Backspacer

This article is about the 2009 Pearl Jam album. For the 1996 Supergroove album, see Backspacer (Supergroove album). For the keyboard key, see Backspace.

Backspacer
A series of nine line drawings featuring a flaming train, a cross-section of a male human body, a stage magician, a woman diving in a synchronized swimming costume, a brain in a vat, a drummer in outer space, a man standing in front of a robot and UFOs, a man riding a tricycle beneath the legs of giant women and a woman melting into a sea of purple fluid.
Studio album by
Pearl Jam
ReleasedSeptember 20, 2009 (2009-09-20)
RecordedFebruary 16 – April 30, 2009
Studio
Genre
Length36:38
LabelMonkeywrench
ProducerBrendan O'Brien
Pearl Jam chronology
Pearl Jam
(2006) 		Backspacer
(2009) 		Live on Ten Legs
(2011)
Singles from Backspacer
  1. "The Fixer"
    Released: August 24, 2009
  2. "Got Some"/"Just Breathe"
    Released: October 31, 2009
  3. "Amongst the Waves"
    Released: May 17, 2010

Backspacer is the ninth studio album by the American rock band Pearl Jam, released on September 20, 2009. The band members started writing instrumental and demo tracks in 2007, and got together the following year to work on an album. It was recorded from February through April 2009 with producer Brendan O'Brien, who had worked on every Pearl Jam album except their 1991 debut Ten and 2006's self-titled record—although this was his first production credit since 1998's Yield. Material was recorded at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles, California, and O'Brien's own Southern Tracks Recording in Atlanta, Georgia. The album features lyrics with a more optimistic look than the politically infused predecessors Riot Act and Pearl Jam, something frontman Eddie Vedder attributed to the election of Barack Obama. This is also the first album since 1996's No Code for which all lyrics for the album were written solely by Vedder. At 36 minutes and 38 seconds, Backspacer has the shortest running time of any Pearl Jam studio album.

The band released the album through its own label Monkeywrench Records with worldwide distribution by Universal Music Group via a licensing agreement with Island Records. Physical copies of the record were sold through Target in North America, and promotion included a deal with Verizon, a world tour, and moderately successful singles "The Fixer" and "Got Some"/"Just Breathe". Reviews for Backspacer were largely positive, praising the sound and composition, and the album became Pearl Jam's first chart topper in the U.S. Billboard 200 since No Code, while also topping the charts in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

  1. ^ Goodman, William (September 30, 2009). "Pearl Jam's 'Backspacer' Hits No.1!". Spin. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference pitchforkmedia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).