# Backspacer -- or how to sell digital music with value in 2009



## Guest (Sep 30, 2009)

Oh. My. God.

It's an amazing album. A solid Pearl Jam effort. They're playing more with effects, which is a big deal for PJ. The lyrics are solid. Fixer and Got Some are solid Pearl Jam tracks.

But that's not the cool thing. The cool thing is all the EXTRA stuff you get (at least if you bought it off iTunes). There's a web site you can go to via the digital booklet. It's got videos. Two free concerts for downloading in MP3 format. You get to pick your favourite two from a list of 11 shows (including one Canadian date: 9/22/05 in Halifax).

THIS is how you sell music in this day and age! Kudos to Pearl Jam. They make you want to buy the whole package. The value is ridiculous.

Can you tell I'm a fan?


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

+1. Pre-ordered it from iTunes but didn't know about all the extras. Love the album. Gonna have to check out all the extra stuff. Thanks!!


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## Guest (Sep 30, 2009)

Stratin2traynor said:


> +1. Pre-ordered it from iTunes but didn't know about all the extras. Love the album. Gonna have to check out all the extra stuff. Thanks!!


I would never have known if I hadn't looked in the digital booklet! Man, always look in the booklets!


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

doh, I bought the 'hard copy' cause I have a long drive tomorrow and wanted something new to listen to. Had I known of the digital extras, definitely would have used some itunes credits.

Also bought the new Alice in Chains CD. Child of the 90's or what? Actually not, I turned 27 in 1990 but wasn't into much of the music of the 80's so that whole """grunge""" thing worked very well for me.


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

keto said:


> Also bought the new Alice in Chains CD. Child of the 90's or what? Actually not, I turned 27 in 1990 but wasn't into much of the music of the 80's so that whole """grunge""" thing worked very well for me.


Think I'm going to slip out on my lunch break to get that one. I've heard really good things about it. Maybe I'll get PJ too!


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

I love the new PJ album, and you're right Ian, they're doing a good job of provided added incentive for their fans (casual or long-time) to pick up this album. The funny thing is that they don't even have to; this album is strong enough to warrant a purchase _before_ you even consider the extras. I say atta boy to Eddie and the guys.

The new Alice in Chains album, however, is a pile of disappointing turds, as far as I'm concerned. Sounds like the same stuff that got tired by 1995.


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## twoonie2 (Jan 19, 2008)

Bought the new AIC off iTunes yesterday morning... excellent album!!


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## bagpipe (Sep 19, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> The new Alice in Chains album, however, is a pile of disappointing turds, as far as I'm concerned. Sounds like the same stuff that got tired by 1995.





twoonie2 said:


> Bought the new AIC off iTunes yesterday morning... excellent album!!


I love it - talk about polarizing viewpoints. Isn't it great that we dont all hear things the same way. :smile:


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## zjq426 (Aug 23, 2009)

maybe off the topic, but i guess the artists need to have mercy on music piracy - those who love the music will buy. Oh and youtube, isnt just a free ad for your new album?


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

zjq426 said:


> maybe off the topic, but i guess the artists need to have mercy on music piracy - those who love the music will buy. Oh and youtube, isnt just a free ad for your new album?


Oh dear. Here we go again kqoct


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

bagpipe said:


> I love it - talk about polarizing viewpoints. Isn't it great that we dont all hear things the same way. :smile:


Yup, so true. I drove 7 hours today and listened to each CD twice.

PJ - I'm a big fan tho to me their best album isn't Ten, that's about 3-4 down the list so I'm probably not typical (VS all the way!). Anyways, tho it grew on me a bit on 2nd listen, I thought there was not a single thing new or innovative or different that what any *decent* 4-5 piece straight ahead rock band could put together with a couple of months in studio. About 3 real good songs on first listen, maybe a couple more on 2nd listen. My good friend says he had to listen to it 4-5 times to really start digging it, so maybe I'm just not there yet.

AIC - Again big fan, in fact probably my favourite 90's band, up there with Nirvana + Soundgarden. The CD Dirt is in my all time all band top 5, tho I can't listen to it song by song, has to be CD end to end. And Tripod and Jerry Cantrell's Boggy Depot are both huge personal favourites.

I really like the new CD. I don't like Duval much but you don't really hear his voice distinctly on the disk except on maybe 3-4 songs. And he seems to be in a lower range than what I see on all the youtube clips I've watched of him with AIC. Otherwise, it's largely the familiar Cantrell close harmony and Duval mixed fairly low. Comparing to the PJ CD, the melodies tones textures and on and on are all more complex. And though it's certainly in a related style to previous AIC (and Jerry Cantrell) releases, I hear all kinds of new tones, progressions, ambiances, etc etc - definitely not 'same old same old'. 

They (AIC) supposedly funded the production out of their own pockets and put it out as a labour of love, makes sense to me. It's a standout.

To state the obvious, YMMV! :smile:


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2009)

keto said:


> (VS all the way!)


You're not alone there. VS is my favourite PJ album as well. But Ten is second. Then Vitalogy. 


> I thought there was not a single thing new or innovative or different that what any *decent* 4-5 piece straight ahead rock band could put together with a couple of months in studio. About 3 real good songs on first listen, maybe a couple more on 2nd listen. My good friend says he had to listen to it 4-5 times to really start digging it, so maybe I'm just not there yet.


I've only considered it in an evolution-of-Pearl-Jam way so far. And it's pushing things for Pearl Jam. They're mixing up rhythms more. Trying some syncopated stuff between drums and guitars. There's more effects on their guitars in these tracks than I've ever heard. There are still some classic PJ moves (the bridge around 1:28 in The Fixer sounds one part PJ classic bridge
and another part The Cure -- at least that 12 string going in to it is a total Cure lick).

So yea, in the evolution of Pearl Jam, it seems like a nice good step forward. They're exploiting their comfort with each other to play some hugely laid back grooves with a ton of space in them. That gap in The Fixer on the guitar riff with the sync'ed drums cannot be easy to hit that laid back and consistently.

But in the evolution of rock and roll it's not even a blip. It's just the Pearl Jam I know and love doing it a little better for one more album.

I'm going to go grab that AIC disc on iTunes now...


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## Starbuck (Jun 15, 2007)

Hey I took the jump and also purchased backspacer on iTunes! I'm listening right now and really liking it. That's unusual for me as my experience for me has been to need to listen a few times for alot of PJ to grow on me. Like some have previously noted, VS. and Vitalogy are my two favs. Unless you're a fan I find that most people fall into the "the only good album they had was Ten" Kinda hard to follow up on that kind of 1st time success. 
I think Supersonic has a Vitalogy kind of vibe and I'm diggin the B'ronYaur feeling I'm getting from Breath.  :rockon2: Happy Friday!


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Starbuck said:


> Hey I took the jump and also purchased backspacer on iTunes! I'm listening right now and really liking it. That's unusual for me as my experience for me has been to need to listen a few times for alot of PJ to grow on me. Like some have previously noted, VS. and Vitalogy are my two favs. Unless you're a fan I find that most people fall into the "the only good album they had was Ten" Kinda hard to follow up on that kind of 1st time success.
> I think Supersonic has a Vitalogy kind of vibe and I'm diggin the B'ronYaur feeling I'm getting from Breath. :rockon2: Happy Friday!


The hard thing to wrap your head around for this album, at least from a thematic, atmospheric aspect, is that it's a HAPPY album, which is a huge departure for Eddie and the boys. Even when they had outgrown the angst of 90's grunge and started to write albums like Yield and No Code, there was still a fairly bitter undercurrent to the songs. This album is like a ray of sunlight compared to their past catalogue, which is difficult for some fans to swallow, but I love it!


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> The hard thing to wrap your head around for this album, at least from a thematic, atmospheric aspect, is that it's a HAPPY album, which is a huge departure for Eddie and the boys. Even when they had outgrown the angst of 90's grunge and started to write albums like Yield and No Code, there was still a fairly bitter undercurrent to the songs. This album is like a ray of sunlight compared to their past catalogue, which is difficult for some fans to swallow, but I love it!


I think you nailed it there hollowbody. It is kind of a happy album. I read an article in Rolling Stone I think that described the album as refreshing and that Vedder and the boys didn't have to sing about GW Bush anymore! 

I'm a big fan of this album and the previous "Avocado" album. Now that I think about it, pretty much all of their albums. :bow:


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