Pearl Jam Releases Hard-Hitting Backspacer
Ninth Album is the Charm as Eddie Vedder Pumps It Up
Sep 21, 2009
Loud Fast Rules! has long been rock n roll’s rallying cry. At least, it used to be, back in the days when the quick, 3-minute song reigned supreme. While some bands spent the last two decades indulging in navel-gazing mope rock, others were embracing the ‘80s and ‘90s as the perfect time to dive headfirst into frenzied, hard-rocking emo-core with all its caustic chords, ear-splitting vocals, and anguished lyrics.
Pearl Jam, one of the progenitors of grunge rock, has outlived and outlasted similar Seattle-based bands such as Nirvana and Soundgarden by being different. Throughout its nearly 20-year career, the band has managed to sustain and maintain the loud and fast credo, while simultaneously toying with selective elements of emo, and extending its reach into socio-political rage rock.
Combining all that Pearl Jam does best, and making it sound freshly alive, is Backspacer, the band’s first major studio release since 2006’s self-titled Pearl Jam, and the first to be released on the band’s own Monkeywrench label (distributed on Universal/Island within international markets). With eleven searing tracks of new music, Pearl Jam continues to establish itself as a band that is both ahead of its time and very much of its own time.
Pearl Jam Mixes it Up
Backspacer is Pearl Jam’s ninth album to date. True to the band's name, the disc is a jam-packed assortment of quick-paced riffs and full-throttle pearls of energized rock. Clocking in at just 37 minutes, Backspacer puts the band’s love of speedy, righteous chord progressions and emotionally fueled narrative on center stage.
Tracks such as the bombastic “Got Some,” and the spiraling assault of “The Fixer,” prove that the band is more than capable of channeling the best aspects of 1970s punk while tossing a little arena rock and new wave into the mix for good measure.
Eddie Vedder Sings With Feeling
When it comes to dialing back the tempo, lead singer Eddie Vedder lets his gravelly and throaty vocals emote what basically amounts to a sonic culmination of life long experience, hard-earned perspective, and maturity of feeling. This is strikingly revealed in the contemplative and reaching tonality found in “The End” and "Just Breathe."
In effect, this disc represents the band at its most succinct and punctuated. Backspacer showcases a band that has learned what it does best and is now confident enough to allow itself the space and breadth to put it all on display.
Backspacer Succeeds
Working again with producer/engineer Brendan O’Brien (Vs, Vitalogy, Yield), Pearl Jam delivers on consistent sound and cohesive musical purpose. At times, this makes some of the tracks come off as simply too much of the same old grind. While it's true the band breaks no new ground, Pearl Jam knows enough not to mess with what works.
By churning out licks and phrases reminiscent of rock's heyday (think Rolling Stones meshed with U2, sprinkled with a bit of the Ramones), Backspacer succeeds in providing music lovers with substantial music to love and confirms why they came to love Pearl Jam in the first place.
It’s been a long, strange trip to get to where the band is today. Pearl Jam proudly wears the scars of wars waged over the years, and on Backspacer, the band is ready to triumphantly take up the arms of battle once more.
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