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22
Sep
Pearl Jam’s ninth studio album, Backspacer, finds the band relaxing into a groove of sleek, ‘70s guitar-filled mid-tempo anthems, revved-up wanna be-punk rockers and subdued acoustic meditations (complete with strings!). But for a band about to reach their twenty-year milestone, relaxing into a groove usually means playing it safe and playing it safe usually means laziness and lack of innovation. This couldn’t be truer with Backspacer. The album feels forced, and although these are new songs, they sound like weaker versions of Pearl Jam’s most impressive moments from earlier in their career.
Pearl Jam has had so many faces over their existence. They dabbled in nearly Alice in Chains-dark grunge and big Zeppelin riffs during 1991 to 1994. They finally stopped taking themselves so seriously and created some really brilliant and organic material between 1996 and 2000. Then the band opened this millennium with the occasionally experimental and political overtone-filled Riot Act in 2002. But Pearl Jam’s last album, 2006’s self-titled, found the band trying to regain their youth again. The album, Pearl Jam, featured the band sounding as aggressive as they’ve had since 1993. But the album’s tracks didn’t offer the staying power of their older material, and now comes off as derivative.
With Backspacer, the band offers a similar mood, but without all that political, Bono-like flag waving. Now that Obama’s in office and the world is finally safe from evil, Eddie Vedder and the gang decided to lighten up and write songs just about love and stuff. Add to that a very poppy production, some parts of Backspacer’s lead single “The Fixer” recall Huey Lewis & The News, and that the record is a mere 36 minutes, on paper it sounds like a winner. But the primary problem with Backspacer is that the songs never strive to be anything more than Pearl Jam songs. The album is almost Pearl Jam-by-numbers. You get your rockers, your anthems and your ballads. Nothing about the album genuinely captures your attention or even begs to be replayed.
Opening track, “Gonna See My Friend,” is a nearly three-minute rocker featuring big chord-fueled riffs and a thumping Jeff Ament bass line reminiscent of The Who. But the lyrics are admittedly cranky (we are but victims of desire/ I’m gonna shake this day/ I wanna shake this day before I retire), and it doesn’t fit against the bright yet heavy rock backdrop. “Get Some,” the first track debuted from Backspacer months ago on the Conan O’Brien Tonight Show season premiere, sounds better in the studio, but Matt Cameron’s deep drum-driven, eerie bridge is such a blatant Pearl Jam move, it’s aggravating.
Lead single, “The Fixer,” is overtly new wave-ish, complete with hand claps and the ’80s romantic touch of a piano riff that suddenly breaks into Vedder’s up-and-down vocal bridge. While the song is different from the majority of the album, Vedder’s elementary lyrics (If something’s low/ I wanna put a little high on it/ When something’s lost/ I wanna fight to get it back again) wreck the song and any chance for a memorable and anthem-worthy hook. Vedder again rambles on and on in the wordy, “Johnny Guitar,” which tells the story Johnny Guitar and his lost love. It’s an odd and grating track filled with a seemingly off-kilter chord progression and out of place middle section powered by Stone Gossard’s funky wah-wah pedal.
There are quite a few other throwaways such as the fake heaviness of “Force of Nature” that drifts into pure boredom, and “Amongst The Waves,” which will surely be a Pearl Jam fan favorite for years to come with it’s vaguely recognizable chorus hook and lead guitarist Mike McCready’s head-to-the-sky guitar solo antics, which sound completely dated in 2009.
While most of the album doesn’t present anything fresh or exciting, Pearl Jam’s present strengths lie in their ballads. “Just Breathe” is a Vedder-lead, country-tinged reflection on losing someone close to you (Nothing you would take/ everything you gave/ Hold me till I die/ meet you on the other side), and Vedder even sings the song in a faux-Texan slur. Then there’s Backspacer’s biggest and most powerful moment in the album closer, “The End.” It’s only Vedder, a guitar, horns and strings. But the urgency is immediate, and Vedder’s vocal delivery on the track could be his most poignant since “Black.”
At this point in their career, it’s too late for Pearl Jam to pull back again. After initially taking a backseat to the fame in the early ‘90s, which arguably saved their career as a band, they are now in conquer all mode as the second biggest rock band in the world right behind U2. Add to that the fact that this once stolidly anti-corporate group can now be seen in Target commercials.
Pearl Jam could have gone the Wilco route after 2000’s vastly underrated Binaural and make only songs that the band members themselves enjoy. But instead they decided to go full steam ahead with the world’s biggest band takeover scheme and play to their audience. Unfortunately, their fan base is one pair of cargo shorts away from being Dave Matthew’s fan base. And unlike the wine Vedder tosses down his gullet at their concerts, Pearl Jam isn’t getting better with age.
- Posted by Richard Giraldi in: Albums Reviews
10 Responses to “Pearl Jam – Backspacer”
9th album? i don’t know if it feels like it should be more or less. but i haven’t heard one since vs. so i don’t know how 9 feels. all i know is that the handful of songs i’ve heard along their travels all seem to fail to have hooks. i’m personally amazed that, to my ears, the most easily dated sounding band of the grunge era are still one of the biggest. mudhoney’s catalog still sounds fresh and downright rocking to me and i even heard nevermind at work the other day and, although i think the production is ridiculous and every song is pretty much the same formula, it still sounded ok. pearl jam’s old stuff has turned into a sort of guilty pleasure karaoke for me. i’d equate it with neil diamond but i respect his songwriting too much. it sucks when your favorite band can’t even rip itself off well.
I recommend their 2000 album, Binaural, out of their entire catalogue. It’s a great album that finds the band making some really great ballads and almost lo-fi rockers. And it was the last album where Vedder’s voice doesn’t sound strained or sleepy.
video of jus breath!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhORXmgYbS4
couldn’t agree more with the analysis of pj’s career. i was a fan of everything from “no code” through “binaural” – then “riot act” came out — weak songs, but still riding the notion of “we dont care what people like, we make what sorta music we want to!”. but when the self-titled came out, i realized the band couldn’t hide any longer that fact that they really enjoyed the spotlight. they’ve come full-circle in the “alienating-the-fans” game. when they made “no code,” they scared away the frat boys that played “even flow” on their sony cd players 12 times a day. then with the self-titled album, they parted ways with the DIY-minded fans that were given the holiday fan club singles on vinyl by immediately being available for bits on MTV, interviews on Rolling Stone, etc. the target-exclusive bs puts them right there with Dave Matthews Band, Stone Temple Pilots and all the other 90s groups still looking to bank off their own names.
Hey chris, thanks for the comments. Honestly Pearl Jam needs to forget the whole grunge and punk schtick and start writing some more earthy ballads and maybe even alt-country material. After Eddie’s solo album became such a succes, an all ballad, strings drenched record would probably do well and may put them back on the right track.
Hey, this is the only review I’ve read by you, but I just have to ask, do you start off every review by looking down on the band from your high horse? “the primary problem with Backspacer is that the songs never strive to be anything more than Pearl Jam songs” – what else are they supposed to be? Typical reviewer platitude, and here’s another: Critics are just frustrated artists who never had the talent or balls to put down their own material. Do youself a favour: form a band, get out there and prove you can lay down anything even remotely approaching the quality of Backspacer, and then maybe we’ll be able to interpret your review as anything more than bitter piss in an irrelevant bucket.
Have a nice day.
Wow, the old – well why don’t you form a band and make music – response. Well played, Max Rossell. If you like the album, fine. But there are literally thousands of Backspacer reviews and not all of them are positive. Do you respond to them all like this? And by the comment I meant Pearl Jam never really strive for more on Backspacer and settle into former habits – while it works occasionally – this album just lacked the lacked freshness of their older material. And how irrelevant is it if it evokes this kind of criticism from a reader. Thanks for making my day with these witty comments and for stopping by the site!
I remember feeling this way in film school about critics that bashed my favorite movies. Eventually I realized how immature it was to take something like that personally, or to think that because I made films my opinion was somehow more worthwhile. I’m not sure this really relates to you, but your response is so cliche I would be surprised if it didn’t.
one point, max, that i’d like to make is more of an honest question: if this review mirrored your opinion of the record would you still discount it for not being written by someone in a band? should only folks in bands buy music? and should they be the only ones to discuss their feelings on the matter? if you answer yes to all of these…cool. end of argument. but, if they sound as ridiculous to you as they do to me then perhaps you can be more constructive and tell us what you like about the record. i’ve said this before here: none of us claim to be the definitive opinion obviously. and we actually welcome input from readers. so have at it.
also, read more reviews. you can answer that first question yourself. it’s kind of bogus to make sweeping generalities while admitting that you’ve only read one review by richard. and while it’s true i’ve not the talent to play music i wouldn’t say it is the primary reason i do this. the thing is, i love music. and i have opinions. also, i enjoy writing. did i mention i love music? seemed like a good fit.
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