Review Summary: A welcome return to great form after 7 years for Smashing Pumpkins, despite only having 2 of the core members present.
Ever since the “original” Smashing Pumpkins broke up, the two core members Billy Corgan & Jimmy Chamberlin have had mixed success outside the Pumpkins. Billy & Jimmy’s Zwan project & the album it produced may have pleased the critics & some fans but after Billy went bitter, broke it up & then made derogatory comments about it… the fans followed suit & the album (& band) is almost always regarded as a failure. Jimmy’s new project “The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex” had more success & when compared to Billy’s solo album which more or less sunk like the sales for MACHINA I, but much… much worse, it seemed more people were paying more attention to the legendary drummer than the “Obsessive & Egotistical” frontman
However after 6 years, in 2006, Billy’s intention on reviving SP were true as the band had reunited (although only with Corgan & Chamberlin) & gone into the studio & came out in July 2007 with Zeitgeist.
One thing that already springs into mind when I listen to it, is the modern sound as the 21st Century production gives this album a clean feel. However, the sound & lyrics are at times quite dark, going for subjects as government (United States, For God & Country) & War (Doomsday Clock). The songs on Zeitgeist are heavier & slightly more complex than some previous albums, Billy’s guitar prowess is bigger than ever on here, with some good solos & riffs popping up & Chamberlin’s drumming being as it always is, brilliant, & overall has put out some of the best drumming he’s ever done. One thing this album lacks is a ‘decent’ Rhythm Section, Billy did Bass, Guitar & Vocals (both Lead & Backing) & if hearing Billy’s voice as lead vocalist is enough for you… hearing a ‘choir’ of Billy’s behind it & no soft tones of D’Arcy & James won’t please you.
Doomsday Clock, 7 Shades Of Black, Tarantula, United States & (Come On) Let’s Go show the heaviness of the album well, as the instrumental side of the band takes control with a grappling choke hold. It surprised me at first, seeing as many of these songs do jump out at you with the sudden starts & loud drum beats, but when they get into themselves the songs get into you. Which in all is great. United States is the most complex in instrumental terms as Jimmy’s drumming & Billy’s guitar playing are very unique & are reminiscent of another Zeitgeist session song, which was later released. Which was Superchrist, listen to both & you’ll notice the similarities. One bad thing about United States is that it goes on for 1 minute & 20 seconds too long as the instruments continue to go on, & live on tour when they were playing it, THAT instrumental ending was extended even more… & for me that wasn’t good, & for all those who saw them in the last year will agree with me.
Bleeding The Orchid, That’s The Way (My Love Is), Starz, Neverlost, Bring The Light & For God & Country are the slow songs which bring the emotion of this album out (unless you think Billy doesn’t show or have any, & I know a few who say that). Bleeding The Orchid is dark lyrically & musically with the deep lyrics & sound, which make the mood go into a quite sombre thing. Bring The Light is however a light/heavy song with starts off slow but then blasts at you with a catchy chorus & a technical guitar solo. Neverlost & That’s The Way are slow songs that drift along with their riffs & lyrics & soften the album considerably compared to the heavier stuff. Starz talks about “Stars & fame” (at least according to what I hear) & it overall is a good song once it goes past the “We Are Starz” bit at the beginning. For God & Country lyrically takes fighting for ‘God & Country’ & loyalty into question, which is a good subject for SP to walk into as they’d never in my opinion gone into that before & it came off well with a song that has a dark mood but a light musical aspect.
Pomp & Circumstance is a song I have to single out… it’s the only weak link here… due to it being so horrible, just like the last song off of the Zwan album it just doesn’t fit in with the rest of the album. With only one weak link out of 12 songs that must be good news.
This album is actually incredible when you take the time (& I do mean the time), but many fans have
ONE main problem with this. They were expecting another Siamese Dream, Mellon Collie or even another Gish… & they hated listening to this because it didn’t live up to certain ‘standards’. Billy did explain himself “You can’t expect us to be out for 7 years & come back & suddenly write stuff like that, that quickly…” however many fans didn’t care to much & alienated the release & took notice of the two singles Tarantula & That’s The Way, which has made Billy take a ‘Singles Only Approach’. So called SP ‘fans’, thanks to your desertion of this album… I’m gonna have to buy all my new SP material off of Itunes or something like that, instead of getting a great album every few years, you made Billy disappoint one
VERY loyal fan. Not with this album, but with what the future holds for a band I hold very dear to my heart
A
