| StoreTags: smashing pumpki, zeigeist
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I finally got my copy of the new pumpkins album "zeitgeist" in the mail today. Since the pumpkins broke up, I've felt an empty space in my gut that used to be filled with RAWK! The first track, doomsday clock, kicks off with the solid wall of guitar tracks that made me fall in love with the pumpkins in the first place, and pretty much maintains momentum for the rest of the album. For those of you who have a soft spot for the smashing pumpkins like I do, corgan does not disappoint. This album got me dreaming again. That said, the mix is a little weird in some spots. Vocals tend to stand out a lot in the mix. Unfortunately 5 of the 12 tracks were produced by corgan and jimmy chamberlain. Dudes can rock hard, but I keep hoping to find some alternate mixes somewhere.
Some of the lyrics take a bit of warming up to as well. I'm not sure if previous albums were filtered through my adolescent brain, or if this album occasionally detours from his usual way with words. All of the songs have a political agenda. I personally think Corgan shines when he's singing about his personal life. Perhaps that accounts for the different feel?
Another derivation seems to be the approach to song structure. Past Pumpkin albums had their fair share of radio hits, but the other tracks tended to develop formally and orchestrationally (which ultimately gave the albums staying power imho). This one feels more like a come back album - variations of older radio hits. The plus side is that each song is fairly head bobby heavy.
All of these grievances sound contradictory to my initial comments. Don't get me wrong, the album is nasty! It's larger than life rock music that makes me feel like there's something to believe in again. Corgan also seems to have been listening to some new stuff. A few of the tracks feature some extended guitar techniques (track 7 "united states") during break down sections.
I can't say that this album will be for everyone. I bet there are a fair amount of people who already hated the pumpkins, and even more who will hate "the new band" because they're not exactly like the old one. However, I'm personally flipping out over this new release. My favorite rock band of all time is back!!! Although this record won't replace mellon collie and the infinite sadness in my book, it has rejuvinated me in ways I can't describe and will likely be a key element in overcoming any sort of creative crisis' I may have bitched about in the last year or so. While the songs are nothing new, they remind me of what it felt like to fall in love with music. | |
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07/17/07
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Roshi
Well, you guys did invent fartronica
07/17/07
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mlbot
i mean, if yer gonna be a pretentious snobhole, why not go that extra step and explore the wonderful world of megalomania?
now if you would all excuse me, I'm off to go reinvent IDM. I promise to give it a better name next time. Like "IDM v2". Or "post-idm". "Intellicore". "Squabblecore"... or maybe "fongtcore"
07/17/07
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monty
fuck the Smegging Pimpkins
im still waiting for the next Stone Roses album.
07/17/07
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astroid
i hear they're doing a double album with the verve soon.
07/17/07
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jogn
you mean the third coming?
07/17/07
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monty
lol... the verve.
Richard Hashcroft. c u n t
07/17/07
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astroid
man, don't f*ck with mick jagger's $$, that's all i can say
07/17/07
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slp
""when was the last time i enjoyed a new record by an 'old' indie rock band that i used to enjoy in the 90ies ?""
"Yo .. La .. Tengo? ,,, maybe?"
Hey, youre right! Yo La Tengo is still a great band. Also , how can i forget ... : Pram !!
07/17/07
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hardvoltnine
i hate the cover
07/18/07
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Tripnik
first of all, it's been a LOOOOOONG time since the smashing pumpkins were an indie band. Siamese dream was NOT an indie release. By that time they had pretty huge friggin budgets, and videos were being made specifically for the intent of being released on mtv. Perhaps gish or pices iscariot were indie?....I can't vouch for those. I've been under the impression that they've always been pretty damned huge. Even in the earlier phases, they had pretty nice effin' labels doing a lot of stuff for them. Just look at all the equipment they had even in the early days.
Second, ava adore was released under a sublabel of virgin. Claims are that the "reinventing electronica" statements were made not by the pumpkins, but by people misinterpreting what they had said. At this time, Corgan was getting interested in electronics, and since chamberlain was fired, they used a drum machine. I also can't vouch for the accuracy of these allegations, but I could see how things could get twisted around.
Third, as far as the marketing campain goes, I think it's brilliant. I can see how people can be pissed that smaller record stores would get hosed, but first, most hip indie record stores I know of wouldn't actually carry the pumpkins album. They tend to specialize more in smaller local and or otherwise underground bands. The pumpkins are modern day glam rock. Second, the pumpkins have been pretty good about working with the p2p copyright issues etc. Machina ii was distributed freely to the public, and people who received a physical copy were encouraged to rip it and distribute it on the internet. There have been countless remix competitions, etc, and the glass and the machines of god animations were free as well. Perhaps the intent was not to support target or whatever, but knowing that a huge portion of listeners would be downloading the album for free, by making multiple version of the album, perhaps people would buy at least one copy in an effort to complete their collection.
Don't get me wrong. The pumpkins are part of the corporate music machine, and in a lot of ways are on par with metallica and all those other mega stars who get crap about selling out and sacrificing their "art" etc. They're not reinventing anything, and the new album really isn't very new. However, for those of us who have been playing their old records non stop since we heard them, this new record provides something a little different, yet similar enough to be signature pumpkins work.
I probably sound really pissy, but really, I think having a negative reaction to the record is incredibly obvious. A lot of pumpkins fans will probably hate this record, let alone people who didn't really like them in the first place. Yes, they have a lot of money and are backed by a huge label. No, this record is not going to be a classic like siamese dream or mellon collie. Yes, after 7 years and almost a complete cast change, the songs/sound is going to be different. Yes, they're going to make a lot of money off this record whether it's successful or not. My review was to encourage those of you who want to believe to make your own decision. A lot of shit is going to be said by various people, but I urge you to listen to the album first and at least hate it because you actually hate it. If you're really skeptical, download it, then buy it if you like it.
also, there are no bleeding heart slow songs on this album. That's something that I kind of wished was there.
07/18/07
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mixedtape
i actually kinda like it, but i agree with your sentiment on the wishing for more rock ballads. i think as an album it's decent, not amazing. there are a few tracks that sound like they are trying something different but for the most part it's very true to the sound that I fell in love with.
07/18/07
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SeanShea
I have always said that the measure of true character in a person is NOT how they treat their family and friends.
The measure of true worth is how a person treats the help.
When i worked at the Catering kitchen at a Large Performance venue my responsibility was to feed the rock stars anything what their contract asked for.
I was treated nicely by a lot of people, Flea and the rest of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Ramones, .38 special, The Coasters, Blues Traveler, Pearl Jam, ...
The Pixes and Fishbone were especially nice because they were bands who were fighting with each other all day but took time out to be nice to the kitchen folks.
The biggest assholes ever were The Smashing Pumpkins and they were just an opening act for Pearl Jam and the Chili Peppers.
They acted like children and sent things back without giving a reason and made the chef guess what was wrong with it as a little game that seemed to make them laugh. They also wasted enough food to feed everyone on this board plus the other two bands.
So as a direct result I've never been into them.
07/18/07
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Roshi
My partner used to be a dresser for San Francisco opera, and said it was the same. The top notch talent were really nice, wonderful, and fun to be around.
It was the second tier prima donnas who were insecure (because they really weren't that great) who screamed and had tantrums and treated people like dirt.
Even though I still love gish, siamese dream, and pisces iscariot, behavior like that is bullshit.
07/18/07
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owl
a total coincidence, i had just put on smashing pumpkins before reading this blog.
rhinoceros : D
a quite scary coincidence as I haven't listened to pumpkins for months.
07/19/07
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pandp
that letter was a hoax link
also there are some excellent zeitgeist b-sides that are more SDish, stellar, zeitgeist(track) and death from above
and corgan must have been asleep while mixing Starz
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