album art for Backspacer, Pearl Jam's new album
so. the album finally came out. i’ve had my grubby little hands on it for a little over a week prior to official release*, and as such, i’ve had a bit more time to digest what’s available here. and at once, there’s a whole lot, and not very much. let’s talk about it.
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any discussion about Pearl Jam right now must include some discussion of politics and the nature of politics in the music. PJ, and specifically at most times Eddie Vedder, were vociferous in their opposition to the past administration (remember that guy? President Bush? seems like a while ago, eh?). much of this would find its way, in one form or another, into the music. need an example? dig up the song “Bushleaguer” from the Riot Act album.
times have changed though, and with it, so has the overall tone of Pearl Jam. immediately, it struck me that there was an overarching sense of relief, as if the band had finally quit holding its collective breath and just let go. there’s a lot to be said for what feels like a renewed exuberance in the music, possibly an exuberance i’ve never heard on a PJ album. let’s face it: part of the chorus for the current single, “The Fixer,” has Vedder singing “yeah, yeah, yeah.” it’s a beautiful little glimpse into the musical release that winds up permeating the album.
and while “The Fixer” is the big song right now (and rightfully so, as it feels like it encompasses the feel of the album), Backspacer is full of other wonderful new nuggets that suggest a newly refocused path for the band. we can all agree on this point: Ed, Stone, Mike, Jeff, and Matt are older guys now, with families and spouses and other grown up things. all the trappings of “getting older” seep into the songs, including what i feel is the band’s first full-on love song, “Just Breathe.” that track is based on of some of the instrumental stuff Vedder did for the Into The Wild soundtrack, now with lyrics and fully fleshed out with strings and harmonies. it’s an incredibly reflective, visceral, and moving piece that directly reflects the space the band fills now, a space that is filled with “aging” (i use that term loosely) fans who now have multiple shifting priorities and interests: family, spouses, etc.
but lets not get carried away. “Just Breathe” is a bit of an anomaly on Backspacer. a greater chunk of the album is focused on bringing tightly composed guitars, drums, and vocals into taut, straight-ahead rock. “Supersonic” is the faster, harder-hitting offspring of the song “Mankind” from the No Code album… ok, offspring is generous; its more like a genetically modified clone, as if they re-listened to “Mankind” and wondered how they could improve on it. Backspacer is filled with this punkish speed at times and makes for a great driving force that recalls those moments of balls to the wall rock found in Vitalogy, Vs., and Pearl Jam.
but… its short lived.
the album is a mere 36 minutes long, and that’s where my biggest disappointment lies. eleven tracks, 36 minutes. that’s it. with every listen, i feel a bit more… ehhh… i don’t wanna say cheated, because it is a great album, but it’s just so freaking short that at the end of it all, i’m simply left wanting more, more, more. which isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world, but with a truncated US tour and probably another two years until the next album, it feels like just as Backspacer is about to take off, its grounded and the album ends.
that said: its a great addition to the Pearl Jam lexicon and yet another metamorphosis for America’s greatest rock band.
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now on to a little op-ed about the album’s promotion and marketing…
i’ll admit, when i first learned of how PJ was going about marketing and selling Backspacer, i was more than a little confused, possibly turned-off. there’s a direct tie-in with Target stores…
yeah.
but, but… this is also the band’s first foray into completely self-releasing an album. no major labels, no outside money or executives pulling and/or pushing marketing, this is truly the first self-contained, self-promoted album PJ has done. i’ve seen the cries of “sell out!!” on various boards and commentaries, and after mulling it over for a while, i just have to say those cries are flat out wrong.
selling out would have been re-signing with Sony or a different major label. this is them, with total control over how they’re marketed and how their music is sold to the masses, and for the first time, i see Pearl Jam finally able to do things exactly how they want and on their own terms, and they’re going about it in all the right ways.
i downloaded my copy via iTunes, which was packaged as one of the new iTunes LP releases, and it’s really quite neat. with the iTunes download, came special access to download two full length concerts out of a possible ten choices. there are exclusive interviews with the producer, Brendan O’Brien, included with the iTunes LP. PJ is reaching out to their fans in a big way via Twitter and Facebook and making the most out of new social media and technology in ways that wouldn’t have been possible with ties to a major label. Target is a small piece (although probably the heaviest) of the marketing puzzle for this latest go’round. there isn’t an exclusive contract with the superstore (i’m looking at you, AC/DC); there was/is also an agreement to release to smaller Mom & Pop record stores in place to ensure equal access to sales.
Pearl Jam hasn’t sold out; they’re selling themselves, their music, and their product in exactly the way they want to, and if that’s not something to admire and appreciate in the music business, then i don’t know what is.
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g’night.
[* i only downloaded the album from the webz after i placed my pre-order via iTunes]
