Way back before the Smashing Pumpkins were superstars, right around the release of Siamese Dream, it was already an open secret that they were not a democracy; they were a dictatorship, ruled under the iron fist of singer/songwriter/guitarist/conceptualist Billy Corgan. He came up with their sound, equal parts metal and dream pop, he wrote the songs, and, according to most reports, he recorded almost all the guitars and bass on their albums, masterminding their sound down to the littlest details. Anybody that meticulous was also sharp enough to know the value of image too, so Corgan knew it was better to present the Smashing Pumpkins as a full-fledged band, not a solo project, and he came up with a diverse lineup ideally matched for the alt-rock '90s: he was the skinny misfit leader, surrounded by female bassist D'Arcy, Japanese-American guitarist James Iha, and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who came across like an old metalhead on the prowl for freaky chicks. They didn't look like a band; they looked like the idea of a band, which was appealing in its own right, but for as photogenic as they were, the reason the Pumpkins turned into stadium-conquering monsters was Corgan's outsized music, which was nothing if not deliberately, self-consciously dramatic. His commitment to grand gestures was cemented when he disbanded the Smashing Pumpkins at the turn of the millennium, about a year after former Hole bassist Melissa auf der Maur replaced D'Arcy and just as Iha was beginning to bolt. The group was beginning to fracture, but the retirement of the band's name seemed like confirmation that the Pumpkins were a concrete idea for Corgan, that they were a band that served a particular moment in time, and once that moment in time had passed, so had the band. The very fact that he pretty much was the Pumpkins lent this move integrity, since it was clear that Billy could keep the ball rolling, ushering new musicians in and out under the same moniker with nobody but the hardcore being any wiser, but instead of taking that easy road, he decided to make a clean break and pursue other projects.
As it turns out, the Smashing Pumpkins era did mark a phase in Corgan's career: the time that people paid attention to him. Without that name, Corgan started playing to an ever-more selective audience, first as the leader in the deceptively sunny Zwan and then on an icy, alienating 2005 solo album, The Future Embrace, where Corgan channeled his inner Martin Gore. Neither was a radical musical departure from the Pumpkins -- even The Future Embrace had its roots in Adore -- but that didn't matter, since taken together they had the cumulative effect of marginalizing Corgan, and if there was ever a place Billy didn't want to be it was on the margin. From the very beginning, he wanted to lead the biggest, most important band in the land, eventually getting his wish as he used the indie rock underground as a catapult to mainstream stardom, but once his star began to wane he panicked and played the one card he had left in his deck: getting the band back together. On the day The Future Embrace was released, he took out a full-page ad in his hometown paper the Chicago Tribune announcing that the Smashing Pumpkins were reuniting. The only hitch was, he didn't tell any of the other members of the impending reunion, but as it turns out, only Chamberlin -- who was already drumming with Corgan -- was interested in signing up, leaving the Smashing Pumpkins as a band in name only, a Billy Corgan project at its core. This was precisely the very thing he seemed to avoid when he retired the band at the turn of the millennium, and returning to his marquee name gave this reunion a sense of desperation, as if he had nowhere else to go, and the ensuing 2007 album Zeitgeist does nothing to erase the suspicion that Corgan is anxious to regain his status as ock & roll god. To this end, he makes Zeitgeist the hardest, heaviest Pumpkins album ever, layering the record with endless guitar overdubs that wind up feeling like overcompensation, not just for the synth-driven Future Embrace but as a blustering retort to any skeptic who questions the validity of this reunion. Of course, bombast has always been par for the course for Corgan and the Pumpkins, but at their peak they truly did achieve sense of majesty, either in their dreamy, softer psychedelic side or their towering torrents of metallic guitar. Here Corgan has blunted his attack, removing much of the sense of beauty both in the allads (which invariably are icy here, stilted synth sculptures, not the quivering, gentle pop of "1979" or the strings and acoustic guitars of "Disarm") and the rockers, which was a key to the Pumpkins' appeal. What made "Cherub Rock" or "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" work is how the sighing melody acted as a counterpoint to the ferocious guitars, but on Zeitgeist he buries his threadbare melodies beneath squeals of overly processed guitars. More than anything, it's this digitally dulled sound that saps Zeitgeist from any great impact it may have, but it's also true that there's import to the title: for the first time, Corgan is trying to address the wrongs of society, which is a big change for a writer who has spent his career turning the intimate into the operatic.
took me forever to buy this album.a diehard SP fan.. since i was 14.... but never one of those people who would tattoo their name on my ass or anything. i just wanted to say- the album is pretty good. things always change.. especially in music. people always hem n haw about 'how different new music becomes' as more albums arrive by an artist. but i can say- i wasnt depressed by the production o...
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The Smashing Pumpkins headline the North stage.The dust had cleared from a highly-acclaimed Saturday night set by headliners The Police, but Baltimore's Virgin Festival was still going strong Sunday morning.Brazilian electro-rockers CSS kicked off the second day at the Pimlico Fairgrounds. Judging by their outrageous costumes and the many balloons onstage, this band clearly brought the party wi...
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I’ve been a fan of the Pumpkins ever since I first saw them in 1998. Yes, I jumped on the bandwagon a bit late — Billy Corgan and crew had been dominating alternative rock since their 1991 debut, “Gish,” and their subsequent masterpieces “Siamese Dream” and “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.” But my tardiness gave me even more reason to await their new album, “Zeitgeist,”
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this is a mp3, it is nice as spanish rice
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First off, let me say that the smashing pumpkins are one of my favorite bands ever, and i've been waiting eagerly for the release of this record since Billy Corrigan said it might happen (more than 2 years ago).I listened to it on the radio tonight. There are definately some cool instrumentals, and there are parts of songs that I like a lot, but ultimately it feels like Billy Corrigan has noth...
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Ok, raise your hand if when you heard they were reforming you were absolutely assured that any reunion album by The Smashing Pumpkins would be a trivial, indulgent train wreck of useless ideas and throw-away studio tracks. Let's see...that many of you?! Ok, now a show of hands for those who really, really wanted it to work; those who sat patiently through Zwan and "The Future Embrace" just tryi...
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This week's Tuesday Tunes marks the return of The Smashing Pumpkins.Visit Write State of Mind for a mini-review and sound selections (plus two downloads) from their upcoming album, Zeitgeist.
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On first listen, you might be forgiven for mistaking Zeitgeist as a b-sides/unreleased compilation of Pumpkins oddities, but listen a bit longer and the new and arguably improved Smashing Pumpkins lineup show there is still enough of the original Corgan recipe to warrant a few moments of your time.To be quite honest, I was a total late bloomer when it came to getting into the Pumpkins. All my f...
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I just heard the single "Tarantula" from Smashing Pumpkins new album Zeitgeist. All I can say is "Ew. Ew. Ew. Go back to the 90s." Yeesh, what a crappy track. It's got like seventeen guitar solos and it's only 4 minutes long. God. VOMITPlus, I don't know if you've heard about their clever marketing plan...(which is most likely to ensure the album's monetary success, as well as simultaneously...
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Wasn't it originally supposed to be "The" Smashing Pumpkins? As in, "I say, gov'na, those are some smashing pumpkins!"? Well whatever. I was worried that I wouldn't like this track but I think it's actually pretty sweet. It's definitely more aggressive than anything since "Mellon Collie" and it's nice to hear Corgan getting angsty again. I panned his solo album based on an ill impression of the...
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You know, I'm as excited for the return of the Pumpkins as anyone else... beyond my initial excitement for the announcement of the Release [7/7/07 is a Saturday?] I am remaining a little scared that without D'Arcy and James, that it will be something less than what I've expected out of this amazing group. I hope Billy and Jimmy realize what is at stake here. Maybe I'm hyping it up a little too ...
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According to FMQB [http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=347234], Smashing Pumpkins will release a new album on July 7th entitled Zeitgeist. Their record label, Reprise, mentioned that they don't actually have a solid release date for the album, but whatever. Only two of the original four members will be present - Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. If you're in Europe and looking to see th...
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To capture the mood of our times with the album cover for ZEITGEIST—the forthcoming album by THE SMASHING PUMPKINS—the band turned to acclaimed Obey Giant graphic designer and illustrator Shepard Fairey. After being given the album’s title to work with, Fairey came up with a haunting image: it’s a red, black and white illustration of a drowning Statue of Liberty, positioned in front of the
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Want to guarantee free tickets to Smashing Pumpkins shows, here's your chance. The Smashing Pumpkins are looking for five new writers for their Web site, or as they put it "the Smashing Pumpkins Media Militia." According to a "blog post on their MySpace page":http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=9685952&blogID=357643545 the positions will be paid, but considered part-...
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After announcing their two summer residencies (Asheville’s Orange Peel and San Francisco’s Fillmore) earlier this week, the Smashing Pumpkins have released the cover art for their first album in nine years, Zeitgeist. The band hired artist Shepard Fairey who came up with the idea of the Staute of Liberty drowning in water, or even could be blood (it depends how deep you want to get). Cover of
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Fans who missed the Smashing Pumpkins’ first show back in seven years at Paris’ Grand Rex on May 22, 2007 can let out a little sigh of relief. The band has released their first official video from the 2007 tour via their MySpace page. All the footage is from the Pumpkins’ first show in Paris, including load-in, soundcheck, backstage and preformance footage. This is the first official video i
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As previously reported, frontman Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin of Smashing Pumpkins gave fans the opportunity to send in video recorded questions via Youtube which in turn would be answered in like fashion. The arrangement is called 'Ask A Pumpkin' and tackled the tough questions, for instance, why Paris Hilton? The band sifted through over a hundred questions and responded to a fe...
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You probably weren’t there. I wasn’t there. But you know that the 2,200 people that filled up Paris’ Grand Rex venue last night for the first Smashing Pumpkins performance in seven years will be rubbing it in our faces till the day we die. The revamped Pumpkins, original singer-songwriter and guitarist Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin along with new guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger
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The Smashing Pumpkins are currently in the middle of a sold out 11 night stand at The Fillmore in San Francisco. The run started July 15th and reportedly, the band has been doing a decent job blending their old hits with their new songs, but it's been said by fans "it still feels nothing like the old days".Corgan has been quoted as saying at one of the first performances he is "under the weathe...
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??Zeitgeist??, the first new Smashing Pumpkins album in seven years, came out this past Tuesday (July 10), as previously reported. The CD booklet features Paris Hilton in a series of photographs taken by Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan himself. Hilton's face also adorns the cover of the band's U.K. single for the song "Tarantula", to the dismay of Pumpkin fans and bystanders alike.Corgan explain...
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Wow! I'm not sure which is the bigger news - that Pitchfork published a news report that I can really get behind (look! I even spelled their name proper, that's how great this report is!) or that the Smashing Pumpkins are in league with a bunch of wankers. I'm reeeeeeally going out on a limb here by blaming it on the people that the SP are either being blackmailed by or are voluntarily worki...
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Bizarre yet believable, an outlandish article allegedly written by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan in the July 12 issue of Seattle’s weekly publication "The Stranger" has been debunked. In a rebuttal of the absurd claims, The Pumpkins' publicist issued the following relese entitled "Still Believe Everything You Read?":In the July 12 issue of Seattle’s weekly publication "The Stranger"
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Ok, raise your hand if when you heard they were reforming you were absolutely assured that any reunion album by The Smashing Pumpkins would be a trivial, indulgent train wreck of useless ideas and throw-away studio tracks. Let's see...that many of you?! Ok, now a show of hands for those who really, really wanted it to work; those who sat patiently through Zwan and "The Future Embrace" just tryi...
More >
The Smashing Pumpkins headline the North stage.The dust had cleared from a highly-acclaimed Saturday night set by headliners The Police, but Baltimore's Virgin Festival was still going strong Sunday morning.Brazilian electro-rockers CSS kicked off the second day at the Pimlico Fairgrounds. Judging by their outrageous costumes and the many balloons onstage, this band clearly brought the party wi...
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Here's one off the new Smashing Pumpkins album, Zeitgeist. I have to say I miss James and D'arcy.
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After more than six years off, May 22 marks the date that the Smashing Pumpkins will return to the stage(Paris, France). Their new album, ??Zeitgeist??, is a German expression for "the spirit (Geist) of the time (Zeit)".The timing is right for the Chicago based band. After the 2000 break up, Corgan ventured on to create various solo projects that gained little fanfare. While the rest of the ban...
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Smashing Pumpkins' rehearsal space at the Music Garage was robbed! Apparently the brilliant theives were not after guitars, amps and items of resale value, but rather were overzealous fans or professional leaksters who wanted memorabilia connected to the band's upcoming release. Consequently, the photos were uploaded and linked on the Smashing Pumpkins fansite, Netphoria, which has been remov...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Doomsday Clock |
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| 2 7 Shades of Black |
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| 3 Bleeding the Orchid |
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| 4 That's the Way (My Love Is) |
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| 5 Tarantula |
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| 6 Starz |
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| 7 United States |
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| 8 Neverlost |
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| 9 Bring the Light |
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| 10 (Come On) Let's Go! |
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| 11 For God and Country |
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| 12 Pomp and Circumstances |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Zeitgeist")
