw a band that fought the shackles of a repressive ticketing industry and shun an accessible sound and image by firing its glad-handing drummer and putting out "Vitalogy" and "No Code", relent on the ticketing and put out "Yield". Now history was repeating itself, with the band fresh out of its major label deal and one independent album in the can, re-aligning itself with the commercial world, this time with a different kind of master but a more encompassing approach - everything became "productized" and contrived, copying the worst traits of U2, Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Offspring, Weezer, and Green Day.

Unfortunately, while that framework was actually a sound concept, Pearl Jam's final product did not bear fruit. The rockers on this album are completely derivative - "Gonna See My Friend" is basically "Bargain". "Got Some" is a bigger Sleater Kinney rip-off than Ed thinks "Sad" is. "Unthought Known" is Pearl Jam ripping off Pearl Jam, specifically "Love Boat Captain" and "Corduroy". "Supersonic" is Pearl Jam ripping off Pearl Jam again, this time as a substandard rendition of "Mankind" (Unforgiven II?) Of course, they started this trend with "Severed Hand" being directly nicked from the groovy/jammy live versions of "Porch" they had been playing for a decade at the time, but at least that song didn't completely suck. Supersonic does.

Then you have the problem with performance quality. All of Mike's leads are mailed in - not since Weezer's Green Album have I heard such uninspired playing, leaving "Force of Nature" DOA. "Just Breathe" and "The End" are fantastic country and folk pop songs, respectively (see: live versions from 2009, Willie Nelson's cover of the former), but Ed's over-stylized vocals render the studio versions nearly unlistenable. Matt also resumes his run of playing the part of "I'm a hired gun and replaceable studio drummer" which may or may not be the fault of Brendan O'Brien, started during the 2003 tour, briefly paused during the 2006 world tour.

"The Fixer" and "Speed of Sound" are flipsides of the same coin; the songs most tied into the theme of this album. I am not a huge "Fixer" fan but to me, this is the most well-executed song here. "Speed of Sound", on the other hand, takes a great demo worthy of Into The Wild/Ukelele Songs/"Just Breathe" or "The End" treatment (as another mentioned) and wrings the originality out of it, making it sound like a more melancholy "Fixer". I put "Johnny Guitar" into the same bucket as "The Fixer", as one of the few successes of this album (though also not a favorite of mine).

Finally, you have the song that is most problematic to me - "Amongst the Waves". At first glance, one might say this is it, the shining example of classic Pearl Jam on this album (if the only one). However, when you dig deeper, you realize:

-It's Ed returning to his overused "water" lyrical palette
-Some of the worst phrases on this album, or ever really, by Ed. "What used to be a house of cards/has turned into a reservoir"? This is the same guy that wrote "I Got Shit", "Daughter", "Corduroy", hell he wrote "Betterman" at 14!
-Besides the terrible metaphors, it's filled with lazy near-rhymes as evidenced above
-Then there's "If not for love I would be drowning/I've seen it work both ways". What does that even MEAN? That he's been "drowning" both in and out of love?
-"Love ain't love until you feel it" Is this a Poison song?
-"Put away my early grave" - he already covers this lyrical ground, a fascination/paranoia with early death, in "The End", which results in making the latter sound less sincere.

This album is really where Ed jumped the shark lyrically. Consider "Unthought Known":

-I take the repeated chorus of "nothing left" to be his definitive statement pertaining to original ideas and muses! It's certainly not relevant to any other part of the song.
-"Dream the dreams of other men/you'll be no one's rival" lolwut (Pearl Jam or EV's Facebook page, can't remember which, offered this nugget up recently as a quotable quote!)
-"Dream the dreams of others/then you will be no one's rival" lolwut again!
-"A distant time, a distant place/So what ya givin'?" uhh, I don't know? I thought it was "Sow what you're given" but apparently I was wrong, which makes it more perplexing.

I had a huge emotional response to this album, but not the one Pearl Jam was going for I think - I realized their days as a relevant rock band were over (some may argue I was 3, 6, 9, or even 14 years late to the party here). I also realized that a relationship I was in was over. I was 27, thriving in a real job where I was doing important things and making good money (for the first time, really), and living closer to the place I wanted to be than since I left at age 9. I had effectively given up on my dream of a career as a musician, which I never completely got behind anyway. Shortly after the release the inevitable breakup happened, and then my mom and grandpa passed away within 10 months of each other. I also realized that the little hope I held that Obama could turn around the establishment a bit after 8 years of Bush was laughable; the damage had already be done and now we're just running out the string. So in a sense, I grew up with this album. However, like a memento from the end of a relationship that ended poorly, it just serves as a reminder to me that life, skill, relationships, and everything is fleeting, and it is folly to expect any of those things to persist; rather such persistence is the exception to the rule. Enjoy things for what they are while they last, and if that's a long time, then that's even better (just don't count on it).

[ridleybradout]

Well-written man, some really good points here.

"Got Some" is a bigger Sleater Kinney rip-off than Ed thinks "Sad" is.

Interesting take, as it's widely considered a Devo rip-off (also a big influence on S-K). Has Ed actually ever said that about Sad?

I am not a huge "Fixer" fan but to me, this is the most well-executed song here....I put "Johnny Guitar" into the same bucket as "The Fixer", as one of the few successes of this album (though also not a favorite of mine).

This.

"Love ain't love until you feel it" Is this a Poison song?

Some terrible lyrics in this song, but this one is actually 'until you give it up' (which is certainly more redeemable).

[Yeddie Yedder]

Now history was repeating itself, with the band fresh out of its major label deal and one independent album in the can, re-aligning itself with the commercial world, this time with a different kind of master but a more encompassing approach - everything became "productized" and contrived, copying the worst traits of U2, Bon Jovi, Foo Fighters, Offspring, Weezer, and Green Day.

Ouch, but I think so.

"Severed Hand" being directly nicked from the groovy/jammy live versions of "Porch" they had been playing for a decade at the time, but at least that song didn't completely suck. Supersonic does.

That was my thought the very first time I heard the song, yet I've never heard anyone else vocalize that idea. I feel that I finally have some closure. Severed Hand is probably my least favorite pJ song that seems to be very popular.

Then you have the problem with performance quality. All of Mike's leads are mailed in

Mike does seem to have these mood swings in the albums. I would like to think he only plays where he hears/feels it. In other words, he isn't mailing it in, he just doesn't think the record has a place for his rippers. No? Or he pulls back (Binaural) and then over compensates (Riot Act and to a somewhat lesser extend S/T) and then pulls back again (Backspacer). I think Mike doesn't want to be the guy who just comes in and plays pentatonic scales across the board.

Finally, you have the song that is most problematic to me - "Amongst the Waves". At first glance, one might say this is it, the shining example of classic Pearl Jam on this album (if the only one). However, when you dig deeper, you realize:

-It's Ed returning to his overused "water" lyrical palette

Overused, yes. 100%. However, this is my favorite song on the record and let it slide in. Like most artists who were troubled youths and now swim in pools of money, probably has a hard time finding things to sing about.

[twoheadedboy]

I see the "Devo" influence on the beat (Got Some), but when I hear Ed singing, it's "Dig Me Out" or something.

[Kevin Davis]

I have to press -- how does "GSMF" sound like "Bargain?"

At some point this practice of pointing out which songs are ripoffs of which other songs is a pointless rhetorical exercise -- it presumes an awareness of the artist's motives which most mere fans do not possess, and excuses assessors from having to evaluate any given song on its own terms. It's an uninteresting avenue of criticism that should be done away with.

[VinylGuy]

Its been a while since i heard this one; still i love the first 4 tracks and i dont care for just breathe but i know its a good song.

Amongst the waves and uk turned from cool songs to i dont even care about them...and the end is an eddie song; where the fuck is the band?
i hate these closing numbers were you have just ed and ab acoustic. At least is better than future days...

[epilogue]

I have to press -- how does "GSMF" sound like "Bargain?"

At some point this practice of pointing out which songs are ripoffs of which other songs is a pointless rhetorical exercise -- it presumes an awareness of the artist's motives which most mere fans do not possess, and excuses assessors from having to evaluate any given song on its own terms. It's an uninteresting avenue of criticism that should be done away with.

The Kevin Davis account is sexy and way better than Backspacer. And I quite like Backspacer.

[Norah]

I see the "Devo" influence on the beat (Got Some), but when I hear Ed singing, it's "Dig Me Out" or something.

This is all over Got Some:



That chorus!

[PHATJ]

I see the "Devo" influence on the beat (Got Some), but when I hear Ed singing, it's "Dig Me Out" or something.

This is all over Got Some:



That chorus!

it's the better version of the same song (which should be the subject of a thread (if it already isn't)).