Backspacer
| Pearl Jam
Backspacer
Backspacer is the ninth studio album by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released on September 20, 2009. The band members started writing instrumental and demo tracks in 2007, and got together in 2008 to work on an album. It was recorded from February through April 2009 with producer Brendan O'Brien, who'd worked on every Pearl Jam album except their 1991 debut Ten and 2006's self-titled record—although this was his first production credit since 1998's Yield. Material was recorded in Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California and O'Brien's own Southern Tracks Recording in Atlanta, Georgia. The album—the shortest of the band's career—features lyrics with a more optimistic look than the politically infused predecessors Riot Act and Pearl Jam, something frontman Eddie Vedder attributed to the election of Barack Obama. -Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Former "biggest band on the planet" continues its yeoman's work, making anonymously dependable riff-rock for those who want that sort of thing.
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Sputnik Music
While Backspacer isn't necessarily different from Pearl Jam in composition, the record is far more focused than anything the band has released in a long time.
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COS
Backspacer stands as an important footnote for a band whose initial genre has long since decomposed. They’re a rock ‘n’ roll band who loves what they’re doing, and as long as they’re smiling, so are we… and possibly chanting a few “Yeah, yeah, yeah”s, too.
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The Guardian
Backspacer is full of such curveballs: the ninth Pearl Jam album may even be the best of the lot.
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MusicOMH
When Pearl Jam shocked the world with Ten and Vs, there would have been few that believed the band were capable of an album such as Backspacer – an ostensibly traditional rock album that, at times, feels contented and at others strays close to emotional equity.
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All Music
Backspacer is a party record for Pearl Jam -- a party that might consist of nothing but philosophical debates till the wee hours, but a party nonetheless -- and if 18 years is a long, long wait for a band to finally throw a party, it's also true that, prior to Backspacer, Pearl Jam wouldn't or couldn't have made music this unfettered, unapologetically assured, casual, and, yes, fun.
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IGN
It's an unbelievably tight record that will likely leave most Pearl Jam fans wanting more. Whether they'll return to brooding, or keep it upbeat on the next album remains to be seen. For now, we're digging the sunny vibe.
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The Rider Online
But even when the vocals become too hard to swallow, the music always shines as the album’s silver lining, melding Pearl Jam’s most fun album ever.
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Them's Fightin' Words
It’s a solid album and fans will love it instantly, but I suspect a lot of people might find Backspacer boring on the first few listens, but give it time, it’s a solid album and like all Pearl Jam albums, you’ll catch a track from Backspacer in years to come that will play like an old friend in your head and you’ll be thankful in that moment for bands like Pearl Jam who stick to their guns and do so with style and undeniable charm.
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Ezine Articles
Regardless of length, this album fully delivers.
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Cluas
If you want the smooth waves of the surf, some rocking little riffs and more fine songwriting from Eddie Vedder, then Backspacer is for you. Die-hard fans like myself ought not to be disappointed.
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Creative Loafing
Compared to prior work, Backspacer is lighter and poppier – not a stance that suits the band.
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Stuff
Backspacer is packed with full forward rock songs showcasing the band's new-found sense of freedom. Best of all, there's none of the angsty intensity that plagued overly serious mid-career albums like 2000's Binaural and 2002's Riot Act.
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ZME Music
it’s a great album; a return to a form they never lost in the first place.
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Snob's Music
In the end though, the fact that Pearl Jam rediscover the hook for songs like "Johnny Guitar" and blistering rock with "Supersonic", there is enough positive material to think this may be the start of a turnaround for the wayward Grungers.
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The Seattle Times
The lightness and dexterity of the playing throughout “Backspacer,” and of Vedder’s hard-driving, often playful vocals, come from Pearl Jam’s members taking this music seriously, honing in and nailing it.
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PopMatters
even when Backspacer missteps, it never feels like it's going to fall: it will just restudy itself and then crank the guitars back up to 11 all over again.
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Beats Per Minute
The album will exceed the expectations of a lot of cynics, but it doesn’t come anywhere close to the band’s early ’90s zenith.
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Rush on Rock
This is not the Pearl Jam record we were expecting but on reflection it’s blown us away. If variety is the spice of life then Vedder and his buddies must be in one cool place right now. And of course their best work just sounds so much better on a solid piece of vinyl.
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Live4ever
Backspacer may not be the album people were expecting from Pearl Jam and it may take a few listens to fully absorb, but it nevertheless delivers the goods. The band has succeeded in updating its sound and seems to have focused on the craftsmanship aspect of the music. The songs are tight, the hooks are catchy, and the mood is optimistic.
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BBC
Backspacer is neither the perfect pop record, nor the perfect Pearl Jam album; its biggest problem is that, shorn of the intensity of yore, the slow songs tend not to hit home that hard. But for the most part pedal is put firmly and thrillingly to metal, and it’s truly great to hear these troubled souls finally having such a blast.
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Alternative Addiction
Backspacer as one of Pearl Jam's most solid - and certainly most focused and concise - albums.
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The Music Box
With Backspacer, Pearl Jam has been liberated from its past. Consequently, when Vedder sings in The Fixer about wanting to find what has been lost and about rediscovering his excitement, he very well might be talking about the fate of his band. Better still, the stubborn determination he demonstrates throughout Backspacer is more convincing than ever.
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Paste
Most of their new album’s first half alternates between gritty guitar-led jams and able pop-rock, and in these moments, Backspacer truly succeeds
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Spin
The band hasn’t put together a trifecta this energized and from-the-gut in a decade, and though the rest of Backspacer doesn’t match that opening salvo, it has a terrific time trying.
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Pearl Jam
The whole album sounds very fresh and alive. This one doesn’t leave me thinking the end is near, they’re out of ideas, or they’re just going through the motions.
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Natasha Babulova
While these songs don't sound like anything revolutionary of any kind, they blend a vintage Pearl Jam sound with some good old fashioned rock 'n roll elements, and it genuinely sounds like the band is having more fun than they've ever had.
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Keep in Touch
And it ends, abruptly, like a life; but it goes on in your mind, leaving you wanting more, like the spirit never ending.
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Pancakes and Wine
I’ve waited a long time for this. New Pearl Jam!! MMMMMM….Good! But, should I just continue to gush here about how much I love it or should I at least attempt to be objective and unbiased? Yeah, I’m gonna gush about it….
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Mister Hands
Pearl Jam are getting their groove back with Backspacer- it's pulsing with nervy energy; it's tight, concise and to the point, saying everything it needs to say in a short 36 minutes.
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