30 September 2009

BACKSPACER


The first post-Bush era Pearl Jam sounds a lot like pre-Bush era Pearl Jam--no more pessimistic rally cries for a Gen X nation mourning the loss of liberty and sanity. The disc has been spinning non-stop, and despite a few relatively weak songs, is my favorite disc of the new century.

It's not only the fast stuff that I'm digging either. Some of the slower songs are some of Pearl Jam's best. BLACK and DAUGHTER are getting a little tired. The X plays them so much I kind of get a little burnt out on them. JUST BREATHE gets my vote for the BLACK of the new Pearl Jam. AMONGST THE WAVE could replace DISSIDENT. GOTTA SEE MY FRIEND could be the new EVENFLOW--fast aggressive steering wheel drumming song.

UNTHOUGHT KNOWN and SPEED OF SOUND are the two songs I don't think I'm supposed to like, but do. FORCE OF NATURE is my favorite. Eddie sounds... optimistic? Cheerful? Some might think it's a little too anthemic, maybe that's why I like it.

Is this middle-aged Pearl Jam? To try and compare their path with the path of other bands is silly, but I think the direction they've taken with BACKSPACER is wise and calculated, maybe like what the Beatles were going to do after GET BACK. While we never really got to see the Beatles 'get back', Pearl Jam has done a really good job of it.

Take advantage of the two live downloads, each worth at least $10 in their own right. I chose Madison Square Garden 06.25.2008 and Tweeter Center 06.28.2008. The MSG show was amazing. Wish I'd been there. Here's the setlist:

Set 1

* Release
* World Wide Suicide
* Severed Hand
* Corduroy
* All Night
* Cropduster
* Garden
* Marker In The Sand
* I'm Open
* Wishlist
* State Of Love And Trust
* Even Flow
* Who You Are
* Rats
* Given To Fly
* Do The Evolution
* Go

Encore 1

* Inside Job
* W.M.A.
* Lukin
* I Believe In Miracles
* Better Man(Save it for Later)
* Rearviewmirror

Encore 2

* No More
* Last Kiss
* Why Go
* Black Diamond
* Alive
* Yellow Ledbetter

Listening to Mansfield now. Doesn't seem to have the energy of the MSG show, maybe that's why I chose it though. Because I knew it'd be different than New York? Here's the setlist:

Set 1

* Hard To Imagine
* Why Go
* Hail, Hail
* Comatose
* Low Light
* Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
* Corduroy
* Faithfull
* Off He Goes
* Given To Fly
* Down
* I'm Open
* I Got Id
* Even Flow
* Do The Evolution
* Once
* Rearviewmirror

Encore 1

* Love Reign O'er Me
* Come Back
* Insignificance
* Black
* Better Man(Save it for Later)

Encore 2

* No More
* State Of Love And Trust
* Alive

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