[2009-09-22] Pearl Jam "Backspacer"

Linda · **Posted:** Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:30 pm

http://www.nme.com/news/pearl-jam/42607

Pearl Jam to self-release new album

Feb 7, 2009

Pearl Jam are "close to hitting the studio" to record their ninth studio album, according to Rolling Stone.

The grunge veterans plan to self-release the album without a label in the US.

There is as yet no indication as to whether the band will release the album outside the country.

"The new record feels good so far — really strong and uptempo, stuff we can sink our teeth into," frontman Eddie Vedder told the magazine.

The album will be the first the band have worked on with producer Brendan O’Brien since 1998’s 'Yield'.

Their last studio album, which was self-titled, was released in 2006.

Valkyrie · **Joined:** 14 Oct 2008 **Posts:** 4210

Mmmmm...new Pearl Jam. Can't wait!!! :yay:

Dr. Chris Evil · 26 Jul 2006

Yeah, but the kicker is that they haven't recorded it yet.

Valkyrie · **Joined:** 14 Oct 2008 **Posts:** 4210

That's alright...I'll just keep listening to their existing albums in the meantime. :wink:

Paulie Walnuts · 31 Jul 2007

Valkyrie wrote:

That's alright...I'll just keep listening to their existing albums in the meantime. :wink:

Lots and lots of good stuff to keep busy with! I think I'll listen to them now...

Valkyrie · **Joined:** 14 Oct 2008 **Posts:** 4210

HEY! Some off-topicness here, but Holt! and I got to talk to Paulie Walnuts the other night....very, very cool! :ohyes:

AMW · **Joined:** 26 Sep 2006 **Posts:** 4543

Billboard covered this a couple of days ago:

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/pea ... 9154.story

Quote:

Pearl Jam Pumped Up To Hit The Studio
Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder

February 06, 2009 11:35 AM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Pearl Jam is about to hit the studio for a two-week session in Los Angeles with producer Brendan O'Brien as it continues work on its ninth studio album, which the band plans to self-release in the United States.

After laying down some instrumental beds last summer, additional demos were put to tape in December, and the band's non-singing members formulated another batch of material during a recent trip to Montana.

Frontman Eddie Vedder "put rough vocals on about half the stuff we worked on in December," bassist Jeff Ament tells Billboard.com. "There's a handful of really great lyrics. Lyrically, that stuff is in the embryonic stage, but there's a handful of lines and a couple of choruses that are just really great. He keeps getting better."

"I saw [guitarist] Mike [McCready] last night and we were both talking about this song and that song," he continues. "One of the songs we decided would go down a whole step and he was asking me about a chord progression."

This will be the first time Pearl Jam has spent significant time recording outside Seattle since 1996's "No Code," some of which was tracked with O'Brien in Chicago and New Orleans between touring. The band is confident the new album will be out in 2009.

"There's certainly been groups of songs that we've recorded very quickly," Ament says. "When we went to Atlanta and New Orleans, we could knock out two, three, four songs in the same amount of days. We did the same thing in Chicago. I'm kind of approaching it with the idea that it'll work out like those sessions did."

Ament says the band is very excited about the return of O'Brien, who hasn't worked on a full Pearl Jam album since 1998's "Yield" but has recently overseen a complete remixing of the band's 1991 debut, "Ten," which will be reissued March 24 on Epic/Legacy.

"He brings a brutally honest approach to what he thinks is working and what isn't, and it really moves things along," he says. We don't get waded 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."

The new album will be the follow-up to Pearl Jam's self-titled 2006 release for J Records, which has sold 704,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Paulie Walnuts · 31 Jul 2007

Valkyrie wrote:

HEY! Some off-topicness here, but Holt! and I got to talk to Paulie Walnuts the other night....very, very cool! :ohyes:

Yes'm, it was! But the pleasure was all mine. :thumbsup:

Tricky Kid · **Joined:** 23 Sep 2007 **Posts:** 8297

Pearl Jam to Release New LP in 2009
In Seattle with the band as it preps short, fast tunes

by Brian Hiatt
Rolling Stone - February 19, 2009

In their Seattle rehearsal space, beneath a portrait of Pete Townshend and a giant Ramones banner, Pearl Jame have been hard at work on songs for their ninth studio album -- which they plan to release on their own in the U.S., without a label. The band will soon begin recording with producer Brendan O'Brien and hopes to release the still-untitled disc by the fall. "The new records feels good so far -- really strong and uptempo, stuff we can sink our teeth into," says Eddie Vedder, who has seen his songwriting shift direction since the election. "I've tried, over the years, to be hopeful in the lyrics, and I think that's going to be easier now."

Pearl Jam (who are also releasing a deluxe reissue of their 1991 debut, Ten, on March 24th) have been working toward a self-released album since 2002, when they wrapped up their contract with Epic Records and became free agents. For their last release, 2006's Pearl Jam, they struck a one-off distribution deal with J Records, but this time the band will handle everything themselves in the States. "We'll make deals with a number of partners -- retail, online and probably mobile, too," says Pearl Jam manager Kelly Curtis, adding that the group will sell digital and physical versions of the album on its own website. "The cool thing is, as the record companies are kind of dying, the opportunities are growing."

Judging from early demos, Pearl Jam are carrying through with the punchy, melodic energy of their last album. One song, a garage-y composition by Vedder, repeats the lyric "see my friends" over Stooges-meet-the-Who power chords and loose, Johnny Thunders-inspired lead guitar from Mike McCready. Another tune, penned by drummer Matt Cameron, is a bigger surprise: It's sleek power pop, with a Stones-y intro riff leading into a tight, chiming verse and a catchy vocal melody that wouldn't be out of place on a Kings of Leon record. "That could have been a seven-minute, weird, sideways kind of artsy song with a cool groove," Vedder says. "I tinkered with it after everyone left, and we shrunk it down and turned it into something else... I'm thinking about set lists: 'Will this be a song we'll play every night?'"

Last year, everyone but Vedder gathered in bassist Jeff Ament's Montana home for a songwriting retreat. "It's the first time since the first record that we've really rehearsed," says Ament, "instead of just going to the studio with a handful of ideas."

While Vedder seems most excited by the idea of short, fast songs -- citing Guided by Voices as an inspiration -- his bandmates emphasize other parts of the record. "There's plenty of ballads, too," says guitarist Stone Gossard. "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." Adds Ament, "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."

The new album is Pearl Jam's first with Brendan O'Brien since 1998's Yield, and they're excited to be reuniting with their friend -- who spent the past decade working with artists from Bruce Springsteen to AC/DC. "At this point, I think we're willing to let somebody cut up the songs a little bit," says 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 has listened to his suggestions, I think we will too."

Eric W.H. Taft · 14 Aug 2006

Glad to see they're going the self-release route.

Tricky Kid · **Joined:** 23 Sep 2007 **Posts:** 8297

Bumped with updated information... here's the cover art and tracklist. Backspacer will be in Target and indie music retailers on September 22.

1. Gonna See My Friend
2. Got Some
3. The Fixer
4. Johnny Guitar
5. Just Breathe
6. Amongst The Waves
7. Unthought Known
8. Supersonic
9. Speed Of Sound
10. Force Of Nature
11. The End

Rick A · 23 Jul 2006

Excellent! Thanks Calijawn. I'll be getting this on Day One! I love these guys.

Rick A.

Ronny Sr. · 20 Aug 2004

Nice Tom Tomorrow art there. Really looking forward to this.

Tricky Kid · **Joined:** 23 Sep 2007 **Posts:** 8297

Here's the first review I've seen... from Spin Magazine.

Quote:

Conventional wisdom marks 2006's Pearl Jam as the grunge outfit’s reignition point after years without a spark. If that's true, then the first three songs on their ninth full-length are the explosion at the end of an extremely long fuse. The band hasn’t put together a trifecta this energized and from-the-gut in a decade, and though the rest of Backspacer doesn't match that opening salvo, it has a terrific time trying.

"Gonna See My Friend," "Got Some," and "The Fixer" nearly upend each other rushing out the gate, exploiting Pearl Jam’s leanest, punkest tendencies. And those traits carry through the album’s 36 minutes. No time to waste and Obama in the White House mean no political bellyaching, so when Eddie Vedder pulls out that indignant yet inclusive snarl and proclaims, "When something’s gone, I wanna fight to get it back again," you can probably assume "it" is his band’s mojo.

Even the requisite restrained ballads feel renewed: "The End" finds Vedder channeling Cat Stevens, backed by a string and brass ensemble. Then there’s the towering anthem “Amongst the Waves,” which could bring "Alive" fans back to the fold. It even expands on that song’s theme, moving from grudging survival to jubilant exuberance ("I’ve put away my early grave"). For the first time in years, Pearl Jam are seizing the moment rather than wallowing in it.

Geff R. · 27 Sep 2006

Heard this tonight. 1st impression is not bad, but not one I'm likely to play often (both Yield & the Avocado album are still sitting in my "to be played a 2nd time before filing pile" years after their release.....). Least favorite song on 1st listen was the 1st song, Gonna See My Friend (which the reviewers are raving about). Most favorite were the Vedder ballads. Sounds like I need to check out EV's solo cd ( I THINK it's the Into the Wild soundtrack??), I think I read it's mostly acoustic & ballads.

Renny · 26 Jun 2006

for me "ten" was the pinnacle of pearl jam's work and it has been a slow steady decline ever since. the last one, with the fruit on the cover, i thought was just terrible.

Geff R. · 27 Sep 2006

Renny wrote:

for me "ten" was the pinnacle of pearl jam's work and it has been a slow steady decline ever since.

I agree with the sentence above, though I also like VS alot & the 3rd cd was OK.

Tricky Kid · **Joined:** 23 Sep 2007 **Posts:** 8297

You can currently stream the entire album on Street Date.

Jimbo · 19 Jul 2006

J&R is selling this for $11.99, according to the ad in today's NY Times.

AMW · **Joined:** 26 Sep 2006 **Posts:** 4543

My girlfriend is a big Pearl Jam fan and bought this yesterday. I told her that I thought there would be some sort of bonus exclusive somewhere, but I could only find the two bonus videos on iTunes. Can anybody shed any additional light?

Tricky Kid · **Joined:** 23 Sep 2007 **Posts:** 8297

The only bonus I'm aware of at this point (aside from iTunes) is the "fancy package" version available at indie record stores... if all she wants is the music, then Target is probably the cheapest way to go.

Andy B · 21 Nov 2006

The Target exclusive allows you to pick two "complete" live shows to download from a list of 10-15 shows recorded between 05-08. According to the Pearl Jam forum, cover songs played at the show are not included in the download. So plan on missing at least 2-3 songs from the shows you choose. The Hoffman Board states they are 128mb mp3s.

[2009-09-22] Pearl Jam "Backspacer"

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