MERGED ----> New Smashing Pumpkins

[LMP]

Stand Inside Your Love guys!!!

The perfect farewell... well, hiatus song.

This Pumpkins incarnation is probably just going to be a harder edged Zwan, but without the egos.

 

[dudeman]

i'd say go in order -
gish = loud, raw, beautifully dark and dramatic guitar rock, psychedelic, hyperkinetic, jazzy drums: siva, tristessa, snail

siamese dream = loud, immaculate, beautiful guitar rock. if gish was '60's garage, this is an epic work of pristine, meticulous production - like that overproduced brand of rock from the '70's, but modern songs and methods - cherub rock, geek usa, hummer, mayonnaise

mellon collie = sprawling, exhaustive concept album. wild variation in styles and sounds. this is their 'white album'; schizophrenic, with varying (and frequently - but not always - brilliant) results - jellybelly, 1979, porcelina, muzzle, 33, galapogos, here is no why

adore = goth, synth rock, with shades of olde time americana. they compensated for the absence of jimmy chamberlain (billy corgan's other half) with session drummers (matt cameron...) and drum machines. creative and brooding, frequently challenging - perfect, to sheila, for martha, behold! the night mare

machina I = back to the rock, their most modern sounding record, big guitar anthems, more brooding gothic metal workouts. billy dragged his brand of guitar-based music kicking and screaming into the new century, employing flange and phase and ebow with striking results. i think this album is terribly underrated - stand inside your love (favorite song), this time (oh my god!), wound, the eye of the mourning, the age of innocence, the imploding voice

machina II = intended to be a freebie given away with machina I, another highly underrated collection. the lo-fi nature of the recordings makes it difficult to listen to, but given a chance, the songwriting is striking. some of their heaviest tunes to date, some of their poppiest tunes, some of their lovliest tunes - cash car star, glass' theme, if there is a god, innosence, real love

alternatively, you could start with the greatest hits - i would say listen chronologically, to get a sense of their considerable progression. also, the tune 'untitled', is one of their best. also includes 'drown' - another smashing pumpkins classic.

pisces iscariot collects many b-sides and unreleased tracks from the sessions of the first 2 albums. not a good place to start, but if you're digging/itching for more, there are still more gems to be found - hello kitty kat, frail and bedazzled, whir, starla

i'm personally thrilled they're getting back together. it misses on the nostalgia aspect if it isn't the originals (for the record, i'd take melissa auf der maur over d'arcy any day of the week and twice on sunday), but to have billy and jimmy together making new music and playing the old songs seems well worth the price of admission in my mind. most bands undergo some sort of lineup change, we're spoiled by U2 and radiohead...

ps - that clip sounds like cheap trick! cool...

 

[impy13]

OFFICIAL album artwork is at www.smashingpumpkins.com. It's cooler than that other crap.

Clip Art

 

[MrBrau1]

ps - that clip sounds like cheap trick! cool...

it does!

 

[angelordevil]

i'm personally thrilled they're getting back together. it misses on the nostalgia aspect if it isn't the originals (for the record, i'd take melissa auf der maur over d'arcy any day of the week and twice on sunday), but to have billy and jimmy together making new music and playing the old songs seems well worth the price of admission in my mind.

Billy and Jimmy are the cornerstones, there's no doubting that. This sounds horrible, but I've always had the impression James and D'arcy were simply bit players, not at all integral to the music. Melissa seemed to be a little more involved, for sure, but it looks like she's also out of the current lineup.

Your overview was great, dudeman...I'd start right from the beginning, as well. Glad you also mentioned Pisces Iscariot. It's not the greatest starting point, but it was mine, and it grabbed me enough to get really interested. With Machina I and II, I wonder if we're allowed to post links for those here? From what I recall, those were once available for free distribution on the Pumpkins' website.

The new album art looks incredible...looks like this has the makings of a political album, which could be truly great if Billy's new ideas can match his classic narcissism

 

[XHendrix24]

I'm sure it's fine to post the Machina II links, since those were never officially released in the first place.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Any plans to release Machina 2 on CD?

I never took Corgan as someone to ever turn down any kind of cheque.

 

[Snowlock]

That's a criminal "list" for Adore. Try this:
To Sheila
Ava Adore
Perfect
Daphne Descends
Appels & Oranjes
Shame
Blank Page

Add these for Machina as well:
Try, Try, Try
Everlasting Gaze
Raindrops + Sunshowers
Wound
Age Of Innocence

I agree. I'm a regular listener of the mid 90's stuff; the later stuff faded so I went back to it over the last couple days. While I couldn't say Adore is gonna have the staying power of Mellon Collie or Siamese, it's got some good songs; especially Ava Adore along with Perfect. Daphne & Apples are good too. And so Dusty & Pistol Pete surprisingly.

Machina; I forgot or maybe never relaized how good about half of it is. I The Mourning is good too as is This Time but my fav may be The Imploding Voice. Should have been the lead off single.

 

[Snowlock]

I'm sure it's fine to post the Machina II links, since those were never officially released in the first place.

Most definately they are. They were released by the band spefically to be distributed freely over the internet. Machina was supposed to be a double album, but the record company wouldn't do it. So after the Pumpkins left the label, they released Machina II

 

[LMP]

I thought Machina I was an official release while Machina II was just an album they spread on the internet, but for the same reasons you mentioned above: Machina I was a commercial failure.

 

[Snowlock]

Good call on that one, it's tied with Perfect (1979's little sister) as my favorite off of Adore.

How about Mayonaise off of Siamese Dream? That's their best song no one's heard of.

Drown is their best song no one's heard of. It's their best song period I think.

 

[Screwtape2]

I agree. I'm a regular listener of the mid 90's stuff; the later stuff faded so I went back to it over the last couple days. While I couldn't say Adore is gonna have the staying power of Mellon Collie or Siamese, it's got some good songs; especially Ava Adore along with Perfect. Daphne & Apples are good too. And so Dusty & Pistol Pete surprisingly.

Machina; I forgot or maybe never relaized how good about half of it is. I The Mourning is good too as is This Time but my fav may be The Imploding Voice. Should have been the lead off single.

Adore and Machina are very underrated. I think some of the negativity comes from people who haven't listened to them in a while. Adore and Machina had a lot of songs that could have been hit singles. It's kind of puzzling to me that they weren't more successful. The videos for those two albums were . Ava Adore had great visuals and Try, Try, Try is one of the saddest and most beautiful videos ever.

 

[LMP]

Drown is their best song no one's heard of. It's their best song period I think.

It's definitely up there, but I love Mayonaise more. The entire Singles soundtrack is something else. You can always count on Cameron Crowe's film's soundtracks to kick ass.

 

[DrTeeth]

You can download Machina II here, which has the 320 kbit/s version. For as far as I know, it's perfectly legal to distribute these.

 

[Snowlock]

Adore and Machina are very underrated. I think some of the negativity comes from people who haven't listened to them in a while. Adore and Machina had a lot of songs that could have been hit singles. It's kind of puzzling to me that they weren't more successful. The videos for those two albums were . Ava Adore had great visuals and Try, Try, Try is one of the saddest and most beautiful videos ever.

I can see why Adore didn't explode, whenever a band stops producing their own sound and decided to encorporate contemporary dance music, the album seems to fail (hmmm, I wonder where I could find another example of this).

Machina though... It must have been because they lost momentum from Adore. It's not as strong as Siamese and as diverse and epic as MC, but it Rocks. Maybe it's because they released a rock album when rock was at an all time low. I think it would have been a much bigger album if it were the follow-up to MC.

Another thing I was thinking of; Billy never names the song after the chorus. I keep trying to remember if I liked a song or not; scanning the track list was no help. The hook in I In The Mourning is "Radio, Radio". I couldn't remember the name of the damn song. Now had it been named Radio or Radio Radio it may have been easier.

Same with Muzzle from MC. I love that song! But forgot the title so always skipped it.

 

[Snowlock]

It's definitely up there, but I love Mayonaise more. The entire Singles soundtrack is something else. You can always count on Cameron Crowe's film's soundtracks to kick ass.

Definately. I bought the soundtrack the day it came out because I was a huge Replacements/Paul Westerberg fan; and the soundtrack is Pauls first solo work. Imagine my surprise in discovering Smashing Pumpkins, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden & Screeming Trees as well (Pearl Jam I already knew). Iconic album.

 

[Screwtape2]

I can see why Adore didn't explode, whenever a band stops producing their own sound and decided to encorporate contemporary dance music, the album seems to fail (hmmm, I wonder where I could find another example of this).


Another thing I was thinking of; Billy never names the song after the chorus. I keep trying to remember if I liked a song or not; scanning the track list was no help. The hook in I In The Mourning is "Radio, Radio". I couldn't remember the name of the damn song. Now had it been named Radio or Radio Radio it may have been easier.

I don't understand the dance or electronic argument because half the songs on Adore don't have either of those elements. Adore is sort of like Achtung Baby in that sense. I also find it interesting you'd say that they stop producing their own sound because most of Adore sounds like Mellon Collie and Pisces Iscariot.

However, I do agree that Billy's song titles probably affect the radio success of a song. That said, I love his titles.

 

[Snowlock]

I don't understand the dance or electronic argument because half the songs on Adore don't have either of those elements. Adore is sort of like Achtung Baby in that sense. I also find it interesting you'd say that they stop producing their own sound because most of Adore sounds like Mellon Collie and Pisces Iscariot.

However, I do agree that Billy's song titles probably affect the radio success of a song. That said, I love his titles.

I'd say that the songs on Mellon Collie that sound like the Adore stuff were the ones at the back of their respective disks and weren't single worthy. I thought 99% of Adore sounded electronica to me; and that's not taking away from it artistically; that's me trying to explain it's lack of success. Electronica dance beats and rock just don't mix well for the masses consistently.

 

[Screwtape2]

I'd say that the songs on Mellon Collie that sound like the Adore stuff were the ones at the back of their respective disks and weren't single worthy. I thought 99% of Adore sounded electronica to me; and that's not taking away from it artistically; that's me trying to explain it's lack of success. Electronica dance beats and rock just don't mix well for the masses consistently.

99%? Wow. I think a lot of people assumed the entire album sounded like Ava Adore and that brought sales down. So I think it's sales were based on an incorrect guess at the album's sound more than from people not liking dance elements in rock. I think if they released a different single it would have sold better.

 

[angelordevil]

I can see why Adore didn't explode, whenever a band stops producing their own sound and decided to encorporate contemporary dance music, the album seems to fail (hmmm, I wonder where I could find another example of this).

Yes, it could very well be their Pop Both albums are rather dark, bleak, and overwhelmingly misunderstood. Sometimes great art doesn't equate with great profit.

I The Mourning is good too as is This Time but my fav may be The Imploding Voice. Should have been the lead off single.

To me, This Time is the definitive song of the Pumpkins' demise:

...Some day we'll wave hello, and wish we'd never waved goodbye to this romance...We'll drink up every line and shoot up every word, till there's no more...

 

[coemgen]

The FULL version of Tarantula!!

It's better than the clip, which didn't reveal much.

http://www.thepumpkins.net/

 

[coemgen]

It gets very Siamese Dream/Mellon Collie toward the end.

 

[Snowlock]

The FULL version of Tarantula!!

It's better than the clip, which didn't reveal much.

http://www.thepumpkins.net/

Good stuff!! Funny but the most Pumpkinesque part of that song for me is the D'arcy-less bass! Love the chorus.

 

[XHendrix24]

Eh, jury's still out on this one as far as I'm concerned. Didn't really knock me on my ass or anything like I was hoping it might, and it CERTAINLY doesn't sound like a "first single" type of song. Sounds more like Billy trying to prove to everyone that he can still play guitar or something.

I think it might grow on me, though. I'm liking it a little more with each listen, I think.

 

[coemgen]

Yeah, I'm liking it more with each listen, too. I was hoping for something like "Zero," "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" or "Everlasting Gaze." This is heavy, but more pop rock than kick-your-teeth-in rock. Plus, the song structure is a bit all over the place. I'm still trying to figure it out. I think it will become clearer after a few 100 more listens.

 

[U2FanPeter]

Good stuff!! Funny but the most Pumpkinesque part of that song for me is the D'arcy-less bass!

D'arcy was largely absent from the original studio recordings. Billy played bass back in the day and likely on this new song.

u2fp

 

[Screwtape2]

Not too bad but knowing the Pumpkins the rest of the album won't sound anything like this.

 

[dudeman]

that's fucking great!
it's like evil queen.
thanks for that. it's gonna be a great record.
and people are gonna hate it.
sweet.

 

[dudeman]

holyfuckingshit!
i just got this off the band's myspace site - from the blog regarding the album's artwork.

AND I QUOTE:

"The illustration derives strength from the usage of the color red. Explains Fairey: "I use red frequently because it is a visually powerful, emotionally potent color. Red gets people's attention. In this case there is the added possibility that the red liquid could be blood, giving it an even more sinister sense of foreboding. Red helps people to realize immediately that something is wrong and the image is not a soothing postcard."


When that dude starts talking about blood, i just about shat myself...

 

[coemgen]

Now they have a high-quality version of the song at www.thepumpkins.net