The Tossed Salad

Just when you thought Pearl Jam was done and dusted, they came up with Backspacer. By far their most mature album till date. The album is a heady mix packed with power chords, anthems, desperation, anguish, philosophy, and a hell lot of energy. They’ve gone back to producer Brenden O’Brien who worked with them in ’98 on the album Yield.

Got Some and Fixer are the two fast tracks that really stand out. And both of them grip you for different reasons. Got Some is a classic “going to a drug dealer asking if he got some” kind of song. It just explodes onto you, while Fixer, I think is about Eddie himself.

Unknown Thought is slow and progressive. Initially it’s all Eddie and his lyrics that take the song forward and then the band comes onto the fore to deliver a song that’s about dissolving into the universe.

Amongst the Waves is a booming song and manages to uplift your spirits. Listening to this song is like floating on water. Drifting. Forevermore.

My favorite track on the album has to be Johnny Guitar. It’s a gritty song and i think is the core of the album. Lyrically I don’t think it’s better than most but it’s got a funny start and an end that’s about desperation.

Supersonic (which has a superb riff), Speed of Sound and Force of Nature are the kind of songs that you never thought Pearl Jam could ever write. The musical cohesion is previously unheard of. If you ask me are these songs of the same caliber as Pearl Jam’s previous songs? Yes, and they’re in a league of their own.

And there are the heart-breakers The End and Just Breathe. And the band manages to recapture some intimacy, just like the Into the Wild side-project, on these songs.

Overall, the album is a mix of The Stooges and The Who. But it’s not just that. There’s the lyrically convincing Eddie and he reminds you why he is still somebody to reckon with.

Pearl Jam is back, tackling a lot of issues head on and offer to solve your problems with such conviction, you believe them, especially since the band churns out the tightest and shortest tunes.

Arthur R’ordane

[ratings]

Author: Arthur R'ordane
Web: