|
It’s been seven years since we last heard an
album from seminal alternative band Smashing Pumpkins.
Interestingly enough this reunion of sorts, which
includes founding members Jimmy Chamberlain and Billy
Corgan alongside a new bassist, second guitarist,
and a keyboard player, began as a newspaper ad in
Chicago that Corgan took out. In the now infamous
ad he asserted the independence of what the band had
spent their lives building and that he would be re-embracing
it whether people bought their records or not. Years
later the promises and assertion of the ad have come
to fruition in the form of Zeitgeist.
This time around the Pumpkins are doing some things
differently. For example instead of massive world
tours the band has taken up residency since debuting
in Paris, France earlier this year. Taking cues from
longstanding Vegas shows, this is an interest concept
for a band’s live show and may be a good indication
of what the future holds. The band held a sold out
nine night residency first in Asheville, NC and then
moved on to a thirteen night stand in San Francisco,
also sold out, and may add more dates to the San Francisco
run. Additionally, the album is comprised of only
Corgan and Chamberlain, together handling all the
instrumentation and songwriting.
While the approach may be odd, if not groundbreaking
for a rock band, the sound is somewhat familiar. Zeitgeist
is a blend of Corgan’s solo work and the band’s
schizophrenic, nine times platinum, double album,
Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness. Lush orchestration
and heavy psychedelics adorn the slower songs while
Corgan’s signature whine and thin, fuzz laden
guitars explode on the rock songs. Unfortunately the
songwriting here is far from the Corgan’s best,
resulting in a confusing mix of not very well produced
songs.
The rock songs here are the key to the album, particularly
“Doomsday Clock” and the lead single “Tarantula.”
As a matter of fact those are the only two songs that
initially stand out. As with most Pumpkin’s
albums you have to let Zeitgeist sink in a bit before
making any judgments as a number of the songs become
more likable over time. Also familiar to Pumpkins
fans is the fact that you have to be in the right
mood for these songs to truly strike you. Case in
point is “That’s the Way (My Love Is).”
This has become my favorite song on the album and
the single song that I believe is the key to truly
understanding the album as a whole. It reminds me
a lot of the songs from the band’s last studio
album, Machina, in that it is tremendously subtle
but when it hits you it becomes an instant classic,
much like “Stand Inside Your Love.” “Bleeding
the Orchid” and the gentle anthem “Starz”
grow on you as well, eventually boring their melodies
into your brain unexpectedly.
I’m glad I have been able to spend some time
with the Pumpkins latest album because this review
would have been much different a week ago. These songs
take some time and attention to truly hit you. I think
the reasons for this are simply Corgan’s spirituality
(there are a lot of things hiding in these songs,
musically and lyrically) and the bad production. This
is the worst sounding Pumpkins album by far and often
Corgan’s vocal is so loud it borders on annoying,
particularly on the slow songs. Corgan does not have
a pretty voice. That said, about half this album is
what you are hoping for so do with that information
what you will. For all intents and purposes this is
most certainly a rebirth and not a reunion.
Key Tracks: “Tarantula,” “Doomsday
Clock,” “That’s the Way (My Love
Is)”
Reviewed By Mark Fisher |
