LogFAQs > #980090511

bsp77 posted...

To be fair, I like Backspacer, as do many critics, but I am aware that a lot of fans don't like the power chords and punk pop sound. Only recently did I grow to appreciate it more.

I would say it isn't heavier than their first three, but likely since. Even Yield and Avocado have more slower songs.

Backspacer was a good album with some great songs on it, but as a whole, it didn't quite feel like a Pearl Jam album with how it plays it safe the whole way through before clocking in well under 40 minutes. Eddie's voice is probably what mostly keeps it sounding like a Pearl Jam album. Yield, on the other hand, felt like Pearl Jam going full pop-rock without losing the identity of their sound. As for the self titled, it starts hard before going heavy, but instead in a more raw emotional direction. Then this album has the most feel of "everything you love about Pearl Jam in one album!" to emphasize past sounds that have earned them critical and fan favor put in a more condensed format. I agree that it may be the heaviest album if you ignore the first three, especially Vs.