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Faceplams: I didn’t manage to hear it before it went down but “better than Run2Me” isn’t a very high bar
Active Member
I didn’t manage to hear it before it went down but “better than Run2Me” isn’t a very high bar
Unintelligible Whispering
That's probably doing it a disservice. What I'm saying is the usual "the last album that everyone hated was actually good compared to the new stuff" reaction is something I'm definitely not down with for this one. It really sounds like a ZG-era single to me; it's got that kind of grit to it but no real flair. It's not a sentimental or emotional track.
Active Member
Well, I got to hear it -- it's extremely average. It's the first song since Oceania to have drums that stand out, which is a huge part of the Pumpkins sound so that's nice to hear back, but Billy's voice nearly kills it for me. I don't know what he's trying to do on this. I think his vocals are way too up in the mix and it makes the rest of the song feel a bit like a backing track for most of it, which is what I was hoping this sort-of-not-really-a-reunion would do away with. That one brief instrumental bit at the end was the closest it got to reminding me of older SP, and I get that maybe they're not trying to sound the same, which is fine, but this is a weird first single to broadcast what they clearly want to have be a huge deal of being back together again. The lyrics don't do much but they're not glaringly bad or anything like a lot of stuff on Monuments but it kind of felt ... pointless? Like, I have no idea what this song is going for. It feels very inoffensive overall and kind of forgettable. I haven't expected much from this whatever-it-is next release of theirs and this didn't change that one way or the other.
It's also so bizarre to me that they're putting out a new song right before going on a tour that will exclusively play old songs.
Active Member
I just want to hear soaring guitars, squealing solos, and Billy either crooning or belting out lyrics as loud as he can with some real emotion behind them. He shouldn't be too concerned with trying to "sing" properly on songs like this because he never worried much about that in the band's prime.
Active Member
What I wanted was a wall of guitars. Not necessarily Siamese Dream. But more of what they became known for. This is just generic radio stuff.
Active Member
Yes, I was going to mention the "wall of guitars" sound as well. They seemed to be referencing Siamese Dream a lot with "Today" being featured in the announcement video, the lyrics billboards in NY, the ice cream truck, etc., so I assumed they were making a return to that sound.Originally Posted by Piko
Active Member
I'm really hoping the rest is nothing like this and they played it safe. This is just disappointing. I was honestly expecting something machina-like. I got Zeitgeist instead.
Unintelligible Whispering
Same. I'm kind of wondering if it's lackluster specifically because it dates from the uninspired MTAE/DFN sessions period and whatever else is going to be on the upcoming EPs is more recent. They did say that Jimmy co-wrote a track.
Active Member
I definitely think using a leftover from MTAE is a terrible decision. If having Jimmy and James back is supposed to have some big effect on the band then Billy and Rubin both want to talk about how suddenly productive they became once they got the ball rolling, they should only be showing off material originating from this reformation. Taking a leftover Billy demo does nothing to make it feel like we have a fully functioning band again and even though I like a couple of Monuments tracks a lot, that album did not hold up at all for me and it contradicts their current narrative. They shouldn't need to dip into leftovers if they're getting along so great. There's also zero pressure to put a song right now with June being an insanely crowded month musically and the upcoming tour explicitly not featuring new material. They could have gotten away with waiting until the end of the summer before putting out new material easily.
Throbbing Member
damn... to late to hear it.. im honestly curious...
Active Member
Don't worry. you'll be disappointed soon enough.
Active Member
That was a bad song. Probably worse than the new single. I'd take the rest of MTAE over the new song though.
Too Privileged to Get It
There's a certain kingdom where drippy things happen that it can be downloaded from. Don't ask me for a pm though, I didn't download it.
Active Member
Am I crazy or do I hear a guitar riff from The Cars' "Just What I Needed" in the verses?
Hollywood Butt Double
It’s one of the first things I noticed, too.
Throbbing Member
They have my permission to categorize this new EP under the Teargarden project.
As always, where are the good songs Billy? Lonely Is The Name, Burnt Orange-Black, Red Dirt... You write them and don't release them.
And is James Iha considered a session musician in this lineup?
Active Member
Solara is now on Spotify...
https://open.spotify.com/album/2xYPd...R6izVbRxGcRuQg
FLAC for sale...
https://us.7digital.com/artist/the-s...solara-7976753
Last edited by neorev; 06-07-2018 at 11:27 PM.
Active Member
I'll say this, the official release quality is definitely an improvement compared to this 320kbps YouTube rip, which I doubt it actually a proper 320 as it's YouTube compression on top of compressing it again to MP3. So you're compounding the effects of lossy compression doing this. The official master sounds a bit fuller.
Throbbing Member
the problem for me is billy, i'm afraid that's how his voice is nowadays but it doesn't sound good to me. Other than that it's not all that bad, and as pointed out by neorev it probably will sound much better in flac
Throbbing Member
Well it’s not terrible. But yeah it definitely seems like a Zeitgeist kinda song :/
i was was hoping for better. Ah well there’s still the other 7 (?) songs to go. I’m not gonna write this reunion thing off yet.
Active Member
Billy Corgan is mentioned in Frances Bean Cobain's ex-husband's lawsuit that Courtney Love tried to have him murdered...
https://www.spin.com/2018/06/5-thing...-isaiah-silva/
Active Member
^^^
And people still think the very idea Kurt Cobain didn't kill himself was ludicrous ? That lawsuit is crazy
Throbbing Member
Unpopular opinion, but I really like it. Could probably be better served with a solo, but it’s catchy.
Throbbing Member
Song is OK, but like others have said it is no better or worse than most of the post Machina material (nothing special). Based on the one song I don't get the feeling that the reunion was really all that necessary. I guess I was expected something more than this. Also, the vocals are so loud in the mix I find it distracting.
Hollywood Butt Double
This!
I don’t know why Billy keeps making this terrible mixing decision. I remember thinking the same thing the first time I heard “Doomsday Clock.”
Stubby Member
Not a bad song but it sounds more as Billy and the others , I don't see much Iha here
Billy had the song, and the other guys just played
Active Member
Liking the song a bit more on second (better quality) listen, but I can't help but cringe every time I hear Billy say "heya" instead of "here"
Active Member
I would love to hear it in lossless. Only heard an MP3 of it, which sounded better than the YouTube rip. Was hoping the lossless would show up on a certain site. If I'm gonna actually pay for this, I'll wait to buy it with the EP.
The Virus Inside
Listened to it once. It's a song, yep.
And I probably won't listen to it ever again.
Not that it's bad. Billy and friends just don't do anything for me anymore. I've kinda lost interest in the William Corgan show.
Sounds like an average Pumpkins song. I agree that his voice isn't hitting notes like he used to though. His voice was toned down a bit in this.
Active Member
His voice is forgivable. Not getting younger. He gets a pass on that. Uninspired songwriting, not so much. Heard the song again earlier. Better than the first listen. I really hope there's better than this.
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