Smashing Pumpkins-Zeitgeist-07/07/07

It wasn't me!

It's not bad. No Siamese Dream, but few things are. I expect it to grow though, feels like that kind of album.

Den_M

I'm very impressed so far. Those expecting another Siamese Dream/Mellon Collie will be dissapointed, but whats the point of writing a copy of what's gone before. Billy's not going to write the songs he did while in his 20's anymore. The songs seem to be more direct and in your face than before. It's great to hear Billy and Jimmy going crazy on songs like United States and the end of Starz. Cmon Lets Go is probably my favourite so far. I'm just glad to have the boys back and writing great songs once again.

cornbb

Haven't managed to listen to this album yet. Does it feel like the Pumpkins? Does it have that sort of album-y cohesiveness and character that made so many Pumpkins albums great? I don't care if its not like Mellon Collie/Siamese Dream as long as it can stand up in its own right, with its own character, like all of their previous albums did.

The worst thing that could happen would be for it to be some sort of crappy reactionary album, copying the styles of the lesser generation of bands which have been around since the Pumpkin's heyday. This is a tactic used by lesser bands (e.g. U2, Green Day, Metallica) in their latter years in an attempt to boost their sales in lieu of their ability to continue writing good albums.

/rant over. I'll post my reactions here once i get hold of a copy

smackbunnybaby

cornbb wrote:

Haven't managed to listen to this album yet. Does it feel like the Pumpkins? Does it have that sort of album-y cohesiveness and character that made so many Pumpkins albums great? I don't care if its not like Mellon Collie/Siamese Dream as long as it can stand up in its own right, with its own character, like all of their previous albums did.

The worst thing that could happen would be for it to be some sort of crappy reactionary album, copying the styles of the lesser generation of bands which have been around since the Pumpkin's heyday. This is a tactic used by lesser bands (e.g. U2, Green Day, Metallica) in their latter years in an attempt to boost their sales in lieu of their ability to continue writing good albums.

/rant over. I'll post my reactions here once i get hold of a copy

Haven't managed to listen to this album yet.

Does it feel like the Pumpkins? YES

Does it have that sort of album-y cohesiveness and character that made so many Pumpkins albums great? YES

I don't care if its not like Mellon Collie/Siamese Dream as long as it can stand up in its own right, YES

with its own character, YES

Like all of their previous albums did. YES

I got the limited edition book and i am regretting it cus its big and bulky and fits no where. but i suppose it is limited edition for a reason....

cornbb

smackbunnybaby wrote:

YES

Sweeeet

Mushy

Finally got the album today, and I'm liking it. Much heavier than I thought it'd be. I really like the song Starz and Cos Thats The Way. Must listen to it more and more, I'll end up loving this thing

fortuneg

smackbunnybaby wrote:

I got the limited edition book and i am regretting it cus its big and bulky and fits no where. but i suppose it is limited edition for a reason....

Where'd you get it?

smackbunnybaby

i got it in hmv in galway

spaceboy

Got the album today also got the limited edition booklet.
only had a few quick listens ,so hard to formulate an opinion at this stage.
but it does seem to lack the pumpkins magic,kinda get the vibe that its like a side project for Billy & jimmy & they are using the name & legacy that is the smashing pumpkins to give it some credit.
it does'nt feel like a smashing pumpkins record which is a tad strange but early days yet, i could end up loving this

fortuneg

Hmm, was in just about every record shop in Dublin yesterday & didn't see the special edition. Red, green, faded and yellow... but no special edition:rolleyes:

evad_lhorg

im heading in tomorrow to pick up the 10th anniversary colour and the shape so ill try find this one too.


also just noticed the cover of the tarantula single.... weird.

fortuneg

Yeah it has the song The colour & the shape on it, won't have to listen to that vinyl version anymore!

smackbunnybaby

evad_lhorg wrote:

im heading in tomorrow to pick up the 10th anniversary colour and the shape so ill try find this one too.


also just noticed the cover of the tarantula single.... weird.

10th anniversary? colour and the shape?
dear god....i am getting old.....

cornbb

Picked up the S'pumpkins album yesterday evening. Haven't even gotten a chance to listen to the whole thing through yet but first impressions are pretty good.

FYI Zhivago's on Shop St, Galway, still have one or two limited edition copies in case anyone is looking for one.

John

Stupid amount of limited editions of this album. The wiki page is a headache!

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

evad_lhorg

Pciked this up yesterday. Hmv grafton st had a few limited editions as did tower records.

FionnMatthew

Long Term SP fan likes new album after repeated listening.

If you want to like this album, if you want more than anything for there to be another Smashing Pumpkins album in the world that you can listen to and like, then you can and will like it.

I think it's a return to form - it's not so much a new album as a revisitation of everything they've done before - sort of getting back into the SP skin. I think this album is a readjustment, before they get back into it, but it's great. I hope they can manage another one!

Doomsday Clock reminds me of The Airplane Flies High, Mouths of Babes or Where Boys Fear To Tread - Mellon Collie Era - with mean riff and harmonised answering phrase vocals. There's a bit in it that seems to come straight from Gish.

7 Shades of Black is more like a hybrid between the Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie aesthetics - The song phrasing reminds me of Quiet, but the chorus and lull are more like the quieter bits of Twilight to Starlight made loud and heavy.

Bleeding the Orchid borrows the melodic style for the chorus from the Adore era, with gorgeous Siamese Dream solos. It's basically what the general sound of Adore would have been, I think, if Jimmy had been around.

That's the Way is a Machina song, complete with the washed out noise sound, and the fuzzy guitar line hovering over everything. It takes a break with Siamese Dream style harmonic solos though. The chorus, come to think of it, is more Machina II than Machina.

Tarantula is just great. I think it references Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie, but it's tighter again, and keeps on the Zwan influence. Actually, the overall feel of the song reminds me more now of Pisces Iscariot songs like Frail and Bedazzled, Plume, Hello Kitty Cat, and A Girl Names Sandoz. The Drums are thunderous on this track.

Starz reminds me of nothing more than Ugly from Aeroplane Flies High, but the bit after the chorus is cool, I've never heard anything like it from SP. The ambient doubletracked solos are straight off Siamese Dream.

United States is in the tradition of X.Y.U or Tales of a Scorched Earth, but in the style of Rock On from the Judas O collection.

Never Lost reminds me again of the Machina era: opening verse and chorus tonally reference that album; but by the second verse it's more like the Adore outtakes, or the Machina Demos melodically. And the overall impression is of some of the recessionary tracks on Mellon Collie, particularly Twilight to Starlight. The solo is MachinaIIesque.

Bring the Light is the most different direction. It's more a composite song than anything the Pumpkins normally do. It's in tune with the Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie aesthetics again, but it's closest, perhaps, to some of the stuff on Aeroplane Flies High: the covers on Bullet With Butterfly Wings single, and "Said Sadly" - there's that melodic commitment, and the pop-song sensibility. There's a heavy bit after the second chorus that sounds like White Spider, and then a massive, amazing solo, tonally like a Brian May solo, but very Billy Corgan.

Come On (Let's Go) references Zwan, but appropriately, and more interestingly. It's like Billy Corgan doing a Weezer song. It's really good. And then it sounds mean like Zero for the B section, and switches back again.

For God and Country is an overdriven bass, sleezy funk song, with ironic lyrics sung over it. It falls within the Machina aesthetic, but the inclusion of the funk bassline opens out that sound to more interesting avenues.

Pomp and Circumstance reminds me of the last couple of songs on Siamese Dream: Luna and Sweet Sweet and also Mellon Collie: Stumbleine/By Starlight, but with the instrumentation of Beautiful and Lily (My One and Only) from Mellon Collie, and with the Adore era quiet song sensibility. Guitar solos reference those Siamese Dream songs (the louder, more epic ones) and also For Martha (the quieter, more incidental ones). There's also something of the Adore sounding B-sides off of Judas O on this song.

That's my impression of it. I for one am really happy. I feel like it's an album all of its own, but you still get a guided tour of the whole Smashing Pumpkins history. It's a great album, it's a good Smashing Pumpkins album, and I'm satisfied that if they do another one, it'll be a move back in the right direction.

Den_M

Bought the special edition yesterday in Virgin in Limerick city.

It's getting better with each listen.

Doomsday Clock, 7 Shades of Black, Bleeding the Orchid, That's The Way, Tarantula, United States, Starz and C'mon Let's Go are all really great tracks.

The others I'm not sure of yet. Haven't listened to the the last 2 more quirky tracks much yet.

The guitars at the end of Starz sound un bloody believable also!

James Hunt

I think it's absolute class, definately aligning more with the Pumpkins late 90's/Machina than with the later Zwan/BC solo, and very little electronica as such, which is a small pity as Corgan seems to have a fair gift for that. Starz and Bring the Light are right up there amongst the tall trees, as Corgan would say. Starz is an absolute mofo of a tune....Loud guitars, JC giving it socks, Billy whining away....great stuff.

fortuneg

Have to say i really didn't think this album would grow on me but it has, obviously not up there with their best but it sounds as if they're getting back into the swing of things.

Ibjiba

This album is a disappointment to me. It seems like they are trying too much with the lyrics.

Sephiroth_dude

its an alright album,nothing spectactular,even though i suspose i should give it a few more listens,let it grow on me,and there are'nt really any songs that reach out and grab me by the ball or any real memorable ones, except for united states thats a good song.......once it gets going that is :rolleyes:

and thats my 2cents on the album =D

AbusesToilets

I'm liking it so far,some of the tracks tho... just not quite there.As other people have intoned,the album feels like the band are getting back into the swing of things.They haven't quite found their groove yet.When i first heard Neverlost i thought my Zen must have put on a Chili Peppers song,the melody sounds very similar to one off of Stadium Arcadium imo.
Still,it's just such a pleasure to have some new Pumpkins songs

impr0v

Sorry to drag up an old thread but I just got the album two days ago. Have to say I agree with the below. I like a few of the songs, Doomsday, Orchid, Bring the Light, but overall it's a tad lifeless imo. Perhaps it will grow on me too, but at this point it seems to me that the angry spark and dynamism that was in my favorite Pumpkins stuff is missing.

fortuneg wrote:

Have to say i am not impressed with this album at all.
Musically i suppose it's ok but i think Corgan has really lost something vocals wise. It's like he's been going to singing lessons and has lost that snarl from the first 4 albums.
Also the vocals just don't seem to fit over the music very well, i can't really pick out what this is down to.

As far as the music goes im very disappointed with the lack of dynamics, thats what really set the Pumpkins apart from many other bands of their time.