Pearl Jam's Backspacer: A Review (Part 1)

Backspacer, Pearl Jam's ninth studio album arrived in stores nine days ago, and in my mailbox two days prior, thanks to the Ten Club. The album has been reviewed by anyone and everyone and mine is likely one of the last reviews of the LP to pop up. I apologize for the delay, but I knew I had to experience this album fully and in as many ways as possible before I would be qualified to offer a fair portrayal of the disc. I excitedly opened my packaging two Fridays ago and immediately imported the CD onto my computer, then listened with the volume extremely loud, following along with the lyrics as I went. I have since listened to the album on repeat, fully absorbing its intricacies and layers while simultaneously attempting to not wear the damn thing out. I have listened to it in my room, in the bathroom while showering, in my car, during the day, at night, in order, on shuffle, through speakers, with headphones, in good moods and bad. And hey, it is a pretty good album.

Of course, as a biased Pearl Jam fan, that last sentence is a major understatement. I have not been this exhilarated about a new release since, well, Pearl Jam's last album, 2006's self-titled LP, and the boys did not disappoint. Modeled after the mid-60's rock album approach, copied by many hard rock and punk bands in the 70's, then new wave and indie rock bands in the 80's, Backspacer contains only 11 tracks and is a concise but rousing 36 minutes and 33 seconds in length, its most popular recent cousin being R.E.M.'s 2008 release, the 34 minutes and 36 second, 11 track Accelerate, a return to form for one of the seminal bands of the past quarter century. These kinds of albums are hard to come by in the era of bloated rap LPs, stale modern rock bands that believe their songs have to be at least five minutes and repeat the chorus 25 times and lots of electronic-based music. Long albums are the way these days, which is funny considering how dominant the single has been since the dawn of digital downloading at the end of the 20th century. The only groups that effectively carry extended albums are progressive bands such as Tool that design their music like classical composers, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose Stadium Arcadium was way too long, but it did not matter due to the ridiculously high quality of the songwriting. In a way, Backspacer is probably Pearl Jam's most ironic album, in that its music and lyrics may be more direct and straightforward than any of its previous LPs, but it aesthetically resembles indie rock more than any of its releases as well, designed to get to the point quickly and get the hell back out.

PJ has a long history of jumping on its audiences with a battering opening number on its LPs, the sole exceptions being "Sometimes" from the band's biggest musical departure, 1996's No Code and "Can't Keep," from 2002's Riot Act. "Gonna See My Friend" tears through the gates as Backspacer begins, roaring to life with a riff stolen straight from Steve Jones and the Sex Pistols. The Eddie Vedder composition opens up in many more directions after that immediate lift-off, however, offering Cameron a chance to shine on the drums with fierce power and some of the greatest fills he has ever performed. Besides the Sex Pistols, "Gonna See My Friend" calls to mind other punk bands like X and the classic rock surge of The Who. Without Vedder's high-pitched singing and screaming and exciting vocal melody, the tune would probably come across as a much more stale piece of work. But vocals and lyrics carry the song upward, infusing it with life and power, particularly in the middle eight, in which Vedder states the thesis of the song: "Wanna leave it all, wanna give it up/Wanna see it gone once and for all/Wanna feel withdrawal, want an overhaul/Wanna be there, hard as a statue, black as a tattoo, never to wash away!" His voice sounds spectacular right off the bat and throughout the song, Ed still hitting high notes with fervor and bringing the listener along for the ride. When he comes out of the last verse into the final chorus, he drops the scream and all that is left the low harmony of the refrain, a sinister yet melodic two lines that provide added force once Vedder's scream comes back in before the original riff reappears, giving the song its coda and in two minutes and 48 seconds demonstrating that the boys have not lost it at all.

When NBC announced that Pearl Jam would be the musical guest on Conan O'Brien's debut appearance on the Tonight Show, plenty of us got amped, knowing the band was working on a new album and would almost definitely premiere some of their latest material. The sound was shaky, however, and while their performance of "Got Some" was fun and interesting, it failed to truly demonstrate the power of this earth-shattering song. Many Pearl Jam songs have grown on me over the years, but never have any of them done so with as much quickness or ferocity as "Got Some." Another showcase for Matt Cameron's skilled drumming as well as proficient little mini-riffs by Mike McCready, this Jeff Ament composition is an up-tempo rocker in the tradition of "Save You," but manages to bring something new to the table, mainly in the form of the start-and-stop guitar riff and Eddie Vedder's brilliant rising and falling background vocals, hidden in the mix and much more apparent when wearing headphones. Jeff Ament plays a straightforward, incessant bassline that steers the song, along with Cameron's drum work. While neither Mike McCready or Stone Gossard plays a solo here, do not count out the power of their guitar playing, as it remains innovative and hook-laden, particularly during the song's final breakdown. As the track's coda nears, McCready's guitar sounds like the jet engine firing up the machine that is moving "Got Some" forward, Vedder's screams once again fearless, loud and here, pretty fun, too.

"It's too poppy." "The lyrics are too by-the-numbers." "The piano and 'yeah-yeah-yeah-yeah' chorus are too cheesy." Anybody else tired of these complaints? "The Fixer" is elegant hard rock done Pearl Jam style, a pop/rock song played through the lens of Matt Cameron's tilted songwriting, Eddie Vedder's oddly fitting vocal stylings and Brendan O'Brien's shimmering production touches. Anyone whining about the piano is deaf as far as this writer is concerned, as the touch is simply perfect on the song, instilling the tune with a new wave feel but simultaneously outshining all the polished modern pop on the radio. And yet, the guitars are still thick, distorted and heavy, and Eddie is not really doing anything conventional here. He is himself and is not pushing himself beyond any boundaries, but his delivery nonetheless defies pop music, too beaten, too cracked and too vulnerable (a feature that will dominate a hand full of the rest of the tracks on the album). But while most of the band's work over the past ten years has been full of doubt, regret and despair, "The Fixer" is a shining example of the hope alive at the end of this rough decade. "I'll say your prayers, I'll take your side/I'll find us a way to make light/I'll dig your grave, we'll dance and sing/What say, could be one last lifetime," Vedder sings over the middle eight, an uplifting yet slightly skewed message with a hint of irony and self-parody. In the context of the song, however, it sounds like nothing but hope, a victory speech from the band's leader. "The Fixer" indeed.

Pearl Jam has never written anything quite like "Johnny Guitar." While the band has repeatedly demonstrated a punk influence, the punk has never been quite this raunchy. While Vedder has long been a master storyteller in his lyrics, he has never told a story like this. And while the group has veered in strange directions to find a sound for its bridges, middle eights and song breaks, none of those breaks have sounded as simultaneously funky and pretty as this song's. The tune is built out of basic power chords played in a chunky fashion, but sounds almost wrong in its own way. The rumbling rhythm section of Jeff Ament and Matt Cameron give the tune a heavy Motown-styled R&B feel and the wah-wah effects on the guitars deliver the funk. Vedder spits out a rapid-fire tale of a lonesome soul longing for "the girl in red" who is instead wrapped up in "Johnny Guitar," a man who, "be having lots of women." Eddie has fought for the underdog throughout his career, but this type of battle is certainly distant from his forte. Vedder brings it, however, on one hand empathizing with lost souls such as the one in question, on the other winking at us in tongue-in-cheek fashion, fully acknowledging that mostly, he is just having fun writing and singing a song like this. The middle eight is the greatest moment in the song's two minutes and 51 seconds, and I just wish it could have lasted longer. "After a funky new chord progression for the guitars, Eddie sings, "And I sleep with the light on, in case she comes," then repeats, "And I sleep with the light on, in case sheeeee..." leading into the third verse. While Vedder's vocal is doubled and sounds pretty, it is Jeff Ament's bass during this section that sticks out, a simple but striking line that somehow combines all the basic elements of the song: funk, R&B, rock, punk, longing, empathy, tenderness and hope.

While "Johnny Guitar" is unique in its own way, it completes the top of the Backspacer batting order in fitting fashion, another guitar-heavy rock song that has some odd edges and detours, but is mainly straightforward. The album is not striving to do anything except aim for some hard rocking, fun and catchy songwriting, and the first four tracks serve as a reminder of how this band can balance the simple and the effective, the raw and refined, the gritty and pretty. After "Johnny Guitar," they demonstrate how much they can alter their sound and cover new ground, as the record completely opens up in a new way. Tomorrow we will delve into the heart of the album, a trio of songs that lift the LP off its feet and fly it into another dimension. See you then.