I don't think we can tell much by the tracklisting alone. Ed writes most (or, sometimes, all) of the lyrics so the song titles are naturally going to reflect his sensibility; Swallowed Whole could very well be a Matt or Jeff song despite the callback to Unthought Known in the title.

Just Breathe is a really good song...i dont quite care about it, but its good...the chorus specially. And the arrangements are good too.
Its ok Bob, its ok.

Amongst the waves/UK; There is something about those two that bothers me since the day they were released...they are central pieces in the album, they should be more interesting. ATW should be a anthem, a really upbeat song and its really weak. Its a nice cool song, with good moments and a nice delivery by ed, but where are the guitars?? they sound so weak...i can listen that piano there but the guitars? and the solo is just..boring.

UK is a better song, the bridge is nice, the melody is very upbeat and cool but i guess im kinda worn out on it. They have played it a lot live....Good lyrics in both of them.

Backspacer is a really solid album. The problem is that it's an inferior Pearl Jam album.

Don't you start down that road, Joey.

Fixed.

But even so, everything is about context isn't it?

Look, you!

Supersonic/Speed of sound/ Force of nature

I get why so many people have a problem with BS, its really short and the middle part could be weird. Supersonic is just a b side. Its not even a really good b side...it could have been the worst b side from them. The only interesting part on this is the bridge and if this song had a different arrangement before and they changed it because of the idea of simplicity this record have, it seems like a mistake..they had already did this type of song better and even the lyrics dont have anything new. Worst song of the album.

Speed of sound; i fucking love it..more than the demo. I get it, those arrangements Bob did are a little over the top, but i like them fine. Ed`s delivery is weird, i hate his aaaammssss and eehmmms but its ok. Love the final part, and love the lyrics.

Force of nature....it took me a while to like it. Ed´s sounds great here, and the band too i just dont quite like the mixing of the song.
It needs more space, there are some great things happening there and Ed is so loud in the mix i cant pay attention.
Love what mike is doing, not in the solo but in the whole song. The guitars needs to be more agressive than this.

I goddamn love the BS version of Speed of Sound. I LOVE it.

Yep. It's too polished and needs some dirt in there. Ed is all over it and needs to take a breath. see earlier post about too much Ed/too little instrumental breaks.
But this has lots of moments. Headphones help this one.

Also, BS suffers from sequencing (IMO).

Same problem as S/T, yep.

The End...is a good song, Ed`s delivery is good, the lyrics and the string arrangements are good...but i just dont care for it.
I dont know why, it never really took me, even JB moves me more than this one. Maybe because is eddie solo song and i feel its out of place here? Where is the band? why dont make a good band arrangement with this song as well, like you did with Speed of sound?

But every song was good back then, so we didn't care. These days, I find myself wanting to rearrange the albums so that the bad songs might not sound so bad.

It might be experience/emotional connection/empathy but Just Breathe has always meant more to me, too. I'm a sad, soupy, sap for that kind of thing. Just Breathe is so lovely. It's a top 20/25 PJ song for me.

The End is probably "better" but it doesn't work on me as well.

I'd like to enter into the official record, The People's exhibit A: Binaural.

I like Just Breathe. I don't mind sappy either. It's not as powerful as it could have been, but it doesn't deserve all the flack it gets.

You sicken me.

me too. I get that The End should be a better song, i just dont care for it while JB, even if a need to take a break sometimes from listening to it, its a great, great song.