Zeitgeist.
07/16/2007 07:18 a.m.
When Billy Corgan announced in 2005 that he had intentions of re-forming the seminal rock band of the nineties, it raised a few eyebrows that this announcement came on the same day that corgan's 'first' solo record, "TheFutureEmbrace" hit shelves. Approached with equal measures of hope and skepticism, many felt that this was a calculated stunt to boost his sales- It didn't even do that for Corgan, as his album dropped off the charts and the pumpkins beat went silent for a year and a half.

Then a funny thing happened, he actually recruited Jimmy Chamberlain and got to work on the album. James Iha And D'arcy Wretzky? MIA. Then word came that it would be called "Zeitgeist". Then that album artwork came out.

any remote expectations that this album might be good were quickly fleeting. the best that anyone could hope for was something shy of an embarrassment- It looked as if this was just going to be another one of Corgan's egocentric pet projects with a pumpkins sticker slapped on it.Could this new Pumpkins, consisting of only Corgan and chamberlain recapture any of the glory that made them the biggest american band of the 90's?

The first Six seconds of Zeitgeist answer that question with a resounding "Fuck Yes!" and a kick in the face to boot. Leading off with a dexterous drum intro courtesy of Chamberlain, "Doomsday Clock" re-introduces the concept of Hard rock that Corgan Reached for on "Machina: The Machines Of God"- but he actually hits his target this time. After the tepid reception Afforded to just about all of Corgan's Projects since '96 (Adore, Machina, Zwan, TheFutureEmbrace"), you can't blame corgan for feeling like he has something to prove. It gets the job done well enough- and Chamberlain, who has never on a pumpkins album been given the emphasis his talent deserves, finally gets his due and really gets to show off why he is, bar none, the best drummer working these days. "7 Shades Of Black" Continues to bring the rock; "Bleeding the Orchid" steps into mid-90s Soundgarden Territory, briefly, but the vocal harmonies all over the song make it interesting and beautiful; the guitar heroics start to shine here and they're highlighted over a lot of the rest of the record.

The first half of the album doesn't stray much from the guitars + guitars +guitars + guitars + chamberlain formula- and it's not much worse for the wear for it. With the first five tracks (even the Zwan-y "That's The Way" works out well), Zeitgeist really starts to look like it just might exceed every expectation that came along with the album. Unfortunately, the next seven tracks proceed to bring those hopes crashing down to earth faster than you can say 'Machina".

"Starz" is the first sign of trouble. aside from the horrible title, banal lyrics (okay, so no one ever listened to a pumpkins song for the lyrics), and lack of any real interesting melody, the way-too-high-in-the-mix vocals and the completely tank the song; only until the last 20 seconds of the song does a buzzing riff give the song anything interesting. by this time though, Corgan has thoroughly proven to everyone (except, perhaps, himself) that he can rock, and we're left looking for something different; and Then Comes "United States".
Every corgan project has at least one requisite overindulgent mess of of masturbatory guitar and multiple non-cohesive sections; this one actually fares better musically than any of them since 'X.Y.U.'- come to think of it, it sounds like a half-assed retread of that song; worst of all though, is Corgan's new political bent; when he sings about "Revolution", he sounds like he'd be more interested in just about ANYTHING else. The rest of the album doesn't get much better.

"Neverlost" doesn't ever take off (note to excessively pale rock stars from the midwest: Marimba doesn't belong on your album. ever.)- and the final two tracks find Corgan and Co. Exploring their Cure Fetishism; "For God and Country" (besides being horribly produced) is a song without a solid melody to stand on; "Pomp and Circumstances" Sounds like Billy tried to marry "Disintegration" with "Adore"- not a bad idea in concept- and completely and utterly fails to produce anything interesting from it.

The result is a record that splits the difference between Awesome and Awful. It's easily the weakest album in the pumpkins canon- but that was never in question. What was in question is if Corgan could remain remotely relevant over a decade after people really stopped caring about him; the answer? the Pumpkins are back. Sorta.
I am currently Bleh
I am listening to smashingpumpkins(Come On) Let's Go!