Review Summary: Not perfect by any means, but the first time since 2000 that the Smashing Pumpkins sound like the Smashing Pumpkins.
It should be no surprise that the main refrain of “Drum + Fife” is “I will bang this drum to my dying day,” because Billy Corgan has refused to only play for Pumpkins' fans nostalgia. The fans that grew up to the soothing yet distinctly buzzsaw guitar of Siamese Dream have, rather incessantly, continued to lament how the new songs Corgan has published under the moniker sound very little like their 90s counterparts. On social media, fans complain about how these new songs don’t sound like 1993, and unfavorably compare Billy Corgan to Axl Rose. While sure, there are tales of the former band being mostly live performers with very little studio input, there was a certain awkward dynamic to the former band that made Corgan’s music come out a little differently than it does now on record. Former bassist D'Arcy Wretzky was famous for being the "bullshit detector," having massive influence on what ended up on record and what ended up as a B-side. While replacement guitarist Jeff Schroeder is a more than capable replacement for James Iha and Tommy Lee is a decent stand-in for Jimmy Chamberlin, it seems these are nothing more than musically proficient yes men following Corgan’s vision. Essentially, there is no "bullshit detector" anymore with this band.
Despite all of these aformentioned factors working against this band, this incarnation of Smashing Pumpkins continues to spit in the face of the naysayers. Not many alternative bands left over from the 90s with the exception of perhaps, a group like Nine Inch Nails or Radiohead, have managed to make creative and enjoyable music far past their prime like the Smashing Pumpkins have post-Zeitgeist. While, sure, they have become niche and a sort of mainstream punchline due to Corgan's off-stage antics in the media, but Oceania was a surprisingly excellent yet also a gutsy progressive rock tribute to 70s psychedelia. Yet, as good as this album was, it still felt like something was missing in the overall Pumpkins sound, and this album appears to have corrected this issue. With Oceania's tribute to 70s psychedelia, Monuments to an Elegy is Corgan’s love note to 80s new wave. It is in no way perfect, but incredibly promising and feels like a true Smashing Pumpkins album.
Short, sweet and to the point; this album really feels like something different for the band, yet remarkably familiar. Take “Dorian” for example. It sounds a bit like Corgan’s solo album TheFutureEmbrace, and kind of sounds a bit like Adore as well. But here, Corgan crafts a catchy, synth-driven ‘dark’ love song akin to “Perfect” and simply knocks it out of the park, as the song is enough to warm the hearts of those looking for mid to late 90s Smashing Pumpkins nostalgia. He even manages to fix the vocal problems he’s had recently and place his vocals down in the mix with the Siamese Dream vocal effect. It’s a simple song, repetitive, reflective of The Cure or Echo and the Bunnymen that dances above the driving drum machine that doesn’t attempt to be too complicated. Yet, here’s a song that is old in ways, is new in ways, but also maintains that dark emotional depth that Corgan’s new stuff, has, quite simply lacked on the past two albums. “Dorian/what have you done/as you run/a setting sun” he sings in a distinctly older vocal style, revisiting the love song with dark undertones of love song classics like “Ava Adore,” “Perfect” and “Stand Inside Your Love.” Somehow this song is softer, but doesn't harken back to Zwan like much of his recent Pumpkins work, instead this one distinctly reminds the listener of Adore or MACHINA.
Unlike the clunker, hookless opener to Oceania in “Quasar”, the heavier moments of Monuments do not disappoint. I’d go so far as to say that “Tiberius” and “One and All (We Are) are probably the finest rockers Corgan’s crafted since “Eye.” When Tiberius switches time signatures and does a complete 180 from the melody of the first 2 minutes, it’s impossible to not let a smile cross your face as you realize that Corgan truly has his writing mojo back in a completely classic Pumpkins move with the song's shift. Tiberius slides back and forth with crunchy guitars, yet firmly grounded in the new wave style with the synth (that surprisingly doesn’t sound cheap or cheesy like most of the Teargarden project.) Meanwhile, One and All’s wall of guitars, including the feedback loop that makes part of the melody of the song, really make the song have that layered, buzzsaw sound that has been absent in recent recordings. Yet, unlike Quasar, a rocker absent of hooks or melody yet retained a decent guitar tone, both of these two songs are catchy, melodic and immediately memorable. Even with all these new takes on the old sound, the album’s high point comes when Corgan tries something new, such as in the outstanding “Monuments.” The song’s drastic switch in the chorus is jarring, in a good way though, as he channels Muse but puts a Smashing Pumpkins tilt on that synth-rock style. The song charges along, with Tommy Lee propelling it forward and, once again, Corgan finding a good middle ground in his new vocal style and his old style.
The problem with this album is that it would have done much better as an EP. It is already the shortest Smashing Pumpkins album ever, and lacks the typical long 'epic' in the middle of the album (think ''Silverfuck'', ''X.Y.U.'', ''Glass and the Ghost Children'', etc.) Due to the length of it, it feels quite incomplete. Not to mention there is a lot of poorly thought out junk on the album and for an album as short as this one is, it more or less derails the album’s overall experience. “Being Beige” has an appropriate title as it is, by far, the most boring and uninspired track Corgan has written since Zwan, and completely derivative of most of his post-2000 work, “Run2Me” is a new wave inspired track, yet isn’t very different from Oceania’s plodding “One Diamond, One Heart” and “Anti-Hero” is immature pop-punk that isn't an awful song per se, but with some truly cringeworthy lyrics; "Never been kissed by a girl like you," Corgan wails over the punky guitar riff.
Yet, even with these aforementioned misfires, this is an exciting release. As good as Oceania may have been, it felt so indebted to the 70s prog movement that it didn’t feel much like a Smashing Pumpkins album at all, lacked the melody that Corgan is so skilled in creating, and still felt as if was missing something. Corgan’s vocals on that album continued to be a problem, as he forced his voice to the front of the mix and his soft, delicate falsetto was once again curiously absent. Here, however, even with tracks like Being Beige the highs of the album are so high that it appears Corgan has finally found his footing and is making real Smashing Pumpkins songs again. One and All (We Are) is guaranteed to have you thinking ''Siamese Dream'' (moreso than the cheap imitation of this era in tracks like ''Inkless'') while tracks like ''Monuments'' or Dorian are songs that you can instantly tell are Pumpkins tracks, but move forward in a new direction with their song structure and synth use. Tommy Lee does an excellent job behind the drum kit as well invoking some of Chamberlin’s finer moments, Corgan finally utilizes his falsetto again and buries his voice in the mix properly, and the lyrics bring back the morbid love songs of Pumpkins past. The lyrics tend to end up quite simplistic and derivative, but seem personally crafted in this fashion with the album's dedication to 80s new wave. The production is no longer an obstacle in enjoying the music like the past few albums. With this album, no longer do I look forward to future Pumpkins music with a sort of gunshy curiosity; now there is a future for the Smashing Pumpkins that even some serious flaws on this album can't derail.
