Pearl Jam – Backspacer

A mai posztban az uj Pearl Jam albumról fogok írni nektek. No de mielőtt belevágnék először egy gyors összefoglaló a PJ életéből.

A Pearl Jam (innentől PJ) 1990.ben alakult a Seattle-ben. A csapat azután alakult meg hogy a Mother Love Bone énekes Andrew Wood meghalt drog túladagolásban. Eztuen a Love Bone basszusgitárosa, Jeff Ament és gitárosa Stone Gossard összefogott a Soundgarden énekesével, Chris Cornellel valamint dobosával Matt Cameronnal, (aki a későbbiekben csatlakozott a PJhez miután Jack Irons kivált a PJből.) és megalapították a nagy sikerű Temple Of The Dog nevű bandát. Ekkor csatlakozott hozzájuk az akkor még „ismeretlen” Mike McCready mint szóló gitáros. Mivel Stone ekkor az új bandát készült alakítani, keresnie kellett egy énekest is. Ekkor került a képbe Eddie Vedder, akinek elküldték a demo kazettát, és a legenda szerint szörfözés után rögtön meg is írta az Alive, Once és Footsteps dalok dalszövegét. Nem sokkal ezek után csatlakozott a csipetcsapathoz. Első közreműködését már a Temple Of The Dog albumon is hallhatjuk a Hunger Strike című dalban, amit Chris Cornell együtt énekeltek fel.

A siker hatalmas volt, mégis, ezek után Vedder, Ament, Gossard, McCready és Dave Krusen dobossal felvették a Ten című albumot. Az album abszolút siker lett, és ezzel el is indultak a világhírnév felé a grunge zenéjükkel. Ezek után társultan Brendan O’ Briennel és felvették a Vs. című albumukat. Majd jött a Vitalogy 1994.ben. Ezt az albumot tartják az igazi és utolsó grunge albumnak. Mondjuk ezt a véleményt nem osztom. A 90-es években még kettő albumot vettek fel, ami a No Code és Yield neveket kapták. A 2000-es évek főleg a bluesosabb hatással kezdődtek. Számomra a Binaural és a Riot Act teljes mértékben kedvenceim, míg másoknak csalódás voltak ezek az albumuk.2004.ben csatlakozott a csapathoz Kenneth Boom Gaspar billentyűkön. 2006.ban egy nagy visszatéréssel kezdték, amikor is kiadták a Pearl Jam című albumot. Ezen újra visszatértek a régi grunge-os, punkos hangzáshoz.

Most pedig 2009.ben ami egy újabb visszatérésnek is fel lehet fogni. A Backspacer rövid, tömör, viszont annál ütősebb, már első hallgatásra is. Az album 11 dalt tartalmaz, és összesen, 32perc. Már ez első dal a Gonna See My Friend egy pörgös szám. A kezdő riffjéről Chuck Berry Johnnz B Goddie-ja jut eszembe, mégis a szám maga punkos és tökéletes. A következő Got Some még jobb, hisz ebbe a dalban Mike McCready kiélhette a szólózási vágyát, mert az egész dalt fel lehet fogni egy nagy szólónak. A The Fixer maga indies/poppos beütésével sokban eltér az eddig PJ számoktól, mégis, valahogy ez is nagyszerű. A Johnny Guitar, ismét egy punkosabb, stílusban a The Who együttest idéző szám. Ezután érkezünk el az első akusztikus dalhoz Just Breath-hez. Erről nem tudok sokat mondani, csak azt hogy tökéletes minden momentuma. Az Amongst The Waves egy újabb óceán központú dal. Ezt követi az Unthought Know ami az emberi „lélekről” szól, és a kezdő riffje hasonlít a Yield albumon hallgató Wishlistre, ami nem meglepő, hiszen mindkét dalt maga Ed Vedder írta. Valamint ebben a számba a legjobb a billentyűk szólama(100% respect Boom GasparnakÖ. Ezek után csendül fel a személyes kedvencem, a Supersonic, ami a zene szeretetéről és imádatáról szól, egy újabb punkosabb előadásban. A Speed Of Sound egy magányos emberről, majd a Force Of Nature (újabb kedvenc) pedig egy ember kapcsolatáról szól. Meg kell mondjam szerintem a Force Of Nature-n hallhatjuk a legjobb szólót az egész albumról. A lezáró dal a The End nevet kapta, ami a második és egyben utolsó akusztikus szám. A dalszövegekről még annyit hogy minden szám szövegét Vedder írta.

Összeségében én meg vagyok elégedve az albummal. Nagyon jó, nagyon ütős, nagyon rockkos. Bármikor újra tudom hallgatni az egész album elejétől a végig, amit nem sok albumnál tudom megcsinálni. Erre az albumra 10/10 adok, nem is fér hozzá kétség.

JGabe

The list is almost finished. My main task has been to re-listen to albums I haven’t heard in a while and figure out how much I like them, or if I like them as much as I once did. Also, since the decade isn’t actually over yet, I’m still getting a feel for some new releases, most notably the new Baroness, Raekwon, Krallice, and Flaming Lips albums. In the meantime, here’s an introduction piece that spells out the list’s thorny issues, themes, structure, and easiest omissions.

Thorny Issues

The biggest issue I’ve struggled with while finalizing the list is what to do about compilations. Some of my favorite albums from this decade were either DJ mixes or artists’ collections of previously released material. The conclusion I arrived at was this: DJ mixes are eligible, single artist compilations are not.

The best DJ mixes — and only the absolute finest of DJ mixes could ever be considered for my list, naturally — eventually become their own entities. The sequencing of the songs, and the very selections of the songs, reflect the curator’s aesthetic at least as much as the original artists’. With that being said, any DJ mix had to be commercially released in some form to be considered for inclusion.

Including individual artist compilations, however, struck me as unfair. This means my list will not be containing The Upper Cuts by Alan Braxe, Oh You’re So Silent Jens by Jens Lekman, Inches by Les Savy Fav, or Dopesmoker by Sleep.

Themes

When my full list is published, it’s going to reek of tokenism, so be warned. This is usually a problem that lists culled from sort of consensus face, but not so often individual lists. I’m wary of seeming like my list seeming manufactured or manipulated; nothing’s worse than people who pretend to like certain types of music more than they actually do, or even worse, music that they don’t like. Hopefully if I lay out my criteria, it will seem more sincere.

My list truly is an albums list, so artists I generally like don’t score any points just for existing. (This statement will seem like a bald-faced lie when you see how a certain Smashing Pumpkins album fared.) Also, I place a high priority on how original an album or an artist sounds to me, so there is a fairly sizable contingent of selections that placed well just because when I listen to them I think, “Wow, I don’t know of anything that sounds quite like this.” (Obviously I still have to like said albums.)

Much of what is being written in retrospective decade music writings recently has revolved around “the death of the album.” This is understandable, since artists like Radiohead and Billy Corgan have flirted with giving up on albums completely. Supposedly youngsters now barely have any patience for albums, and only want individual songs. To me, this is a tragedy. No matter how music evolves commercially, I will always love the album — it will always be the primary medium through which I listen to music, and I will always value artists who treasure the album as much as I do more than those who don’t. Above all else, my list aims to be a celebration of the album.

Structure

The list is going to be released in eight separate posts, each one consisting of a different tier. I felt this was a more honest and accurate way of ranking my 100 favorite albums from the past ten years. While each album will have an individual number ranking, what tier each album falls in is what’s most important. All tiers will be explained in their respective posts. Also, I’m not going to force myself to write an entry about every album. If I don’t have anything interesting to say beyond “I like this album,” then I’m not going to say anything.

Easiest Omissions

I think it’s stupid when people or entities include crap alongside lists like “Hardest Omissions” or “Honorable Mention.” It devalues a list’s definitiveness to include some sort of charity subsection. If you define a list as consisting of the 100 best albums, then I don’t want to know what finished 101st. In other words, if you’re going to be indecisive, then why make a list?

So I’m not going to effectively expand my list by letting you know what just barely missed an obviously artificial cut line. I think there’s more value in listing what albums I had no problem excluding, because if you’re going to be a full on music geek, the stuff you hate is just as important as the stuff you love. So in that spirit, here are the six easiest omissions from THE PUSHING PAPER TOP 100 ALBUMS OF THE DECADE.

6. Arcade Fire — Funeral

Some people hate this album for how much some other people love it. I am most definitely not one of those people, because thinking that way, while it might have been something I used to do to a degree, is really stupid. In fact, when my list was in it’s earliest stages, Funeral was on the candidates list. But I hadn’t listened to it in a couple of years, so I needed to give it a fresh spin. It turns out this was a good move. I don’t know if my tastes have changed enough that Funeral no longer appeals to me that much, or if, in Funeral’s early days, I was so taken by my favorite tracks (I still think “Rebellion” is thebomb.com) that I glossed over the ones I was bored by. I’m almost certain it’s the latter case, because I can definitely see why Funeral is so beloved. It’s just not entirely for me.

5. Radiohead — Amnesiac

I like Radiohead as much as the next guy (so long as the next guy isn’t one of those people who thinks Radiohead is THE GREATEST BAND OF ALL TIME — I don’t like Radiohead as much as him), but I fail to see how anyone can think Amnesiac isn’t beneath them. A few great songs does not a great album make.

4. Pearl Jam’s self-titled return to rawk

Arguably (and I don’t think anyone is arguing about this, but still), no band has meant as much to my life in totality as Pearl Jam. As they say, you never forget your first true love. By the time I got to college, I was following Pearl Jam primarily out of a sense of loyalty. Deep down I knew I was lying to myself about how much I liked Binaural, and I also knew their ability to create exciting music had expired. However, I did find Riot Act to be enjoyable enough that I wasn’t anywhere close to completely writing them off. Then their self-titled album came out amidst joyous mainstream press echoes of “Pearl Jam is back!!!!!!!” (Bill Simmons even wrote an enormous NBA playoffs preview/Pearl Jam career retrospective at the time.) It’s not like I expected anything on the level of Vs., but I did allow myself to get roped in a little bit. I listened to Pearl Jam one time, and hated every second of it. I will never listen to it again, and yes, I’ve completely written Pearl Jam off.

3. Animal Collective

I don’t think there are nearly as many people who actually like Animal Collective as there are people who pretend they do. Like many people in the I Don’t Get Animal Collective Club, I’ve spent the better part of a decade listening to their albums way more than I should have, constantly wondering what I’m missing. I understand why people like Merriweather Post Pavillion and Sung Tongs; I cannot for the life of me see the appeal of Feels. And anyone who says they like Here Comes the Indian, but doesn’t normally listen to any noise at all, is a total liar. I just don’t buy that this band is universally loved.

2. M.I.A.

Of all the popular music artists who have come and gone over the last twenty years, none have befuddled me as much as M.I.A. Unlike Animal Collective, I have no idea why people like her. It honestly feels like I’m living in some sort of Truman Show alternate reality where everyone has agreed to like M.I.A., with the sole aim being to confuse me. In the summer of 2008, I kept hearing “Paper Planes” in bars, initially assuming that I happened to be occupying the same space as some M.I.A.-loving hipster, which seemed wholly feasible. Then I heard it every single time I went out, which really threw me for a loop. THEN, I heard it on B94, the whitest (they would play a version of Usher’s “Love in This Club” without Jeezy’s verse), most brainless pop radio station imaginable. It was then I knew that the whole world had turned upside-down.

1. Zwan — Mary Star of the Sea

In 2000, the almighty Pumpkins broke up, something I grew progressively sadder about for a while as it slowly dawned on me that they really were gone forever. (Of course, now I would give anything for Billy Corgan to stop bastardizing the Pumpkins’ good name. Life sure is mystifying.) But no worries, Billy and Jimmy Chamberlin, the only two members of the Pumpkins who mattered at all, had formed a new band! Called Zwan! I remembering downloading early live tracks and leaks like a maniac, with “Chrysanthemum” in particular standing out. And then, I heard “Honestly.” Hearing “Honestly” was one of my life’s JFK assassination moments; I will always remember sitting at my dorm room computer, receiving the file from my friend Adam, and having my mind completely blown by how shitty it was. The rest of the album sucked almost as much. Mary Star of the Sea is — by a wide margin — my least favorite album of the decade.

Pearl Jam - Backspacer (2009)

Pearl Jam yeni albümü Backspacer‘ı yayınladı. Grubun dokuzuncu albümü olan Backspacer’ın prodüktörlüğünü Brendan O’Brien yaptı. Kendisi daha önce “yield” albümünde de pearl jam’a yardım etmişti.

Albümdeki parçalar şöyle:

1. Gonna See My Friend
2. Got Some
3. The Fixer
4. Johnny Guitar
5. Just Breathe
6. Amongst The Waves
7. Unthought Known
8. Supersonic
9. Speed Of Sound
10. Force Of Nature
11. The End

#89: Snow Patrol/Final Straw (2004) — I’ve never seen Snow Patrol live, but if there was ever an album that seemed fit for both clubs and arenas in would be Final Straw.  This isn’t even a ‘happy,’ record either. But the examination of self and relationships through the lyricism is phenomenal against it’s companion soundtrack. Check out: ‘How to Be Dead,’ ‘Chocolate,’ and ‘Run.’

#88: Local H/Whatever Happened to PJ Soles? (2004) — Local H are like a gust from the Windy City. No two-man rocks as hard as this duo – unless you count anything Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin did between 2001-2007. This album is probably the nadir of their career, deftly spinning their brand of straight up guitar rock with a rare pop sensibility. Check out choice cuts ‘California Songs,’ ‘Heaven on the Way Down,’ and ‘Halycon Days.’

#87: Wednesday 13/Transylvania 90210 (2005) — Two things that go together like peanut butter and jelly are punk music and horror (see The Misfits, The Horrors, The Cramps). I discovered these guys through Slipknot –> Murderdolls –> Wednesday 13. This started out being my fun, guilty pleasu…re record of ‘05. But four years later and I’m still giggling. Check out ‘I Walked With A Zombie,’ the title track and ‘Buried by Christmas.’ — featuring the great lyric: ‘All I want for Christmas is a custom-fit casket, with black velvet interior…oh yeah, and a bucket of chicken…’

#86: Placebo/Battle for the Sun (2009) — this is, hands down, my favorite band of the decade. Entering at #86, this year’s album sees the departure of drummer Steve Hewitt. Continuing in the polished vein of 2006’s MEDS album, it would seem the band has found it’s niche in alterna-rock culture. More songs for boys like me with hearts on their sleeves. Check out: ‘Bright Lights,’ ‘Happy You’re Gone,’ and ‘Kings of Medicine.’

#85: Sponge/The Man (2005) — These guys have been rockin’ hard for over a decade and a half. Their post-grunge, Detroit sound can be simplifed — it’s just damn good rock n roll. 05’s The Man was/is their hardest rocking album to date, takes no prisoners, and makes you wanna bang your head with an uncanny sensibility for hooks. Check out: ‘The Man,’ ‘Feels Like Love,’ and ‘Shittier Day Than Me.’

#84: Longwave/Secrets are Sinister (2008) — I remember seeing these guys at Valentine’s (1st Floor) with about 10-15 other people back in support of their 2003 debut and thinking, ‘these guys are gonna be big!’ Well, the band has taken the road less travelled and have kind of missed the mainstream success I initially expected. Has stopped them from putting out albums, though. I think this is the best, most cohesive album of the three in five years. Perhaps it was usage of producer Peter Katis (Interpol) or just stronger songwriting. Imagine Radiohead met the Strokes and you get the picture without the squonks. Check out: ‘No Direction,’ ‘Satellites,’ and ‘I Don’t Dare.’

#83: Ryan Adams/RocknRoll (2003) — the second entry for Ryan on my countdown. Yes he’s prolific, and yes one could fairly compare him to Neil Young. This album was exactly what it embodied – Rock N Roll. I remember this ablum from a number of road trips and it’s a great driving record. Perfect…parts throwback, perfect parts garage rock. Check out (though buying the album is well worth it): ‘So Alive,’ ‘Note to Self: Don’t Die,’ and ‘1974.’

#82: Alice in Chains/Black Gives Way to Blue (2009): sure, there have been bands who have been more prolific in the past 10 years, but who freakin’ cares? No disrespect to Staley, but as a cohesive, fantastic sounding album from track-to-track, this AIC release takes the cake! Some of Cantrell’s best writing. Check out: (one of the best tracks this year) ‘Check My Brain,’ ‘Your Decision,’ and ‘Private Hell.’

#81: Queens of the Stone Age/Era Vulgaris (2007) — After a disappointing 2005 release, I’d wondered if the loss of Nick Oliveri would do the Queens in. But Josh Homme was in one of the greatest stoner bands of all time! This is a trippy album that took me time to get into and it came at the end of 2007 when I realized how damn good (and diverse) the album was. Check out: ‘Misfit Love,’ ‘Sick, Sick, Sick’ and ‘Make It Witchu.’

#80: Pearl Jam/Backspacer (2009) — fourth studio album of the decade, but first in 13 years with Brendan O’Brien. This is the PJ I know and love. The band with a mission on it’s record to rock fast with abandon while at the same time writing songs with a sensibility to them. The other three albums over the past 10 years lacked a consistent theme. To some that was considered cool. Sometimes I like straight lines in my album rock. Check out: ‘The Fixer,’ ‘Unthought Known,’ and ‘Just Breathe.’

Eddie Vedder may be off in Chicago, penning songs for films and baseball teams, but he’ll forever be linked to Ten, that must-have disc from Pearl Jam.

The diamond disc from 1991 is getting the deluxe treatment come spring, with four reissues available March 24.

The reissues include a bunch of extras…

- A remaster of the original album + remix by producer Brendan O’Brien
- DVD of previously unreleased 1992 Pearl Jam MTV Unplugged performance
- LP of the band’s 1992 “Drop in the Park” concert
- A replica of Pearl Jam’s three-song demo cassette with Eddie Vedder’s original vocal dubs
- A recreation of Eddie Vedder composition notebook

The re-design of Ten has been geared primarily by bassist Jeff Ament and designer Andy Fischer (who, interestingly enough, helped with the Into the Wild film soundtrack, the disc that featured some brilliant tunes by Eddie Vedder).

“The goal was to assemble the ultimate fan-piece, something Pearl Jam lovers could pore over as they experience an indelible record all over again, in an entirely new way,” commented Fischer.

“The original concept was about really being together as a group and entering into the world of music as a true band…a sort of all-for-one deal,” added Ament. “There were some elements of the original Ten artwork that didn’t turn out the way we had hoped, due to time constraints. With this reissue, we’ve been able to take our time and invest resources into making the design the way we had originally intended.”

Pre-orders of the Super Deluxe Edition begin yesterday through the band’s Ten Club at www.pearljam.com, with all four editions available at retail on March 24, 2009. The reissue of Ten serves as the launch of a planned two-year catalogue re-release campaign leading up to the band’s 20th anniversary in 2011.

It’s a little treat for the Pearl Jam fan in all of us.

1. Want to learn to taunt your enemies like a reclusive megalomaniac dictactor with bad hair? It’s the North Korea insult generator.

2. What kind of political system is suitable for colonists on an interstellar journey? Sci-fi author Charles Stross flags some interesting issues.

3. Think movie acting can be bad? Try the 50 Worst Video Game Voice Acting clips.

4.  ”Sometimes his loose-limbed shuffle and sibilant drawl suggest Jimmy Stewart as a crackhead.” That’s The New York Times reviewing Nicholas Cage in his new movie, “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans”.

5. Crack that whip! Pearl Jam does Devo.

Crosscut
Travis Hay at Crosscut writes, “There’s no denying 2009 been a great year for Seattle music. It’s the year The Crocodile was resurrected, Pearl Jam pushed itself its back way rock relevance, and hip hop hit hard. But when the local music history books are written, the final year of this decade might be remembered best for Michael Jaworski and his record label Mt. Fuji Records…. Mt. Fuji’s roster of local talent rivals that of just about any Northwest indie label and all of its releases seem to spotlight the depth and diversity of the city’s rock scene.” Read the full feature on the local label at the above link.

For those of you who don’t know him (get out from under your rock), Daniel Wesley is a BC rocker with reggae beats. No, he’s not new to the scene. This DIY type has been around, doing what he loves, pleasing many local crowds, and recently, his latest self-titled effort, has been gracing the list of top selling albums on iTunes Canada.

How did you get in to music?

Music was always a big part of my family’s life. When I was 15 or so a friend’s band was playing and they handed me the video camera and said, “Hey film us playing.” I had so much fun filming but I wanted to be up there doing what they were doing.  A little while later I started my own band.

You’ve been in  a lot of bands: The Dropouts, General  Mayhem, Audiophile, and Replica. What’s it been like from those days until now?

Well, those bands never really amounted too much! We just kicked around and played Langley where I grew up and then came to Vancouver every month to try and get some fans. It was all mainstream rock. I did punk for the first couple of years and then rock became the way I was going. I got so tired of what we were doing. It just seemed like the genre was so limiting. So I just started writing some songs that were slower tempo and had more of the reggae vibe. Eventually I started Daniel Wesley and I’m really happy that I did.

You’ve been the Do-It-Yourself type. What was it like producing your own albums?

It was fun. I don’t know if I’m the best producer of my own stuff. It’s probably better to produce someone else’s stuff.  When we were doing it back them, the guys would come in to do their drum and bass parts, and I would have four days to do everything else.

Now that I’ve worked with a real producer for the first time, it definitely shone a light on me showing me what else is out there and what can come from collaborating. I learnt a lot and grew a lot from the process.

Was it tough letting someone else taking the reins?

It wasn’t so much letting someone else take the reins, I was super involved and me and Dave worked really closely together. I think when you have someone that you trust and who is capable of making the things you do better, enhancing them, once you get to that point, it’s a lot of fun. It’s a lot of trial and error to see what works and what doesn’t work.

You had a lot more time and money to put your last album, how did that affect the sound, your process, and you as an artist in general?

It was a great to have a budget and time. Before I would plug a guitar amp in, pick up a guitar, press record, and start tracking songs. This time it was what guitar goes best with this song and with what amp, and let’s work on the tone.

Having the time to experiment vocally and figure out harmonies also brought different colours to the songs.

If you had the same time and money and other resources available to you to produce the album solo without someone else producing it for you, would you do it solo?

I’m really thankful for what I did with Dave and I want to work with him again. It opened my eyes. I was always stubborn about working with people. I thought, I can do it myself and I don’t need help. Working with Dave made me realize that when you work with people, different things can happen; they can be positive or negative, you don’t know.

I think I’ll probably produce an album myself again in the future but I don’t think in the near future. It’s kind of a new rush, something I’ve just fallen on and I’m going to follow it. I definitely wouldn’t change having a producer on this album.

What did you listen to growing up?

A wide range. Punk was something I really got into. I can list bands but it doesn’t really matter. I think I always went after song writers, bands that had great songs. I like it when you can hear a song on a radio and know it’s that band. Or put an album or mix tape in…I can’t believe I just said mix tape! Those don’t even exist anymore! Anyways… that was the stuff I was attracted to: people that had their own sound and did their own thing.

I’m not the most amazing guitar player or singer but I feel like I’m a really good song writer. So that’s something that I always look up to.

Where does the Caribbean influence come from?

As I got older I got to travel a little bit and the happy vibe kinda of got me. I’ve never really thought about what I’m doing. I’ve never sat down and wrote a song. It’s always been about feeling it.

I think artists take from what their experiences are. I’ve gone to some really beautiful tropical places and written songs in some of them.

What bands are you listening to a lot of these days?

I’ve been listening a lot go Aggrolites. I got the new Pearl Jam album and I think its killer. That’s one man who isn’t afraid to try new things. I love that each album they do is completely different.  I like the last two albums they put out.

Also a guy name Mason Jennings from Minnesota. I think he’s one of the best singer/songwriters around. The guy’s amazing. He’s got a new album About a Man. It’s his first album that he did electrically; all of his albums are acoustic.

Is there a song in particular, aside from any of yours, that you think people should go out and listen to right away because it’s amazing?

“Free Time” or “Lucky Strike” by the Aggrolites.

Any artists you’d like to work with in future?

I don’t think you can ever plan collaboration. There are lots of people I’d love to write with but I think that kind of stuff just happens. Hopefully an opportunity like that will come up in the future. I’d be super happy to do one. I’ve never been into collaborating. After this album working with Dave, it opened my eyes to working with other people.

Specifically, if I could write a song with Mason Jennings, it would be amazing. I think he’s the best song writer around. He’s the Bob Dylan of today.

Of all of the songs you’ve produced, do you have a favourite?

“Ooo Ohh” has obviously been a really helpful song for my career and I love the way it was recorded. There’s a song on my new album called “Time For Leaving” that I connect with really deeply and I think it’s one of my favourite songs that I have ever done.

What is it about that song that you connect so deeply with?

It’s a little more mournful, it’s different. My vibe is usually pretty happy but I always try to have one or two songs that are a little more moody so I can always go down that avenue if I want to. In the last few years I’ve played with a lot of different people and people have come and gone and I think it’s important to remember why you do certain things and learn from them. That song reminds me of all that stuff.

So what inspired the rock remake of Ginuwine’s “My Pony”?

[Laughs] I don’t really like playing that song anymore live, I feel like it’s overdone.  It just happened that I was at sound check and I started jamming and playing the chords and singing and it kind of happened. We ended up recording it 3 weeks later on the album.

Is that the same scenario for “Lonely Life” and how it sounds like Ace of Base’s “All That She Wants”?

That one isn’t a cover song but people have tapped into the Ace of Base song but I never had that song in mind. Lyrically that line shows up in that song too but I wasn’t paralleling that song, it was just a coincidence.

I know you’re last album just came out but do you have any future plans, any ideas for your next album?

Yeah I’ve been writing a lot and I have eight or more songs that I really like that are a little edgier and a little more upbeat and rockin’. I can’t stop writing. The day I stop writing is the day of given up. It’s a part of me; I have to keep doing it.

I don’t see the next one too far on the horizon. This one took awhile coming out hopefully I won’t make everyone wait as long for the next album.

-Alicia Agarrabeitia

“There will be, in the next generation or so, a pharmacological method of making people love their servitude, and producing dictatorship without tears, so to speak, producing a kind of painless concentration camp for entire societies, so that people will in fact have their liberties taken away from them, but will rather enjoy it, because they will be distracted from any desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing, or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods. And this seems to be the final revolution.”

~Aldous Huxley – Brave New World

+++

Pearl Jam – ‘Indifference’

I will light the match this morning so I won’t be alone.
Watch as she lies silent for soon that will be gone.
Oh, I will stand arms outstretched. Pretend I’m free to roam.
Oh, I will make my way through one more day in hell.

How much difference does it make? (x2)

I will hold the candle till it burns up my arm.
Oh, I’ll keep taking punches until their will grows tired.
Oh, I will stare the sun down until my eyes go blind.
Hey, I won’t change direction and I won’t change my mind.

How much difference does it make?
Mmm, how much difference does it make?
How much difference…

I’ll swallow poison until I grow immune.
I will scream my lungs out till it fills this room.

How much difference… (x2)
How much difference does it make? (x2)
Ooh… Ooh… Ooh…

+++

Continua para ver los videos:

Amarillo: Pearl Jam – Yellow Ledbetter

Naranja: R.E.M. – Orange Crush

Verde: Pink Floyd - Green Is The Colour

Negro: Soundgarden - Black Hole Sun

Azul: White Stripes - Blue Orchid

Blanco: Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit

Rojo: Rush – Red Barchetta

Purpura: Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze

Rosado: Aerosmith – Pink

Escarlata: Grateful Dead – Scarlet Begonias

#175 – Pearl Jam – “Last Kiss” – (1999)

If you missed the grunge scene but listened to the radio at all in the late 90s, then you might think that this is Pearl Jam’s crowning achievement (it isn’t: Ten was). But this cover of the 1964 version by J. Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers (which itself was a cover of an obscure song by Wayne Cochran & the C.C. Riders) was released as a single in 1999 – to big success.

This is a great live performance by Pearl Jam. Love these guys!

My Chemical Romance has spent almost a year in the studio recording their fourth album with producer Brendan O’Brien, who has worked with Pearl Jam and Bruce Springsteen.

So what will MCR’s follow up to The Black Parade sound like?  The boss meets pop-punk?

Not exactly.

Singer Gerard Way told Rolling Stone he wanted to “harness everything that’s great about this band into shorter songs. Almost protopunk, like the Stooges or the MC5.”[pullquote quote="protopunk, like the Stooges or the MC5"]

Way said “Trans am,” one of the tracks off the upcoming album, is what pushed the five boys from New Jersey into becoming “an American rock band instead of a British rock band.”  They’ve even recorded their own version of “Born to Run.”

Bruce would be so proud.

For more on My Chemical Romance’s new album, due out in Spring, 2010, check out the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine.