User Score
Universal acclaim- based on 241 Ratings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 213 out of 241
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Mixed: 22 out of 241
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Negative: 6 out of 241
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Jul 7, 2012an amazing work for an amazing band that proves they are still relevant and still a music genius
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Nov 12, 2012Pearl Jam, a rock band built on survival, has pulled through after the death of Grunge music. As one of the only Grunge bands of the early nineties left in existence, Pearl Jam has constantly been pressured to create music that doesn
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Jun 3, 2011Meh, pretty boring album, nothing really special but it isn't awful.
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DonalMOct 25, 2009I'm a huge PJ fan, but this is hugely disappointing drivel. Its one of those albums, and I don't come across many, where I couldn't find any reasons to have a second listen. Since it was Pearl Jam, it got a second listen, and a third, but it still sounds like a whole album of filler. Its now out of the CD player and I don't know if it will go back in.
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Jun 6, 2011
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ChrisTOct 15, 2009Great album. 20 years and still kicking out awesome rock and mid tempo songs.
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mikegOct 2, 2009Ok so Pitchforks review sums this album up nicely. i bought this album without hearing it.. if it wasnt PJ i would never buy a cd of a band that sounds so generic. when the first song is filler you know there is trouble. well at least its better than Chris Cornells last solo cd lol.
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RobOct 2, 2009A nice short collection of songs. One of the best albums that Pearl Jam has ever recorded. Rock on guys!!
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MattAOct 8, 2009
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RobCamSep 25, 2009I'm a huge Pearl Jam fan but when it comes down to it this album really doesn't stand up with the rest. Put it somewhere in the range of No Code, which I have to say can outplay Backspacer. Admittingly Got Some and Unthought Known are excellent songs.
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WesA.Sep 29, 2009When the tide rises, all boats are lifted.
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PerspicaciousCriticSep 30, 2009I miss the weirdness.
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KevinMSep 30, 2009Favorite album since No Code...if you've ever liked Pearl Jam, you need to get this album.
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GustavoMOct 13, 2009Solid album, all songs are very good, this album doesn't have that experimental songs like red point, wasted reprise, wich is very good to me. All songs re radio candidates. Excellent Work.
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RubinSOct 16, 2009The best album of 2009 ...Backspacer..Awesome songs!!!
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AkmalS.Oct 1, 2009Just when u thought that Pearl Jam's in their comfort zone, they change direction rightaway! So fast that you could only wonder how or why. But that's Pearl Jam, and that's what make them the greatest band in the world today!
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SimG.Oct 1, 2009Backspacer is good. Not Ten good, but maybe Binaural good, or Yield good. The Fixer is a nice catchy song, the equivalent of let
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ClaudioDOct 20, 2009
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DavidROct 20, 2009Bland stadium rock.
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BradJDec 5, 2009Just brilliant.
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KevinW.Oct 6, 2009Solid album from rocks most relevant crew.
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BillyB.Oct 6, 2009My favorite album since..........well since their last one!! Songs that have you up moving or laying in bed with your headphones on wiping a tear from your eye!If you love pearl jam its simple,,,you love this album.
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GregBOct 8, 2009Great album. One of their best yet. On par with Vitalogy.
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HectorHSep 21, 2009Best Pearl Jam album since the holy trinity in the early 90's. There' s something here for EVERYONE. Got Some will kick your patooty!
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SashoKSep 20, 2009
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JamesHSep 20, 20099 albums in and still releasing GREAT music.
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marksSep 22, 2009A short but amazingly well written, well performed and well produced album. Great songs that we'll hear for a long time to come. Unthought Known is classic rock!
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RyanLSep 20, 2009Pearl Jam's strongest effort in over a decade.
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SeanTSep 22, 2009Thank God for Pearl Jam. Either in the studio or as a live act they continue to be superb. Everything about Backspacer is top notchfrom the punkish to ballads with strings and 9 records in perhaps their most mature.
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DanCSep 23, 2009Great record. Do not read the pitchfork review and take it seriously, that's the real reason why I posted.
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BackSpacerSep 23, 2009
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RogerSep 23, 2009Great album!
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DLSep 24, 2009Simply a great, fun album. Nothing overly political and mostly an introspective album. Can't wait to hear this live!!!
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JordiFSep 28, 2009Excellent album from one of greatest rock bands ever.
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StephenDNov 3, 2009Pearl Jam have embraced their fun side on Backspacer, with excellent results. Pitchfork, of course, hates it..... which is usually a good sign that I'll like it.
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JTNov 9, 2009I'm torn. The first six songs quite splendid, but the latter half kind of sags. All and all, the record is about as good as their 2006 self-titled album, just with the tracks in a less logical order. Pearl Jam fans will probably not be disappointed, but not stunned either.
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JmiHOct 2, 2009Delivers on the promise of the Avocado album. Eddie and the boys totally recapture the mojo they have not had since Yield... or perhaps even Vitalogy.
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ChrisCOct 25, 2009Claudio D., your English is magical. That was beautiful. Eddie would be proud. Great album; welcome back, Pearl Jam.
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MohamedISep 21, 2009Let me start by saying I have been a Pearl Jam fan since ten, n this album truly rocks! its stacks of fun from the first listen which also makes it the most accessible Pearl Jam album to date.o out buy it and enjoy!!
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FrankGSep 21, 2009Some of the bands best work since the early 1990s.
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PatrickBSep 21, 200910 on 10 is the TEN album. Then came Yield and now Backspacer with the same quote..9 / 10" Really excellent. The song : Gonna see my friend and Got some rocks like dynamite Thank's again PJ. See you in Montreal soon.
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billSep 21, 2009Pearl Jam doing what they do best! In your face rock music.
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ericcSep 21, 2009
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ChrisWSep 21, 2009Arguably Pearl Jam's finest album in the last ten years. From the cracking pace, power and fun of the opening 4 songs to the beautifully uplifting centrepiece trio of Just Breath, Amongst The Waves and Unthought Known, and onwards, this is cohesive, uplifting and enjoyable piece of rock and roll gold.
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BrandonGSep 21, 2009Just an awesome CD. Pearl Jam's ninth studio release does not disappoint.
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cheSep 21, 2009This album takes the JAM out of the group, short, quick, non-musicianship songs, it's as if they rushed to print a new album with no reason, just stay on tour with what has worked for the last 17 years, unnecessary "release" (no pun).
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rezalSep 21, 2009The new wave of pearl jam, i like this album just as much i like other pj album. but definitely they cross new border on tthis one...comparing to other music album available today, this one is simply the best by far...an album that you can spin all over without getting bored.
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IanSep 20, 2009Another great album by PJ. What else do you expect!
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MikePSep 22, 2009Pitchfork sucks. They'll push their lame indie rock, if-there's-not-46-different-instruments-playing-in-disharmony-it's-not-for-us agenda regardless of what the music really sounds like. Bunch of posers.
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LisaQuintilianSep 22, 2009This gets better with every play. I must have for any music fan.
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NickJ.Sep 23, 2009TEN used to be my favourite Pearl Jam album, and second favourite alt-rock album next to Alice in Chain's DIRT. When this album came out, I picked it up a couple days later and was extremely impressed with it. It's short, but it doesn't overstay its welcome, and is a lot more upbeat than older PJ music. A good listen if you're into Alt-Rock.
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DamienMSep 23, 2009Truly excellent album.
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DaveS.Sep 23, 2009This album is an instant classic.
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DjR.Sep 23, 2009Great Band, Great Album!
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SWillSep 23, 2009
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MikeLSep 24, 2009Great straight forward rock album. Best Pearl Jam album in years.
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FrancesRSep 24, 2009This is a great album that you can put on and never feel the need to skip a track. In the past three Pearl Jam albums some of the songs feel like filler, however, in the new album this is not the case. One never feels like their time is being wasted. This album is short but perfect... thus far it may be the rock album of the year.
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BobGSep 25, 2009The band has moved on and what fun. This is not the record to make us forget 10 but it is the beginning of that process.
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GabrielBSep 26, 2009Fantastic album- their best, easily, since Yield. While their last two albums had a couple of good moments, Backspacer is the first PJ album in years that actually sounds finished. Very fun, tightly written, and nicely produced album. Eddie's best vocal work in years and years.
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CalD.Sep 27, 2009A fantastic return to form. The perfect mix of slow songs (Unthought Known) and faster harder songs (Got Some). Awesome - Get it now!!
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GatorB.Sep 29, 2009This is a very tight PJ album and their least-political album since No Code. It sounds like the guys are comfortable with where they are at in life and having some fun enjoying it. I disagree with the Pitchfork
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DamiangOct 21, 2009Brought me back to the days of Ten, VS, even the excitement I felt after first listening to No Code. Brilliant!
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DavidPSep 21, 2009Beautiful album. You can say that "Pearl Jam are too this or that," but they're simply a rock band. This happens to be an honest, sincere and melodic rock album--nothing more, nothing less. Great job by the boys!
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lluremSep 21, 2009They are still alive vs the rock dead with a vitality and just one code a signal of yield on the highway of a binaural universe, just a riot act and one name: pearl jam.
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MikeASep 22, 2009Great album, very different for these guys, but still great. My favorite since Binaural.
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danielgSep 22, 2009For 35 minutes and 11 songs i thought it was an extension of lost dogs( more b sides). that's okay i guess just not as strong as the previous album PEARL JAM.
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DavidFSep 22, 2009Nothing reinvented here. Just great rock music.
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MarkA.Sep 22, 2009Backspacer is a winner. Great cd by one of the greatest bands of alltime.
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MarkA.Sep 22, 2009Backspacer is a winner. Great cd by one of the greatest bands of alltime.
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ST.Sep 23, 2009Good but not great. Better than Riot Act or S/T though.
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DKSep 23, 2009
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TightPantsSep 23, 2009I'm totally with Pitchfork on this one! (and normally I never am)... too generic and soulless to my liking.
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DannyL.Sep 23, 2009Nothing reinvented, that's for sure. Just a brilliant, underrated band continuing the conversation about what it means to be human (Steve Almond's definition of art.) Pitchfork DOES suck.
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GeorgeW.Sep 24, 2009Fantastic Record, the real Pearl Jam is back!
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chriscSep 24, 2009Better than almost everything out there. Same formula, but the sound has matured a bit. Sounds like it could be the second disc to the last cd. Just a little bit better. Overall, a great record. Is it there best? I'd say better than there last three.
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brunoa.Sep 27, 2009Simple and Splendid.
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mikeo.Sep 27, 2009Great Album! A MUST Have!
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FrankJ.Sep 28, 2009Totally, thoroughly average product from a band that used to at least aim for playful and curious. If you love over-processed, hookless tunes designed to get arenas full of 35-year-old dudes pumping their fists in unison, this one's for you.
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WesCNov 17, 2009One of the best albums of the years.
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Dec 9, 2011A strong set of songs from the rock gods of the 90's era. It doesn't quite live up to their old stuff, particularly Vs or Vitalogy, but still a nice collection here.
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Feb 19, 2012
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Jun 30, 201217 years after the bands debut album 'Ten' and Pearl Jam have evidently changed. But this album shows a different side that is still almost as good as ever. It may be less 'rocky' but it still shows great ability to stay consistently good for so long
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Feb 24, 2020Backspacer is an excellent album that sees Pearl Jam continue to make poppy rock hits about being fed up with work and suicide and the typical frustrations of settling in to life.
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Oct 27, 2013Almost 20 years after their debut, Pearl Jam is still managing to write some of the freshest and catchiest songs of their career. This is a must-have album.
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May 11, 2016
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Nov 6, 2022
Awards & Rankings
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Backspacer, Pearl Jam's ninth album, backspaces to that boyish spirit, with the shortest, tightest, punkiest tunes they've ever banged out.
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For the first time in years, Pearl Jam are seizing the moment rather than wallowing in it.
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UncutThe commitment that Vedder brings to all this material, from the rowdiest thrashing to the schmaltziest ballad makes this feel like a unified and ultimately convincing project. [Oct 2009, p.90]