Track by Track preview of new Pearl Jam album!

[Subtle Signs]

Don't know how legit this is, but it's from a German magazine called Visions. Here is a rough translation (it was also mentioned that it's 36 minutes):

THE NEW PEARL JAM: HERE'S WHAT TO EXPECT

Four mountain ridges, a canyon, a copious green valley, a steep rock, a jungle, veld - and an almost punchline ending. Pearl Jam's ninth studio album "Backspacer" is the first one since "Yield" that has been produced by Brendan O'Brien.

See My Friend: Pearl Jam as you expect them today: straight rock, strong lyrics, hands-on and aggressive.

Got Some: Also rock, also straight and almost angry but with some distinctive guitar licks by Mike McCready.

The Fixer: The first highlight. A tight, almost classic rock tune but clever at the same time. Slightly odd, and with cool vocal melodies and rhythms this track is a mini anthem.

Johnny Guitar: Fortunately not as bland as the title suggests. Also a rocker, but with a remarkable amout of lyrics and sincerity. Grows above average but still a very classical tune.

Just Breathe: The first break and a moment to take some breath. Lovely acoustic ballad. The fingers fly over the fret board, an unobtrusive string arrangement and lyrics about love - mature, wonderful, terrific vocal delivery.

Amongst The Waves: Finally there's not only pushing forward but in all directions with a song that tries to reach the sky. The positive build-up reminds of "Given To Fly" as well as the fact that you just can't point at the root of "Amongst The Waves" (Is it the lyrics? guitars? drums?).

Unthought Known: First very climatic, then a passionate mid-tempo rock song. A slightly blurry ending but still more palpable than anything off the last album.

Supersonic: The obligatory wild song that you can find on every Pearl Jam album since "Vitalogy". Almost cheerful, driven by Matt Cameron's fast pace, in the beginning reminiscent of Soundgarden. But Soundgarden were better at creating those angular bundles of energy.

Speed Of Sound: Exotic. A strange pop song with a different sound than the rest of the album and its clear-cut production. Still: piano, tingling, suspense...

Force Of Nature: A rock song like a Pearl Jam concert: An innocent beginning, but it grows naturally and expands and has you totally in its grip before you know it.

The End: The second acoustic song and to be taken literally. One of the strongest ballads by the band since a long time, amongst other things because its urgency manifests in Vedder's vocals. Even the end of the end needs a worthy ending.

[DCGNR]

The last album, I liked quite a bit - untill it got old...fast

As is the case with most of their albums since Vitalogy, if I go back and throw them on now - I can honestly say I like about 1/2 of the album and find about 1/2 does very little for me.

Maybe this will change that

[Spoon87]

Read that before, Visions is really reliable usually, that mag's kind of a fan of PJ, there's always some coverage of PJ stuff, even if it's just some small tidbits.

I can't wait for the new album, that track by track preview really got me stoked even more!

Bring on Backspacer! Bring on some new tunes on August 15th!

[myguiltysecret]

Cool, haven't been on the message pit much lately, so don't really know much about the new album. I heard its only going to be 36 minutes long though.

And I hope The End isn't literal...It better not indicate the end of the jam... :(

[mandead]

Doubt it's real. Read a PJ article only a few weeks ago saying that they hadn't recorded all the songs yet.

I'm sure some of those tracks will be on the record, but I doubt it'll be the final list.

Edited June 23, 2009 by mandead

[GivenToFly]

Assuming the preview is legitimate:

See My Friend: Pearl Jam as you expect them today: straight rock, strong lyrics, hands-on and aggressive.

Got Some: Also rock, also straight and almost angry but with some distinctive guitar licks by Mike McCready.

Johnny Guitar: Fortunately not as bland as the title suggests. Also a rocker, but with a remarkable amout of lyrics and sincerity. Grows above average but still a very classical tune.

Supersonic: The obligatory wild song that you can find on every Pearl Jam album since "Vitalogy". Almost cheerful, driven by Matt Cameron's fast pace, in the beginning reminiscent of Soundgarden. But Soundgarden were better at creating those angular bundles of energy.

Force Of Nature: A rock song like a Pearl Jam concert: An innocent beginning, but it grows naturally and expands and has you totally in its grip before you know it.

In short: boring!

The Fixer: The first highlight. A tight, almost classic rock tune but clever at the same time. Slightly odd, and with cool vocal melodies and rhythms this track is a mini anthem.

Just Breathe: The first break and a moment to take some breath. Lovely acoustic ballad. The fingers fly over the fret board, an unobtrusive string arrangement and lyrics about love - mature, wonderful, terrific vocal delivery.

Amongst The Waves: Finally there's not only pushing forward but in all directions with a song that tries to reach the sky. The positive build-up reminds of "Given To Fly" as well as the fact that you just can't point at the root of "Amongst The Waves" (Is it the lyrics? guitars? drums?).

Unthought Known: First very climatic, then a passionate mid-tempo rock song. A slightly blurry ending but still more palpable than anything off the last album.

Speed Of Sound: Exotic. A strange pop song with a different sound than the rest of the album and its clear-cut production. Still: piano, tingling, suspense...

The End: The second acoustic song and to be taken literally. One of the strongest ballads by the band since a long time, amongst other things because its urgency manifests in Vedder's vocals. Even the end of the end needs a worthy ending.

These, on the other hand, seem more interesting.

The descriptions make them sound like past Pearl Jam tunes. Speed Of Sound could very well be Mankind, Just Breath sounds just like Elderly Woman, Unthought Unknown - Dissident.

Any way, looking forward.