Pearl Jam "Backspacer"

Pearl Jam - Backspacer


When I was a kid, I wouldn't go near Foghat. Sure, "Slow Ride" was an okay tune, but I just wasn't into that whole boogie-blues thing they had going on.

Then I heard "Wide Boy" from their Girls To Chat And Boys To Bounce album, thought the cover looked cool enough, and that the guys had a new guitarist. Additionally, in an interview, Lonesome Dave mentioned that they were trying to go in a more "new wave" direction.

Normally, this would lead me to recall the Village People's ill-fated foray into "new wave" territory and make me run for the hills, but songs like "Wide Boy", "Live Now, Pay Later" and "Second Childhood" were actually cool tunes.

Much to the surprise of most of my friends, I willingly bought a Foghat album and "Wide Boy" remains one of my all-time fave tunes to date. Of course, I also bought the next two Foghat albums, hoping for more of the same, but ended up being very disappointed.

Now, you're probably wondering what any of this has to do with Pearl Jam. Well, to put it simply, Backspacer is Pearl Jam's Girls To Chat And Boys To Bounce - an album that people who don't necessarily like Pearl Jam will find themselves gravitating towards if they aren't careful.

Well, let me just give you a little background info on my relationship with Pearl Jam. I bought "Ten" when it came out based on all the glowing reviews the album had received. Plus, the "grunge" movement was all-the-rage in the rock media, so I figured I'd better take a listen.

Upon doing so, I quickly sold my copy of "Ten" back to the store where I had purchased it the previous day. The guy behind the counter couldn't believe I didn't like the album. "It sucks donkey balls," I replied.

I have since gone out of my way to avoid Pearl Jam's music, which I have found to be uniformly ham-fisted and one-dimensional. When they took on Ticketmaster, I was actually torn. As much as I loathed Ticketmaster and their bullshit fees, I couldn't quite bring myself to root for Eddie Vedder and the boys. If they won, there'd be no getting rid of them, I thought.

Despite losing that battle, Pearl Jam continued to release one hit album after another. I would listen to each new PJ song that was plugging up the airwaves and wonder what garage anyone who actually likes this crap worked at so I could tell them to cut it the fuck out the next time I was in having my oil changed.

Thankfully, the universe began to right itself following the release of Yield in 1998. It, like each PJ album that had come before it, had been produced by Brendan O'Brien and went platinum. As a result, PJ fired O'Brien when it came time to record their next album, Binaural.

It managed to only go Gold. Riot Act followed and sold even less, but still went Gold. The band parted ways with Epic and signed to Clive Davis' J Records. Their third album without O'Brien came and went with little fanfare. Sure, it went Gold, but Pearl Jam was no longer "the iconic rock band to a generation of guys who think tattoos are the gateway to landing quality chicks" they'd once been.

I, of course, was delighted. It was one thing to hear Vedder murl (it may not be a word, but it describes Vedder's vocal style, so there) his way through one aimless song after another, but another thing entirely to see him elevated to spokesman for a generation of frat boys and other assorted idiots who consider themselves "introspective".

By comparison, he made me appreciate Scott Weiland's ability at the time (however short-lived that may have been) to simply shut up and sing. Wanna hear a guy talk about how important he is? Check out PJ's recent VH1 Storytellers appearance. Yeesh. A man of few words, but, my, what self-reverential words they are.

Ah, but I digress...putting it simply, I was not a fan.

So whoever it was that thought it would be funny to send me an advance copy of Pearl Jam's new CD either didn't know my distaste for the band, or they did and they wanted to see me get all worked up over the fact that this band made another goddamned album.

The thing is, I don't know what even made me listen to the CD, but, the minute I did, I knew I was listening to a new kind of Pearl Jam and, dammit, I liked it.

Right off the bat, I noticed that there were actual songs...with melodies...and some nice differentiation of song arrangements. Heck, there were even certain influences revealing themselves that had not shown themselves on previous PJ albums. There were hints of new wave, glam, even some power pop. "Don't make me fucking like you," I muttered to the CD as it spun out one cool tune after another.

"Oh, you motherfucker," I said one song later.

Backspacer is the sound of a band having foregone the posturing that, for me, sunk many of their previous albums. I mean, Vedder is a huge Cheap Trick fan, having joined them onstage many times over the years, but this is the first album where you can actually HEAR IT.

Did I mention that Brendan O'Brien produced the new album?

So, hey, do yourself a favor and check this album out. It may just scare the crap out of you how much you end up digging it.


Pearl Jam - Johnny Guitar