Backspacer

1. Gonna See My Friend - awful, Bottom 10 PJ song.
2. Got Some - Devo rip off, ok song at best, maybe a middle of the pack PJ tune, maybe.
3. The Fixer - just all sorts of meh with dumb lyrics. Bottom 1/4 of PJ songs.
4. Johnny Guitar - I used to enjoy this song much more than I do now. Low end of mid-tier.
5. Just Breathe - should’ve been an Ed solo song. I find it boring as hell.
6. Amongst the Waves - everyone else hates this one, I think it’s easily the best song on the album. Still, maybe top of mid-tier PJ overall.
7. Unthought Known - the way everyone else hates AtW is the way I hate Unthought Known.
8. Supersonic - best moment on the album is the bridge in this song. The rest of the song is absolutely garbage.
9. Speed of Sound - almost a cool song. But ultimately it’s kind of a mess and not that interesting.
10. Force of Nature - I’m not sure what went wrong with FoN. I always hope I’ll enjoy it more than I ever actually do.
11. The End - another super boring Ed solo song that I don’t ever need to hear again.

In conclusion, there’s one song I like, 2-3 that are mildly entertaining sometimes, and the rest is rubbish.

Hating on The Fixer is so 2009. The song is great.

It’s just a stupid song. It does nothing musically or lyrically that I find interesting or compelling or engaging at all.

It's better than half of Gigaton.

It’s not better than anything on Gigaton.

It still strikes me as gaudy and kind of boneheaded but I don't hate it like I used to. It's like a late-career Foo Fighters single

It’s better than most of Backspacer, that I’ll concede. But that isn’t saying much.

Whahahahahahahat?

i fuckin love The Fixer so much.

But, like, umm, how? And, ahh, why?

Fantastic riff that makes zero sense glued together by a syrup sweet melody. And although the lyrics are rather simple and straightforward, I love the idea behind the lyrics.

The fixer is about the only song I don't really like on Backspacer......and maybe Supersonic

yeah, pretty much this. Its a great pop song.

Better Man is a great pop song. Fixer represents a side of PJ that I just don’t enjoy, and I don’t thank that they are particularly successful at. Jorge’s Foo Fighters analogy might be a good indicator as to why. The Foos have had a lighthearted and fun pop side since the beginning. It’s a certain core part of their DNA. And they do it well - Big Me is a great song. I don’t see silly pop songs as something that is a part of the DNA of Pearl Jam. And they’ve yet to release one that works well to my ears. Better Man is an amazing pop song, but it’s not silly. PJ’s anthemic songs that don’t have a significant element of conflict, or confusion, or loss, or pain to overcome, end up feeling like shallow auditory masturbation instead of the orgasmic satisfaction and cathartic climax they fail to achieve.

Agreed. Pearl Jam really don't do fun well at all.

they are so different..

I would argue the core message of The Fixer is basically's the band's core message too.

How so?

When something's gone, I wanna fight to get it back again
When something's lost, I wanna fight to get it back again
If there's no love, I wanna try to love again

Isn't this the core message of pretty much all of their albums? I think you can make some pretty direct lines between Gigaton and these sentiments, for example.