The Smashing Pumpkins

[Amaro]

Can't listen/enjoy if the vocals suck. I could care less if the lyrics are uppers; for me the problem lies in how he sounds.

Moving on...

[Cameron]

does anyone here post over at the netphoria forum? They are killing these re-issues for their sound quality

not saying I agree with them (both sound quite good to me), but it's funny to see some of the shit those people are saying..

Yeah, I'm there.

The new version of SP is awful, though. The new drummer is horrendous. Corgan needs to change the name and stop playing old Pumpkins hits.

[poinoup]

Upon first listen this morning, I really enjoyed it all the way through. I felt like it was the early 90s when I first started it. It's got the soul of the early Pumpkins with a modern spin.

I had to remind myself it was Billy and three "new" members a few times throughout, though, and yet it still had a "Pumpkins" feel to it. I have to give it a few more listens for a good feel of the album...but Pale Horse was awesome as hell.

I also avoided the live versions of the songs and wanted to go in to this album not hearing a second of it, and that helped. I still like Zeitgeist for what it was, and the American Gothic EP was a great addition to it. The Teargarden stuff has been more hit than miss with me too. I thought I'd have to force myself to like the new stuff, but I did not need to with tracks like Astral Planes and Lightning Strikes.

Vocally, I thought he sounded really good, not forced to the front of every song, and it's nice having other singers on backup, not the 1000 Billy choir. Far better mixed than Zeitgeist.

[Reznor2112]

awesome SP record nuff said

[Piko]

It has background vocals! That's a huge plus. Billy doing his own backup was kinda lame. This album is a gigantic step up. Musically, it sounds like he's finally going with the flow than forcing out teargarden-like songs. Feels and sounds far more natural.

My only gripe so far are the keyboards. Enough of the keyboards!

[BlueCalx]

I love the keyboards! Space is the plaaaaaace!

[liquidcalm]

so far its been 50/50... parts are great, some are still almost cringe-worthy. Often within the same song.. It sounds more Zwan-ish than anything released as Pumpkins in the last few years. Gonna find a way to give it more of a listen in my car or at work though, it feels like it needs a good few listens to get into everything.

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

^^^ I agree. Even though I haven't listened to the album in it's entirety, sometimes one song sounds like two different songs. Some parts make me turn my head, then it goes in a totally different direction I thought it was going to. I am enjoying Pale Horse at the moment.

[AgentofChaos]

FYI I finally threw up that collection on the bay basically compiling the entire Teargarden Era (09-12) of the 'new' band, from A Song For a Son to Oceania and everything in between, including all the SPRC releases, and a live soundboard mix from the 2011 tour Other Side of the Kaleidyscope Tour featuring cuts of Oceania, Pale Horse, My Love is Winter, Pinwheels, Quasar and Panopticon. PM for a link if you need it.

[slave2thewage]

Pinwheels is my personal stand-out track right now, but overall it's a surprisingly good album. Kudos to you, silly bald man.

[Sutekh]

Corgan blasts "pomposity", insinuates radiohead are overrated
http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/...sitemID=175390

pmsl

[seasonsinthesky]

"Violet Rays" is AMAZING. reserving further opinions for later.

[liquidcalm]

Corgan blasts "pomposity", insinuates radiohead are overrated
http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/...sitemID=175390

pmsl

Ha! When he whines about music not being dangerous and this new album of theirs is possibly the least offensive thing I've heard this year.

[poinoup]

One day later I'm still liking the vibe of the record. Damn solid disc.

Love the bass intro in Quasar, the entire intro sounds like it could have been on Gish or Siamese Dream. The Celestial, Violet Rays, Pale Horse are the three most standing out tracks now. All in all, I'm impressed.

[ManBurning]

Oh God, I feel really bad saying this but... I don't like the new album - at all! I tried hard to get into it, gave it 4 listens, but The only song I like is Quasar.
Which is interesting as it's the first song. Everything just went downhill after that.

I loved Zeitgeist, I thought that was a really solid rock album. Great comeback from their "breakup". However, this album... meh, just sounds a little too experimental. It's like the same stuff he's been doing in between the last "real" album and this one, all those random one-off b-side songs he would release every other week/month. I didn't care for any of them to be honest, and this is more of the same stuff.

Oh well, That's my opinion, alot of people here seem to be raving about this one, but I can't share the same Enthusiasm as you on this one.

Billy Corgan is extremely hit or miss. He has put out some goddamn amazing stuff, but he has put out some real fluff as well. Everything up to and including Adore was amazing, then Machina came out and that's when he started getting a little too experimental for me. Then Machina 2 came out (to the internet) and he really lost me there. That's why I was a little skeptial with the "reformation" and Zeitgeist, but I was blown away. It was an amazing album, I still love it, in fact I threw it on just after listening to Oceania and I apreciated it much more.

Also, Zwan was AMAZING, I might be in the minority on that one, but I really, really enjoyed his Zwan stuff. I wish there was a second album. His Billy Corgan Solo effort - "The Future Embrace" was another example of hit/miss Billy. Some of the songs on there were amazing, absolutly amazing, but there were some real hardcore flops on that album as well.

[Presideo]

Pleasantly surprised by Oceania. It's like Corgan actually stopped to think about what makes an actual SP album before writing, and he nailed it. Anthemic stadium rock similar to Siamese Dream (Quasar, Inkless) coupled with endearing, wistful tracks akin to Adore (Violent Rays, Pale Horse) is what I expect a 2012 SP record to sound like. Billy's guitar work is at its best and I'm surprised that the drums were prominently displayed throughout the album (thought they might have gone the Adore route with the percussion) I think if Chamberlin knew Corgan would make an album like this he might have stayed.

Favorites were Quasar, Pinwheels, and the title track.

I loved Zeitgeist, I thought that was a really solid rock album. Great comeback from their "breakup". However, this album... meh, just sounds a little too experimental. It's like the same stuff he's been doing in between the last "real" album and this one, all those random one-off b-side songs he would release every other week/month. I didn't care for any of them to be honest, and this is more of the same stuff.

Sorry, but Zeitgeist was atrocious - there was no pulse whatsoever in most of those tracks, especially the second half. I still cringe at the mere thought of songs like Bleeding the Orchid or For God and Country. And the fact that there were 12 (yes, 12) different versions of that album make it painfully obvious that it was a cash-grab. The new album isn't perfect or anything, but it's certainly a better attempt than the abomination that is Zeitgeist (sorry for the rant, I just recently listened to that album for the first time in years and had to get my hatred for it off my chest)

[Self.Destructive.Pattern]

Sorry, but Zeitgeist was atrocious - there was no pulse whatsoever in most of those tracks, especially the second half. I still cringe at the mere thought of songs like Bleeding the Orchid or For God and Country. And the fact that there were 12 (yes, 12) different versions of that album make it painfully obvious that it was a cash-grab. The new album isn't perfect or anything, but it's certainly a better attempt than the abomination that is Zeitgeist (sorry for the rant, I just recently listened to that album for the first time in years and had to get my hatred for it off my chest)

There were a couple of good tracks on Zeitgeist, but that album was just so bland to me. It was such a departure from the band musically I really could not get into it. And didn't they make a black covered issue for the album that had the content the other albums had later down the road anyway??

[AgentofChaos]

There were a couple of good tracks on Zeitgeist, but that album was just so bland to me. It was such a departure from the band musically I really could not get into it. And didn't they make a black covered issue for the album that had the content the other albums had later down the road anyway??

Best buy exclusive, it had 3 of the 4 bonus tracks (minus the title track Zeigeist itself) grafted into the tracklisting plus a bonus dvd 'Inside the Zeitgeist'.

Probably the best version of the album to own, specifically for Ma Belle alone. Not sure why they couldn't have tacked on Zeitgeist at the end. Perfect acoustic closer to a hard rock record. I'm confident had they released only one version with all 16 tracks on the first go around, the album would have been more widely regarded.

[Piko]

I didn't mind the first half of Zeitgeist. The second half sucked. The first half was listenable but nothing to brag about. They sounded better live though. He wanted to make a rock album without all of the qualities of why he brought it back in the first place. Said enough about the Teargarden stuff. This is the album Zeitgeist should have been.

[AgentofChaos]

A 2nd half with Stellar, Ma Belle, and Zeitgeist would've changed things dramatically, no?

[fillow]

Death From Above!

[Piko]

A 2nd half with Stellar, Ma Belle, and Zeitgeist would've changed things dramatically, no?

Ma Belle, maybe. I didn't like the other extra ones otherwise.

[AgentofChaos]

Death From Above!

The studio version is utterly ruined for me upon seeing this




SOOO much better. Similar to the acoustic version of For God and Country

[Piko]

The studio version is utterly ruined for me upon seeing this




SOOO much better. Similar to the acoustic version of For God and Country

Alright, that sounds much better. The live versions seem better than the studio versions. I can't stand the studio version of Starz, but the live version is decent. I liked United States, but something seemed wrong about it. The live version of that is amazing. Same goes for Bleeding the Orchid. I never liked For God and Country, so I'm curious to hear that acoustic version. Maybe the fault is the production? I don't think ill ever be able to get into Bring The Light and Neverlost. I don't think live versions could even.begin to save those.

[frankie teardrop]

Oh God, I feel really bad saying this but... I don't like the new album - at all! I tried hard to get into it, gave it 4 listens, but The only song I like is Quasar.
Which is interesting as it's the first song. Everything just went downhill after that.

I loved Zeitgeist, I thought that was a really solid rock album. Great comeback from their "breakup". However, this album... meh, just sounds a little too experimental. It's like the same stuff he's been doing in between the last "real" album and this one, all those random one-off b-side songs he would release every other week/month. I didn't care for any of them to be honest, and this is more of the same stuff.

Oh well, That's my opinion, alot of people here seem to be raving about this one, but I can't share the same Enthusiasm as you on this one.

Billy Corgan is extremely hit or miss. He has put out some goddamn amazing stuff, but he has put out some real fluff as well. Everything up to and including Adore was amazing, then Machina came out and that's when he started getting a little too experimental for me. Then Machina 2 came out (to the internet) and he really lost me there. That's why I was a little skeptial with the "reformation" and Zeitgeist, but I was blown away. It was an amazing album, I still love it, in fact I threw it on just after listening to Oceania and I apreciated it much more.

Also, Zwan was AMAZING, I might be in the minority on that one, but I really, really enjoyed his Zwan stuff. I wish there was a second album. His Billy Corgan Solo effort - "The Future Embrace" was another example of hit/miss Billy. Some of the songs on there were amazing, absolutly amazing, but there were some real hardcore flops on that album as well.

i was way into zwan when the album came out, but my tastes and expectations changed drastically in college as i grew into things. that said, most of the best zwan stuff remains unreleased outside of radio sessions & bootlegs, including 99% of their first few shows, which were way better than what the album turned out to be in the end. what a cesspool that turned out to be, from all the rants billy had about it. i think it's what made him realize that while the pumpkins had their drama, it was a family.

as for zeitgeist, i agree that the extra tracks were better and that the first half of the album was good by "rock" standards but was nothing special. i get lost on the second half as well, but in general, the production kills it for me on most modern recordings he's made, including the new one, which i've yet to give a second spin but probably should before talking more smack.

i like a fair amount of the future embrace, but i'm a synth kid who likes nitzer ebb (bon harris was involved) and grew up with shoegaze, so that's to be expected. i still think mina loy is the best thing billy's done since the split:



i fucking love machina/machina II though. could do without a few tracks on each, but i grew to love both. i was a major adore head in high school (again, synth nerd/nighttime music enthusiast) so it was a bit of a shock when it came out, but i love it now. it seems like billy got a lot of shit for anything put out after mellon collie (unfair expectations) so i wonder what would have happened if things continued along the post-machina path. i was all for the gothic/glam pumpkins, and i guess that's what i miss about this modern era. more psychedelic/classic rock referenced, and though i love gish, it doesn't click for me on the new material.

blah blah blah blah, sorry!

[Piko]

I actually really enjoyed his solo album. My friends all hated it. Swan's a mixed bag. Some of it, I really enjoy. And some of it, I never want to hear again. The Machina albums were ace. I used to hate the first one. Loved the second one, instantly. The first one eventually grew on me. Amazing album. There's some stuff with Oceania that doesn't particularly click with me, but it doesn't take too much away from the album.

[AgentofChaos]

Acoustic For God and Country. Again, much better. I believe there is a better version floating around if I am not mistaken, but this was all I could find for now.




I loved Machina I/II obviously, so afterwards I really could not get into Zwan much at all, just wasn't what I wanted (outside of songs like 'Of a Broken Heart'). Rarely ever listen to that record. Djali Zwan however, was fucking amazing. Sad that stuff never really saw the light of day. That to me was up there with best post Machina work until Oceania.

I loved Future Embrace too. Mina Loy was sick. The Camera Eye. A100. Tilt. I never understood why that album got trashed the way it did.

[Amaro]

I'm kinda interested in The Future Embrace now...

[Piko]

Acoustic For God and Country. Again, much better. I believe there is a better version floating around if I am not mistaken, but this was all I could find for now.



I loved Machina I/II obviously, so afterwards I really could not get into Zwan much at all, just wasn't what I wanted (outside of songs like 'Of a Broken Heart'). Rarely ever listen to that record. Djali Zwan however, was fucking amazing. Sad that stuff never really saw the light of day. That to me was up there with best post Machina work until Oceania.

I loved Future Embrace too. Mina Loy was sick. The Camera Eye. A100. Tilt. I never understood why that album got trashed the way it did.

Much better! And I think people trashed the solo album because it simply wasn't what they were expecting. It was very minimal compared to the other stuff he's done, and that probably threw them off. A lot of people probably had the same feeling about Adore, and a lot of people seem to love that album now.

[ManBurning]

The thing I liked the most about the future embrace was it's eletronic feel to it. I think that's why I enjoyed that album a hell of a lot more than anything he put our between Adore and it.

I like electronic pumpkins and hard rock pumpkins, I just don't care for generic soft-rock put you to sleep pumpkins, and I think that's why I don't care for Oceania that much, it's just waaaay too soft!