Skip to main content

February 27, 2020: Backspacer 2.0

Hi Brad and Brad,

I have been thoroughly enjoying Superblood Wolfmoon and am getting more and more anxious for the release of Gigat(r)on next month.  One of the more common things mentioned about Superblood Wolfmoon is that it sounds like a track that didn't make the cut on Backspacer.  I liken the song to be somewhat of a combination of Johnny Guitar and Supersonic, where it was almost like Superblood Wolfmoon was their "third attempt" at coming out with the rocker they tried to make in the previous two.  I wanted to envision Superblood Wolfmoon on Backspacer and decided to drop it into the track listing.  My favorite spot for it was putting it between Amongst the Waves and Unthought Known.  It provided nice contrast between those two songs.  After listening to it in this context, I can definitely see Superblood Wolfmoon on Backspacer.
Now to get a little weird.  The last time I ranked my favorite studio albums in order, I had placed Backspacer at the bottom of my list.  It's not to say I don't like the record, but it just doesn't click for me as well as the other 9.  So I decided to do two things, the first is replace one track on Backspacer with Superblood Wolfmoon and then re-order the track listing.  Essentially I'm somewhat trying to change my own mind, in a similar way to how I tried to change Brad L's opinion of Avocado.  So here's what I did.  I was pretty hell-bent on putting Just Breathe as the closer.  It's always been in a weird spot at track 5, right after 4 fairly up-tempo rockers.  However, if I place that at the end, I can't find anyplace to re-order The End.  So what I decided to do is replace The End with Superblood Wolfmoon, not because I don't like The End, but mainly because it doesn't fit anywhere else but the end.  Here's what I came up with:



For some reason, I've always subconsciously thought Johnny Guitar was the second track on the record.  It just always made sense to me to have it right after Gonna See My Friend.  I placed Superblood Wolfmoon third, because I feel like it's always been a good spot on a tracklist for an upbeat rocker.  What I really enjoy is moving up Unthought Known and switching spots with Amongst the Waves.  This is another order where I had in the back of my mind would make more sense.  Just like I had hoped, Just Breathe finishes off the track list perfectly for me.  It always sounded like a closer for me and I found it difficult to ramp myself back up after hearing it, when it was in the middle of the track list.

Forced to endure, what I could not forgive,

Chris

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 17, 2010: RIP Mozart for Guitar

Hi Brad and Brad, I first want to mention that I can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did while listening to you two and Clint Wells go on about spoonfuls of flour and uncooked spaghetti.  I almost had to pull my car over as I was driving home during that part of the episode!   Since Eddie Van Halen passed away on October 6th, I've been listening to a lot of Van Halen.  I didn't really get into them until 10-15 years ago, but I consider them to be one of my favorite bands of all-time.  Eddie was truly an innovator on shredding guitar solos and may be my favorite lead guitarist ever.  I saw Mike's comment on Pearl Jam's Twitter feed referencing how he began playing guitar shortly after their first record came out.  He goes so far to say "it sounded like Eddie was from another planet" and "Eddie was like Mozart for guitar.  Changed everything and he played with Soul." I know the guys have covered Van Halen here-and-there and I looked
Post a Comment
Read more

December 26, 2020: Someday at Christmas

Hi Brad and Brad, First, I hope you guys have had a Happy Holidays.  Secondly, I really enjoy your solo episodes.  They have a deejay format to them which also feels personable in getting to know each of your lives and what has influenced you to be who you are now. I hadn't taken the time to get to know Someday at Christmas until after listening to BradB's recent episode.  Pearl Jam does a great job in covering the song, and I prefer Stevie Wonder's version over the Jackson 5.  Especially, after reading the lyrics and reading some interpretations of the song.  At the time the song was released, the Vietnam War was still underway.  The lyrics seem to voice opposition to the war itself, but also express the hope for racial and economic equality.  Unfortunately, that message still resonates strongly.   Stevie Wonder was one of the artists that shaped my musical interests when I was a teenager.  I'm very glad the guys chose to cover this song for a Christmas single and have
Post a Comment
Read more

December 31, 2020: Low Light

Hi Jessi and Kate, I have been way behind on my podcasts the last several weeks.  The main reason is because myself and a friend started our own podcast!  It's not Pearl Jam themed , however it's consumed a decent amount of my week preparing for each recording.  So we now have a hit on the Dink-O-Meter for both of you.  First Jessi and now Kate!  I can't remember if I have proposed the Dink-O-Meter to you yet, but I have it as a three-tiered system: Dinky: Just your average dinky, will only skip if streaming Rinky-Dinky: Automatic skipper, even when listening to vinyl Stinky-Dinky: It's like nails on a chalkboard to you Based on Jessi's response to Parachutes, I have that somewhere between Rinky-Dinky and Stinky-Dinky.  I would have to let Jessi be the final judge on that.  For Kate's remarks to Low Light, I have it somewhere between Dinky and Rinky-Dinky, however I'm inclined to believe it's closer to Dinky because I wasn't able to note as many hot
Post a Comment
Read more