Smashing Pumpkins - American Gothic EP
(iTunes Exclusive)
55.0%
[mp3] "The Rose March"
One of the more common complaints about Zeitgeist (other than the generic "it sucks", which as true as it may be, hardly counts as constructive criticism) was that softer, mellower songs were sorely missed. In the band's halcyon days, a nice balance of both hard and mellow rock could be found, and for many fans, including yours truly, hearing the Smashing Pumpkins as a one-dimensional hard rock band, as they are on nearly all of Zeitgeist, was probably the hardest aspect of the album to swallow. So it's probably not a coincidence that six months after the initial release of Zeitgeist the Smashing Pumpkins decided to release a mellower, mostly acoustic four- song EP. And given the band's track record with singles/EP's/B-Sides collections, it probably should not come as a surprise that a couple of the songs are actually pretty good.
American Gothic, opens with "The Rose March," a song originally written when Billy was touring behind his solo album in 2005. With plucks at an acoustic guitar, the song initially sounds very much like some of the latest Thurston Moore songs, but soon Billy settles into a gentle strum, and lets his voice, which sounds warmer and more natural than it has in years, carry the tune. At about the three-minute mark, Jimmy Chamberlain lays down a militaristic drum pattern, the kind of stuff he could do in his sleep, and Billy spices things up a tiny bit by layering some distorted guitar patters over the rhythm, singing, "We've only just begun to grieve." The song sounds like a throwback to Adore, an album that was written off by many critics and fans, but also gave birth to some powerful and delicate work. It's easy to see why someone like Pete Townsend is apparently a big fan of the song, it is pretty fucking good. Which is why it's such a shame that the next three songs can't sustain the momentum that "The Rose March" builds, because with only four songs, there's very little room for error.
"Pox" sounds like it was originally intended for Zeitgeist, as it sounds like Billy re-recorded the guitars to fit the EP's acoustic motif. The song probably would have fit better on Zeitgeist, even as an acoustic song, but here it sounds a bit awkward. "Again, Again, Again (The Crux)" has quite possibly the hokiest opening line ever, as Billy sings "I love you / I don't even care," which might be interpreted as romantic if not for his delivery, which I assume he thought sounded passionate but to me just sounds like he added a new twist to his trademark whine. From there, it's impossible to get any worse, but the song never really gets much better either, the best part honestly being when the song ends. "Sunkissed," like "Rose March," sounds like a good Adore outtake, even with the slightly distracting organ tones that fill up the song, but the production is a bit overwrought, a problem consistent throughout the album. Acoustic guitars sound unnatural, and the mixing feels like it could have been handled better, starting with turning down the organ on "Sunkissed" or turning up some bass on the other three songs.
While American Gothic represents a step in the right direction for the new Smashing Pumpkins, and provides a glimmer of hope to old fans who feel that Billy has lost his way, it also reinforces what's wrong with the current incarnation of the band: terrible lyrics, overwrought production, and uninspired performances.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Album Review:
Smashing Pumpkins - American Gothic EP
Monday, December 3, 2007
Don't Tell Anyone You Don't Own:
The Smashing Pumpkins
Last night, December 2nd, marked the seventh anniversary of the Smashing Pumpkins' breakup, well, their first one anyway. The one that mattered. As far as I'm concerned, they're still broken up, but that's a different blog post altogether. What I want to do today is reflect on one of the more positive aspects that the band offered to the world: Great fucking music. And there's no better place to look than the band's halcyon days, starting with the release of Gish in 1991, and concluding with the B-Sides collection Pisces Iscariot in 1994.
Gish
(Caroline; 1991. Re: Virgin; 1994)
15-Year-Old SonicRyan's Grade: 89.0%
25-Year-Old SonicRyan's Grade: 78.0%
Though Gish does not hold up as well as it once did sixteen years ago, there's no denying that it is still a solid album, one that could have been much bigger had the band not been so young, fresh, and from the Midwest. Just listen to the album's opening track, "I Am One", and tell me it wouldn't have been huge in 1991 had the song been given the exposure it rightfully deserved. Though the fact that the Smashing Pumpkins were still relatively new to the scene (To be fair, Nirvana did have an album under their belt and the members of Pearl Jam had been gigging for years, notably in bands such as Green River and Mother Love Bone) and still discovering their sound was probably the biggest factor as to why the song, or the album, never broke big, the blueprint for their later albums is firmly intact. Gish does an admirable job of showcasing both the ball-busting rock side and the mellower, sentimental side that the band would later perfect. However, Gish also meanders a bit into trippy, psychedelic excursions that suggest the band was probably a bit too influenced by Jane's Addiction in the late 1980's (though to be fair again, the Smashing Pumpkins did open for Jane's when they were just young, impressionable pups).
As a whole, Gish may not be the band's high water mark, but despite its growing pains, Billy Corgan's talent as a song writer and the promise of a young band with a bright future shone through. Someone must have noticed too, because soon the band was opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers on their Blood Sugar Sex Magik tour, and they later graduated from the Virgin Records imprint Caroline to Virgin itself. 
Siamese Dream
(Virgin; 1993)
15-Year-Old SonicRyan's Grade: 1,000,000%
25-Year-Old SonicRyan's Grade: 98.0%
Though world domination would have to wait yet again thanks to albums like In Utero and Vs., Siamese Dream finally brought the Smashing Pumpkins up the Alternative Nation ladder. With the exception of a sitar in the album's closing track, the psychedelic sounds of Gish are mostly gone, replaced by overdubbed melody after overdubbed melody. Many a fan has pointed out that Siamese Dream sounds a bit like My Bloody Valentine's classic album Loveless, which at times is a fairly accurate comparison, especially on the one-two punch of "Hummer" and "Rocket", where the money spent on studio time to record the album's layered guitar parts proved to be well spent.
But Siamese Dream is not a great album solely because the guitars shimmer and shine. No, Siamese Dream stands out because the grandiose music is set to Billy's confessional, high school journal lyrics. Sure, Billy's reputation as a whiny bitch starts here, but it is on this album, and perhaps this album alone, where it succeeds. Billy needed an outlet to vent his frustrations, his anger, melancholy and his infinite sadness. The early 90's were rough on Corgan and the band. Most of the problems are well documented, and span from Corgan's severe depression, writer's block, and a marriage that would eventually crumble during the recording of the album, not to mention Jimmy Chamberlain's heroin addiction, James Iha and D'arcy's breakup, and Corgan's belief that the overall work ethic of the band was slacking. Throw in plenty of Billy's unresolved familial issues, and you've got Siamese Dream in a nutshell.
Despite the album's depressing tone, the album sold incredibly well, and influenced a whole generation of teens, including yours truly. Growing up as an only child, I never talked to many people about my problems, which, granted, were awfully petty in hindsight, but at thirteen your perspective is different. Listening to Siamese Dream gave me the sense that I was normal, that it was alright to feel down about parents and girls. My belief was that if Billy Corgan could suffer that much and still create the achingly beautiful piece of art that is Siamese Dream, well, why couldn't I? Soon, I was learning guitar, which in turn became my creative outlet to express myself. I know I'm not the only one either, I still hear their influence in other bands to this day, with no end in sight.
Pisces Iscariot
(Virgin; 1994)
15-Year-Old SonicRyan's Grade: 85.0%
25-Year-Old SonicRyan's Grade: 85.0%
I did not listen to Pisces Iscariot, the first Smashing Pumpkins B-Sides collection, until about a year after Mellon Collie was released. To be honest, I was a bit scared, knowing that these were the "rejected" songs from Siamese Dream, that this album might disappoint me. The only disappointment I faced was in myself when I realized I had put off listening to a great album for no good reason.
The more I listen to Pisces Iscariot, the more I enjoy it, and if it weren't for a few clunkers towards the end, I would probably enjoy it more than Siamese Dream. For one thing, it's an easier listen. Siamese Dream can get a bit heavy, especially when you're all grown up and in a healthy, steady relationship. Pisces, on the other hand, is a much lighter listen. Add the fact that most of the songs are incredible, album worthy songs in their own right, and you can understand why the band felt they needed to be collected onto a single disc rather than spread around a bunch of singles. Hell, Pisces Iscariot is worth the price alone for "Starla", one of the best songs in the Smashing Pumpkins catalog, and Billy's solo rendering of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" tops the original, if only for his voice, which often is ripe for ridicule, but bleeds with emotion and sincerity on this cover.
Its no secret that the Smashing Pumpkins were once a favorite of mine. I ate, drank, and bled this band during my teens. They inspired me to write and play guitar. They aided my studying and made for great late night soundtracks when my friends and I would sneak out of the house. I sang their hymns and cried at their second to last show in Chicago. But at the same time, the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins forced me to grow up too. I explored other bands, other albums, and moved on and further away. Still, when the anniversary of their demise comes around every year, I can't help but get a little sentimental. The Smashing Pumpkins did change my life. Even if I have changed and changed again since, I will never forget that they were the ones that were there for me when I was a kid.
MP3's
"I Am One"
"Rhinoceros"
(Both tracks from the Gish LP)
"Hummer"
"Soma"
(Both tracks from the Siamese Dream LP)
"Obscured"
"Landslide"
(Both tracks from the Pisces Iscariot LP)
Music Video
The Smashing Pumpkins - "Rocket"
Friday, July 20, 2007
Burn Out, Bad Vibrations
I won’t rest until I’ve squeezed every drop of wit from the book/film so dear to this music snob’s heart, High Fidelity. Today’s offering: “Is it better to burn out or to fade away?” Nick Hornby is referring to Stevie Wonder as one unfortunate burn-out who perhaps should have slipped into obscurity. A more apt comparison for my generation would the Smashing Pumpkins. Their (so I’ve heard) less-than-stellar “reunion” album has undoubtedly disappointed die-hard fans looking for another Siamese Dream – heck, I’d settle for Gish: The Sequel. (Note my smarmy quotations around the term reunion – do Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin alone constitute a full-fledged reunion, and all the stampeding, hair pulling revelry that would entail?)
I haven’t heard the album “yet” (I’m resisting another High Fidelity reference here). Honestly, I’m afraid. A comment from comedian Ricky Gervais seems particularly pertinent here. On why he and Stephen Merchant chose to end the British Office after just two seasons, Gervais replied they had said what they wanted to say, and to continue would have been mindless repetition. (Incidentally, this kind of insight is precisely why the British Office will forever outshine its American counterpoint – to my mind, the American Office is the witty British version’s attractive, loud-mouthed younger sibling – she may be entertaining, but which sister would you rather hold a conversation with? But I digress.) Last month Billboard.com reported that British rockers The Verve were recording a new album this fall. And unlike poor Billy, Richard Ashcroft managed to patch things up with his wonder-guitarist, Nick McCabe – who, after listening to Ashcroft’s sub-par solo releases, I imagine was instrumental (ahem) to the Verve’s sprawling, sophisticated sound. I know, I know – this is an indie/college rock blog, but I am indebted to the Verve for easing my transition from radio dredge (what Thom Yorke calls “fridge buzz”) to more experimental fare. And I can’t help embracing that old wistfulness as I envision Urban Hymn’s follow up – especially since the band’s members have unequivocally denounced a reunion for the better half of a decade.
Probably, it will suck. Perhaps this is my hopeless pessimism, but I prefer the romanticism of a band “fading away,” like a gravely injured soldier resisting the urge to storm the battlefield one last time. Come on people, even if Neutral Milk Hotel recorded a new album, it wouldn’t be any good, right? That is what I keep telling myself.