Backspacer

Backspacer is the ninth studio album by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on September 20, 2009. Pearl Jam began work for the follow-up to its previous album, Pearl Jam (2006), in early 2008. In 2009, the band began to build on instrumental and demo tracks written during 2008. The music on the record—the shortest of the band's career—features a sound influenced by pop and New Wave. The band released the album through their vanity label Monkeywrench Records in the United States and through Universal Music Group internationally.

Recording

For its ninth album, Pearl Jam chose to go back to working with producer Brendan O'Brien. The album was the group's first album to be produced by O'Brien since the band's 1998 album, Yield. "At this point, I think we're willing to let somebody cut the songs up a little bit," says lead vocalist Eddie Vedder. "In the past, Brendan would say, 'It's a great song, but I think you should do it in a different key', and we'd say no. But now that we've heard Bruce [Springsteen] has listened to his suggestions, I think we will too." Bassist Jeff Ament said, "He brings a brutally honest approach to what he thinks is working and what isn't, and it really moves things along... We don't get weighted down with ideas that maybe aren't even that good. He's one of the few people outside of the band that we trust with our music, and we're really, really looking forward to making this record."

In 2007, after Pearl Jam's 2006 tour had ended, the band members began recording demo material on their own while staying in occasional contact via e-mail. Guitarist Mike McCready revealed at the time that he had tested out some ideas with guitarist Stone Gossard and drummer Matt Cameron in separate sessions as well. Rolling Stone reported in May 2008 that Pearl Jam was in the early stages of working on its ninth studio album and had already had one session with O'Brien. McCready stated in 2008 that the album is "really in its infant stages right now" and that the band had "about five ideas that have been worked on." After laying down some instrumental beds in 2008, additional demos were put to tape in December, and Ament, Cameron, Gossard, and McCready came up with another array of material during a trip to Ament's home in Montana. Ament said, "It's the first time since the first record that we've really rehearsed... instead of just going to the studio with a handful of ideas."

Vedder proceeded to put rough vocals on about half of the material formulated in the December session, and also brought in his own material for the band members to work on. In February 2009, Pearl Jam went for a two-week session at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California with O'Brien. It was the first time the band spent a considerable amount of time recording outside of Seattle, Washington since the band's 1996 album, No Code. McCready said, "[When] we got together with Ed and it really started getting more cohesive, we took that momentum down to Los Angeles with Brendan... It was a great idea to get us out of Seattle. You've gotta get out [of] your comfort zone, and we've talked about doing that for the past ten years and kind of haven't, so we trusted Brendan's judgment." In April 2009, the band went for a two-week session to finish the album with O'Brien at his mixing facility at Southern Tracks in Atlanta, Georgia.

Music and lyrics

McCready said, "I'd sum it up as kind of a tight, concise, rock 'n' roll record with kind of pop or maybe new wave elements to it... It's a really quick record, but I like that element to it. I like the sparseness of the songs and the way that Brendan pulled us together and made us play as good as we could." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that "prior to Backspacer, Pearl Jam wouldn't or couldn't have made music this unfettered, unapologetically assured, casual, and, yes, fun." Vedder stated, "The new record feels good so far—really strong and uptempo, stuff we can sink our teeth into." Gossard said, "There's plenty of ballads, too... And there's some shifts in how Jeff and Matt and I are all relating—I think this record's got a chance to sound significantly different." Ament said, "There's a couple of great things that Ed brought in that could be real departures for us. Whatever wave Ed caught with [his soundtrack for] Into the Wild has taken him to different places."

Lyrically, Backspacer displays a more positive outlook than the band's last few albums. Vedder credited the election of President Barack Obama as inspiration for the optimistic lyrics. Regarding the lyrics, Vedder said, "I've tried, over the years, to be hopeful in the lyrics, and I think that's going to be easier now." Gossard stated, "We've made a couple of political and pointed records, the last two in particular, and just to move away from that is great, because it allows you to go back to that when you need to and it refreshes everybody, and it comes down to a beat and a melody and your friends and a lyric and a poem and something that's important to you." Backspacer is the first Pearl Jam album to feature lyrics exclusively written by Vedder since the band's 1994 album, Vitalogy.

Vedder called "Gonna See My Friend" a "drug song," but elaborated that the song is about going to see a friend to stay off drugs, and he stated that "Got Some" is about a "drug dealer," but added that the drug the dealer is selling is actually a great rock song. Vedder was inspired to write the lyrics for "Johnny Guitar" after viewing a collage of album covers that is pasted on the bathroom wall of the band's rehearsal space. He noticed the album cover for Johnny "Guitar" Watson's 1979 album, What the Hell Is This?, and imagined a man who becomes attracted to one of the various women on the cover and then wonders why this woman would rather be one of Watson's many girlfriends instead of his only one. Vedder described "Just Breathe" as "as close to a love song as we've ever gotten," and said that the subject of the song is the happiest times of people's lives when they should just take in the moment and "breathe for a minute." He also said that "Unthought Known" concerns the human psyche, and "Supersonic" is about the love for music. According to Vedder, "Speed of Sound" is a song taken from the perspective of a man who is still sitting in a bar after everyone else has left, but he added that even though the song is sad it became more "confident" when played with the whole band. He said "Force of Nature" is "about the strength of one person in the relationship, when they can withstand some of the faults in another." "The End" has been described as an "aching love song."

Release and reception

Pearl Jam did not re-sign its record deal with J Records, and the band released the album through its own label Monkeywrench Records in the United States and through Universal Music Group internationally. Pearl Jam reached a deal with Target to be the exclusive big-box store retailer for the album in the United States. The album also saw release through the band's official website, independent record stores, online retailers, and iTunes. Those who purchase the Compact Disc or iTunes version of the album can access a "virtual 'vault'" which features eleven concerts that span from 2005–2008, of which up to two can be chosen to download for free. Tying in with the release of the album, the entire album has been made available as downloadable content for the Rock Band series of video games. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 189,000 copies sold in its first week of release. It is the first Pearl Jam album to reach number one in the United States since No Code debuted at number one in 1996.

Backspacer received mainly positive reviews from music critics, and is the band's best reviewed studio album of the 2000s according to Metacritic, where it holds an 80 after 22 reviews. Allmusic staff writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album four and a half out of five stars, saying that "it sounds as if they enjoy being in a band, intoxicated by the noise they make." Alec Rieger of Blender gave the album four and a half out of five stars. He said, "Backspacer bristles with the energy and creativity of a band that still has something to prove, much to say, and the expertise to do both." Rolling Stone staff writer Rob Sheffield gave Backspacer four out of five stars, saying that it contains "the shortest, tightest, punkiest tunes they've ever banged out," and that "Eddie Vedder's heart-on-fire vocals are the main attraction, as always." He added, "After toughing out the Bush years, Pearl Jam aren't in the mood for brooding; at long last, surf's up." Dave Simpson of The Guardian also gave the album four out of five stars. In the review he stated that "the Seattle quartet have rarely sounded this energised." Simpson observed that "this is a record made by mature men with perspective: full of reflection and eclecticism, finding space for both U2 guitar motifs and Buzzcocks solos." He added that "the ninth Pearl Jam album may even be the best of the lot." Los Angeles Times writer Ann Powers gave Backspacer four out of four stars and called its music "Accessible without sacrificing sophistication, aggressive without flailing". Evan Sawdey of PopMatters gave the album a rating of 7/10 and wrote that Pearl Jam "have finally re-discovered who they are, and sound stronger than ever because of it".

Paul Brannigan of Q gave the album four out of five stars. He said that the album is "largely characterised by joyous new wave-influenced rock'n'roll, and for the first time in their 19-year career, Pearl Jam actually sound – whisper it – fun. No, honestly." Josh Modell of Spin gave the album four out of five stars. He said, "For the first time in years, Pearl Jam are seizing the moment rather than wallowing in it." Time reviewer Josh Tyrangiel said, "The songs here are built on hooks, covered with guitar fuzz, and then trimmed back a bit so the melody abides." Tyrangiel added, "Nothing revolutionary, but Backspacer provides an adrenaline jolt that shouldn't be underestimated either." Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B, saying that Backspacer is "the sort of sweaty rock & roll that belongs in a bar with cracked-leather booths and $2 beers," and that it "grows same-y, but tracks like the surfing-as-life-metaphor anthem 'Amongst the Waves' do indeed make something old feel, if not new, good again." The New York Times said that "Pearl Jam... [refuses] — mostly — to equate maturity with slowing down," but added, "Pearl Jam's quandary is that with fewer outside targets or frustrations to rail against, it risks turning sanctimonious... Pearl Jam's music doesn't align well with satisfaction." Joshua Love of Pitchfork Media said that the album "seems to suggest in its tossed-off 37 minutes that Pearl Jam have no greater concern and regard for what they do than the rest of the world can muster," and he added that "with the spotlights long since extinguished, Pearl Jam seem content to do things by the book."

The lead single "The Fixer" (backed with B-side "Supersonic", also from the album), was made available through the band's official website. "The Fixer" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 56 and has reached number three on the Alternative Rock Tracks charts. A music video was made for "The Fixer". Footage from the video, directed by Cameron Crowe, was used for a commercial for Target advertising Backspacer which features "The Fixer".

Packaging

The artwork for the album was handled by editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins, who goes by the pen name Tom Tomorrow. Perkins spent six months working on the artwork. In 2009, Village Voice Media, publishers of 16 alternative weeklies, suspended all syndicated cartoons across their entire chain. Perkins lost twelve client papers in cities including Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City and Seattle, prompting his friend Vedder to post an open letter on the Pearl Jam website in support of the cartoonist. Perkins referred to the artwork as "dreams and memories," while Gossard referred to the artwork as a "bizarro otherworldy dreamscape." The album's cover art features nine images created by Perkins, and was revealed through a contest on the band's official website. The nine images were hidden on various websites, and the contest asked internet users to search for the websites containing the images, whereby the images would be placed on a grid on the Pearl Jam website after clicking on them. After finding all of the images, users were rewarded with a demo version of the song "Speed of Sound".

The album title Backspacer is a tribute to a typewriter key that went out of use in the 1950s. Vedder is known to use typewriters when writing lyrics and letters. Vedder said, "Backspacer [means] actually you kind of have to go back and look at your mistake." Gossard said, "There's some retrospective moods on this record, where Ed is looking at both his past and his future." The album title Backspacer was also used for the name of a leatherback turtle that was sponsored by Pearl Jam for Conservation International and National Geographic's Great Turtle Race.

Tour

Pearl Jam will be promoting the album with tours in North America and Oceania in 2009. On October 4, 2009, Pearl Jam headlined the Austin City Limits Music Festival. The Austin City Limits appearance took place amidst the fourteen-date North American leg of the tour. An additional leg consisting of a tour of Oceania will take place afterward. Tour dates for 2010 are still in the planning stages.

Track listing

Canadian iTunes bonus track

Personnel

Pearl Jam
Jeff Ament – P bass guitar, layout design
Matt Cameron – drums, percussion
Stone Gossard – guitar
Mike McCready – guitar
Eddie Vedder – guitar, vocals, layout design; credited as "Jerome Turner" for album concept

Additional musicians
Bruce Andrus – horn
Justin Bruns – violin
Richard Deane – horn
Danny Laufer – cello
Cathy Lynn – viola
Brendan O'Brien - backing vocals
Christopher Pulgram – violin
Susan Welty – horn

Production
Billy Bowers, John Burton, Tom Tapley – additional engineering
Nick DiDia – recording
Andy Fischer – layout design
Eddie Horst – string and horn arrangements
Patti Horst – copyist and contractor
Neil Hundt – drum technician
Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering – mastering
Steve Morrison, Tom Syrowski – assistance
Brendan O'Brien – production, mixing
Jackie O'Brien, Mala Sharma – production coordination
Tom Tomorrow – album concept, album art, layout design
George Webb – guitar technician

Chart positions

Album

Singles

Translation

The word "Backspacer" occurs as such in the following languages: English, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Finnish, Swedish.

Translation(s) in other languages: Polish: Backspacer (album), Thai: แบ็กสเปเซอร์.