rone | pearl jam, /backspacer/

Backspacer is easily Pearl Jam's most disappointing album. Unlike Vs. or Vitalogy, the problem here isn't some gems buried among unsuccessful experiments; its biggest flaw is laziness. "The Fixer", their first single, was promising due to its somewhat different sound from previous albums; when you hear the whole album, though, what stands out is how similar it is to the most of the other tracks: it's short, structurally simple, and lacking any musical depth. The whole album lasts less than 37 minutes. It's not a bad album, i suppose, but it's certainly not good. It's eminently forgettable (Results 1 - 100 of about 71,200 for "eminently forgettable"; does that qualify it as a cliché?). "Just Breathe" sounds like it would be much more at home on an Eddie Vedder solo album. They'd better pick up their game on the next album.