Tuning in for our long overdue Backspacer review? Well, you won’t be surprised. You know I like it. You know I love it.
But I’m actually surprised how much I like it, especially after the red flags that the record clocks in at a scant 36 minutes, the song titles that didn’t even seem like Pearl Jam titles (Johnny Guitar?), or the red flags that it’s the closest approximation to Pearl-Jam-pop since, well, ever. Since I’m disposed to the anthems and swirling epic songs prone to 11-minute concert jams, I considered myself warned.
After a few listens, however, it’s great. Gonna See My Friend, Get Some, and The Fixer quickly rip right off the top – and each is as catchy as Brain of J, as furious as Save You, and as melodic as Last Exit or Breakerfall. I even thought I’d hate The Fixer based on ESPN’s overuse of the track … but I like it a lot.
I don’t think Backspacer is better than Avocado, it reminds me mostly of Yield and some of the leftover songs from Binaural or Riot Act that never made the record. (Sad, All Night, Down, etc.) Some funk, some pop, some thrash all mesh together within a few minutes. In the middle, Just Breathe startles – it’s close to country, for crying out loud, and it recalls Into the Wild. At the end, (uh) The End also recalls Vedder’s solo disc, Sometimes, or Around the Bend.
I can’t fully explain it, but I have figured out the best way to describe it. Pearl Jam’s previous albums have often evoked influences from The Who to Led Zeppelin to Jane’s Addiction to The Clash to Mudhoney to The Dead Boys to Neil Young to Sonic Youth, often paying tribute to pieces of the 1970s in particular.
With Backspacer, Pearl Jam has finally done the unthinkable – they’ve made a KISS record. And just like KISS, it’s surprisingly – perhaps impossibly – great.
Songs rocking so hard, so tight, and so crisp, you’d swear they belonged on your mainstream FM station. On Sirius’ Boneyard. Playing over the speakers at your corner liquor store.
Hooks so compelling and friendly, you remember them the second you hear ‘em. Johnny Guitar even sounds like I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night. Gonna See My Friend and Get Some are easily as catchy and hard as Detroit Rock City and Love Gun. Song titles simple, and lyrics so clear that you could have written them. (you think.) And ballads so delightfully change-of-pace that you can’t resist returning. (Beth? Just Breathe? Anyone?) Somewhere, Chuck Klosterman nods knowingly.
But honestly, if Ten is Led Zeppelin and Vs. is The Who, and Vitalogy is Crazy Horse and No Code is The Beatles and Yield is Sticky Fingers, and Riot Act is The Clash, well, then it’s quite appropriate to include KISS in the evolution.
It’s Pearl Jam’s poppiest record. And they dare you to hate it. Just like KISS, everything screams ridiculous, stupid, and forgettable. Just like KISS, you can’t shut the fucking thing off.
Got some if you need it.
You may be mistaken about one thing–in my experience, KISS is quite easy to shut off.
They’ve been playing more and more song live in a different key. They never did this before. Especially surprising is that they’re doing it to a couple of their newer songs, like Got some and Life Wasted. Don’t go Bono on us if you don’t have to just yet, I say.