View Full Version : The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
PeruvianSkies
07-12-2007, 09:15 PM
So am I the only hardcore fan still around of this band? Or should I say Billy Corgan? This band defined the 1990's for me and it was during this time that I was in high school and was really shaped by albums GISH and SIAMESE DREAM, and then MELLON COLLIE. My college days were spent listening to ADORE, which is still my favorite album of theirs. MACHINA served as a last hurray, which I then stuck with Billy as he moved on to ZWAN and then a solo album, but I am quite glad to see The Smashing Pumpkins banner being flow again. This new album is loud and heavy, but at the same time melodic as usual. The guitar sound is huge and lots of heavy drumming as well, just like some of the buzzing tracks from SiAMESE DREAM.
Anyone else have a listen?
Rich-n-Texas
07-13-2007, 09:00 AM
Hey! PS! How was the Alaska trip? Pics?
I'm seeing Zeitgeist in my "recommended for you" list at Amazon; not a real hardcore SP fan, but I did start getting into their music a couple of years go. I like Billy Corgan because he comes across as someone who's not a loudmouth with an agenda. An unassuming sole IMO. I'll sample some of the albums you've listed and fill up the cart. :thumbsup:
SlumpBuster
07-13-2007, 01:34 PM
My college days were spent listening to ADORE, which is still my favorite album of theirs.
WRONG!!! Your favorite album is GISH! GISH, Baby! (In my best Dennis Hopper "Blue Velvet" impersonation.)
I still remember the first time I heard "Starla" off of Pisces Iscariot (which may have been actually the B-side of the single when I heard it). It was so heavy... I was also a little altered at a college house party. It was what really hooked me in. I traded a mix tape with for a copy of Gish and then it was off and running. I'm still trying to figure out how/why I have five copies of Iscariot and 4 Melon Collies.
3-LockBox
07-13-2007, 05:17 PM
I liked the other albums mentioned, but Melloncollie is a masterpiece. I listen to it all the time.
Mr Peabody
07-13-2007, 09:53 PM
I have Gish and Siamese Dream. I like the band a lot but just haven't heard anything off the other albums. I was interested to see what the new one sounds like. I'll have to go sampling as well.
PeruvianSkies
07-16-2007, 12:56 AM
GISH - superb debut album with a few outstanding tracks like RHINOCEROS, but also a few weaker tracks. 4/5 stars.
SIAMESE DREAM - insanely complex and masterful sophomoric album and one of the defining albums of the alt/rock scene of the 1990's. A modern classic and one of the few albums that is absolutely near perfect from the first track to the last track. A wide range of sound as well ranging from buzzing guitars in QUIET to the acoustical treatment of DISARM and then to epic ballad rock on SOMA. 5/5 stars
PISCES ISCARIOT - a collection of really terrific B-sides and some tracks that are just so-so, highlights here include GIRL NAMED SANDOZ and STARLA. 3/5 stars.
MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS - if SIAMESE DREAM established THE SMASHING PUMPKINS with the alt/rock scene and defined them as one of the top bands in their class, this album put the nail in the coffin and then took the band to a whole new level. Not only is this one of the few double albums of all time, but also one of the few that is relentless for all 28 songs. The range of musicality on this album is beyond comprehension as well as the amazing conceptualization of a pure genius. 5/5 stars.
AEROPLANE FLIES HIGH - another collection of singles and b-sides from a band whose b-sides are still better than most bands hits. A great mixture of songs performed by James Iha as well and some great cover songs like Blondie's DREAMING and Alice Coopers CLONES (WE'RE ALL). 3/5 stars
ADORE - while not everyones favorite album this is a departure from the atypical and catapulted the band into a new direction of rock. This is Corgan's at his most intimate writing songs that deal directly with the death of his mother and the result is some of the most amazingly honest and poetic bliss in the bands history. A near masterpiece. 4.5/5 stars
MACHINA - A unbalanced album overall with a rather inconsistent mix of songs with some really great tracks hidden by some rather dull ones. 3.5/5 stars
ZEITGEIST - an album that echoes much of what the band (or shall we say Corgan) has done over his career with tracks sounding similar to songs like XYU, CHERUB ROCK, MAYONNAISE, and some of the bands more driven songs, but also a mixture of some of the more industrial-ness of songs like AVA ADORE or THE EVERLASTING GAZE, what distinguishes this album already is that it's solid from open to close with very little time to breathe. It's compact with it's material and never really drifts off as the case with some of Corgan's weaker material. Here we get 12-tracks of Corgan at his best, which only goes to show that he's been bottling up some of his best material to display at the right time. His solo project was almost a therapeutic departure needed to relieve the artistry before making a comeback.
nobody
07-16-2007, 07:04 AM
I love Siamese Dream, but am pretty indifferent to most of the rest of their catalog. Seeing the tour for Siamese Dream was one of my favorite concerts though, helped along by being an early dating experience with the wife. We even used a song off that album for our wedding dance (Luna).
The new one, I guess most closely resembles Gish to me. It's ok, but just doesn't have any of the really strong, catchy songs that Siamese Dream had to make it stand out in their catalog...at least to my ears.
3-LockBox
07-16-2007, 07:05 AM
MELLON COLLIE AND THE INFINITE SADNESS - if SIAMESE DREAM established THE SMASHING PUMPKINS with the alt/rock scene and defined them as one of the top bands in their class, this album put the nail in the coffin and then took the band to a whole new level. Not only is this one of the few double albums of all time, but also one of the few that is relentless for all 28 songs. The range of musicality on this album is beyond comprehension as well as the amazing conceptualization of a pure genius. 5/5 stars.
Nice description...couldn't have said it better. It is great and yer right, not since LZ's Physical Grafitti has there been such diversity on a double album, and still flow together as a cohesive collection. Prince's Sign O' The Times comes close. But as with Prince, LZ, and others, like G'N'R and even Fleetwood Mac, the double album seems to be such an endeavor as to burn out a band creatively. None of these bands returned to former glory after their double album was released.
PeruvianSkies
07-19-2007, 08:57 PM
I am really really enjoying the new album! I rank it as one of Corgan's most mature works and I love the blend of heavier and lighter here and there. I don't really think the album is comparable with anything that Corgan has written to date, but is more a conglomerate of some of his best work. I suppose I would sum the album up like this...
It's GISH-like solos mixed with a SIAMESE DREAM of epic-like proporations, but with a MELLON COLLIE and INFINITE SADNESS array of melodies and the passion one can ADORE.
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