I love it! Reminds me of a mix of the real earlier stuff, with a bit of Adore. I feel the vibes of Hello Kitty Kat and Pissant, which are two of my favourite Pumpkins tracks ever, especially on Edin. :)
Love this album. Far exceeded what I thought this band could pull off at this stage in their career. You know “if past predicts future”. The output hasn’t been too good over the past decade, imo. But they are so back baby and that makes me very happy.
Hey dude! Great review, I’m thinking the same thing. Great to have that classic sound back but still sounding so fresh at the same time! The physical release is coming in November!
With very few caveats, they knocked it out of the park on this one. My only issue is Billy's evolution in singing style that I just don't quite get that started about 10 years ago or so. Hard initial consonants on words, then a weird hitch before the rest of the word. Like "chance" would be pronounced "CH - ance." Fairly minor quibble though. This is a great record.
Thanks for your great review. I can't say that I was really into this band previously, but I like the heavy sound on this album. War Dreams is also my favorite here.
Thank you, and I agree. I haven't been this pumped for a Smashing album since late 90s. This was a very welcome album where I listen it throughout again and again. Hell I can't even remember last time I played any album through last 10 years. Very well done SP
I like the record and I would say I am a casual fan of theirs, but main reason I do like this is 10 tracks 45 minutes it seems very compact and to the point. Its always interesting with the digital only releases, myself liking alot of indie artists sometimes that is all you are going to get, and very rare you willl get a full record you might get some singles or an EP. But as mentioned this digital release will be followed by a physical on 11/22 which is "Black Friday" and also Record Store Day though I know this is going to be a wide release, since amazon is already advertising it they never advertise RSD things, but I wouldn't be shocked to see some sort of special thing on RSD, similar to what Pearl Jam did with their latest release. Another note on the Digital release only thing, Kacey Musgrave's did a similar thing on August 2 by adding seven tracks to her latest album, but as of now its digital only for the bonus but rumor has it she will release those songs as a RSD 2024 release too.
Thru Billy Corigan ZuZu I was able to do a VIP preorder of the album in a gatefold color vinyl with a bonus 7inch and a poster, lyric book. Also today 8/4 in Brooklyn there is a listening party with exclusive mdse for the Smashing Pumpkins.
Truly loving on this album. Yes, we know - there will never be another “Gish” or “Siamese Dream”. Once you can accept that truth, you can let yourself be thankful that we still have great new material three decades on.
Hello from France brendon 😊. I hope it will be on physical copy later but unfortunelatly i' m not sure😢. I like brendon snyder's expression peak and valley😂😂😂😂. Good sunday brendon 😊
Corgan has said that he didn't want to make another 90s album and seemed irritated that the more recent stuff didn't gain traction. I'll definitely listen to this
yeah this album is def a big FU by Corgan, but you can feel how much he enjoyed making these songs. The fans made him eat his vegetables and he liked it!
on your inquiry about physical release vs digital. I would lean more to believing it's due to production delays/vinyl shortage. They want to rush the release for the tour. Side note if you revisit, you may want to check pronunciation of Iha, Atum, and Aghori Mhori Mei. Corgan has a video where he pronounced the new album for anyone questioning. And his pronunciation of Atum is much closer to Autumn.
I tried, and maybe it'll eventually click but for me this was in no way a return to anything about the records from their heyday. It's a professionally sounding radio rock record but sounds like a rock by numbers version of what they must think fans liked about their older stuff. I hear the same bland vocal phrasing that's characterized their last few releases with almost no melodic meat to grab onto, some cringey mixing choices and songs that have very little room to breath. Most of these songs blend from one to the next with very few unique qualities to distinguish them in the writing. The lyrics continue to be heartless, nonsensical word salads that borders on indulgent even for Billy. I'm glad to see it's getting a generally good reaction, though.
💯! You perfectly summed up my feelings, and I’ve listened to the Pumpkins for 30 years now. I’ll add that I enjoyed AMM’s actual instrumentation much more than Billy’s vocals-who pretty much makes me cringe anymore.
I liked it but I also liked most of Atum. Pentagrams is a standout track on AMM. It’s not Siamese dream or Mellon collie but it’s a good step in the right direction. I do wish he would bring in flood or butch vig. Also I wish they used more acoustic guitars on the lighter songs.
Great review!! I liked the album too, but... the only question I have is why Corgan insists with the chords keyboard, he abused of that sound in Atum and it's simply horrible!
Blew me away. After Atum (has its moments but not a fav of mine) id almost given up on hope that Billy could or would ever bring things back to the heavy alternative rockin that SP is best at instead of the synth pop bs hes been peddling for some time now... As a lifelong SP fan since SD released i couldnt be happier. Next to Sabbath and The Cure SP are in my top 3 bands of all time and im truly elated.
I have to say the first 45devonds or so I was pretty excited but then it quickly descended into the familiar tropes of the band in recent years. Billy's voice just doesn't cut it anymore. Every line is delivered the exact same way, his lyrics are almost the ramblings of a mad man and if I hear the line "love or lover" by him one more time I may scream. The songs themselves are OK but nothing really jumped out at me and they all seem to have fallen into the same trap as all of they're recent stuff of everything sounding very same'y by chuntering along at the same pedestrian pace. I'm also embarrassed to say that as much as I love Jimmy I thought his drumming in this was very underwhelming. He almost seemed to have done away with his signiture jazzy style and was playing a more generic rock style which in parts (for his standard) verging on dull. Sure it's an improvement on the last few albums and the guitar work is excellent as always but in my opinion it's certainly not the triumphant return some are saying and I had hoped for but it's definitely a step in the right direction
People who are saying this sounds like their 90s stuff are wrong, because every SP record from the 90s sounds different than the one before and after it. They were always growing and experimenting with their sound. But for me, this record FEELS like their 90s catalog. Big guitars, big drums, intros, outros, bridges, loud, quiet, building and dying, swells and falls, dramatic crescendos and satisfying pinnacles. This was a killer metallic trip for me, slots right in with their classic catalog.
@@BrendonSnyder There isn't a unifying "sound" to their 90's stuff. The tones, production, mood all varied between studio releases. When I'm thinking about it, "sounds" isn't the best descriptor for recognizing the Pumpkins' signature style, "feels" is. Like, I can simply tell my friends what ACDC sounds like, but with the Pumpkins it's not so easy - and I like that.
I don't think this is a 90s throwback sound. It's definitely more rock oriented, though. I love this band and have a deep history from my childhood (like so many people) to their music. I think there are a lot of melodic/musical themes and motifs that BC has been kicking around for the last few years. Some are good in concept but I don't think that they have the same drive as a young band does to write a coherent and compelling song. This album is appreciated but ultimately lackluster. And if this is not a return to form as a rock band on a studio album, then I don't know what ever will be. I've been saying for years that I want to hear something great from them because I think that they can write something great, but the production feels unfocused. Also, in speaking about production, the mixing and mastering is just awful and feels overcompressed (or in other words with no dynamics). It's almost like listening to a demo that a novice engineer would polish for production in 2024 than something that really highlights some of the best parts of some of these songs. In all, I find the new album mediocre from my favorite band of all time. The production feels rushed and unfocused. I'm happy to hear more of a rock/guitar oriented album, but this just misses the mark.
This album has grown on me after a few listens. I’m glad they went back to a more guitar driven sound. However, this in no way touches Mellon Collie, Gish, or Siamese Dream. There are good songs but this album lacks a lot of hooks. No standout choruses. The guitar solos aren’t bad but not very memorable with the exception of maybe one on Pentagrams which I thought was good. Also, Billy’s vocals…they’ve sounded like this since Zwan and don’t have the power and emotion they once did on their 90s albums. They sound ok on songs like Goeth the Fall or Pentecost but was hoping for some more “umph” on the heavier tracks. Also, some of the lyrics are a bit ridiculous (War Dreams of Itself comes to mind). Not a bad album at all and much better than the atrocious Atum and Cyr. I’d say best since Oceania. They are headed in the right direction.
Apparently Billy has been working on this for 2 years, so Jeff leaving didn't have any impact on this release. Better than anything they have released since Machina. I've never warmed to Oceania, or the latest few. Back to a more guitar driven sound and perhaps what the original part 2 of Monuments of an Elegy would have looked like.
I will admit. The music is about as close to the old pumpkins I’m sure we will get. But it isn’t even close to how good their old stuff is. Plus I can’t get past Billy’s voice. He needs autotune or whatever they used in the 90s
if you subscribe to the smashing pumpkins youtube channel he put up a video a few weeks ago showing people how to pronounce the name of the album. i guess if people say it wrong its his fault for making such a weird name.
Yah this doesn’t sound anything like golden era pumpkins and it shouldn’t! This sounds like a mature Billy with a mature band, a more mature vocalist, playing more guitar driven songs and IMO, it’s a good album. It definitely sounds like a pumpkins album though l, lots of harmonic layer layering of guitars, but not over the top. I actually think it gets better in the second half. Who goes there and Sicarus are great tracks along with several other standouts. I hope they play a few of these at upcoming shows!
It’s called context. Not everyone knows the history of the band and in the case of my review and referencing past albums, for those that don’t know the previous albums the history is for them. 👍
Best album since Oceania. Great guitar sound, but I hate the mixing of the vocals. They sound too up front and omnipresent. All Pumpkins recent albums had this same problem
This would have been a great album if Billy went back to his old singing style. Which, oddly, he uses his old singing style on tour. He's made the conscious effort to sound different (objectively bad) on newer albums. I don't get it.
@@BrendonSnyder Clearly you don't have ears. I see them on every tour, he chooses to make his voice sound bad on albums, yet sound exactly like his old voice while on tour. I don't understand why he does that.
@@BrendonSnyder His vocals on the Talking Heads cover they do on tour absolutely blew my balls off. Then you hear his vocals on newer albums and go "wtf?"
@@BrendonSnyder How? Because I have ears and noticed how bad the mix is on newer albums? And that I also see them live on every tour and his vocals are identical to the 90s?
Atum had like, four or five really good tracks, and twenty five bad ones. Cyr had some inspired and memorable Gothic synth songs and then a completely forgettable second half. The best songs from both could have been combined to make a good single record. As for the new album, it's a lot better than both. The production is a little bit wonky, but the songwriting is good and I appreciate their metal approach to this. Rolling Stone, who has never liked Corgan, wrote in their negative review that they found the metal sound to be oppressive. Rolling Stone is run by old white hippie boomers who love the band Phish, still worship Joni Mitchell (who wrote the worst song of all time aka Big Yellow Taxi) and Neil Young, and despise any artist who even vaguely reeks of libertarian thought. I'm not saying that I detest hippies, but hippies have never understood The Smashing Pumpkins
False: this sounds nothing like early 90s pumpkins. My mind is just blown with all these RUclips reviewers saying the same thing... Go listen to gish, go listen to Siamese dream, go listen to Pisces iscariot, go listen to melancholy and the infinite sadness... All of them, WILDLY different than this album. This album sounds like Billy got lost in metal-land and couldn't find his way out.
@@BrendonSnyder and I totally respect that, but with my formal education in sound engineering and music (where I have to pay attention to the details) this is nothing like those original albums. Like objectively, there are elements missing from this new album that were in the old, both musically and from a production standpoint. But if you love the album, that's really great... I truly appreciate your vid overall. That's what's so great about art... the subjectivity of it all.
I only said it was a great throwback album…and it is…I never said it matched the earlier albums. I even said it would never replace those albums. Don’t get so worked up over someone else’s opinion being different than yours. We are all allowed to have our own opinions. You included.
@@BrendonSnyder whoa! I'm cool... I'm not worked up. It's all good. I just don't understand many of the reviews that I'm seeing on this, but that's fine if people like it. My point is that it's objectively different, but lots of the reviews that I've seen on RUclips say that it's a "return to form"... Which isn't 100% accurate, that's all .
Sorry but this album does nothing for me. Nothing memorable or even 90s-sounding at all. Billy’s vocals are grating after a while. I really liked Cyr but Atum was just too much.
Meh. More gibberish lyrics. The ‘90s’ sound are lyrics we can emotionally connect with. This album ain’t that. Musically great. Would be better with no lyrics tbh.
Since Darcy left the band Billy has done some really cringe stuff. He can still write a song but part of what made him great was her telling him he was being stupid and what he was trying to do didn't work. He's written very few good vocal melodies since she left and this record while the guitars are cool doesn't have anything resembling memorable. I liked knights of malta, solara, a few other recent tunes, but you know how you will still listen to 2112 or Animals? I can't see myself listening to anything Billy has done in the last 10 years 10 years from now. Heck, one year from now. I still revisit American Gothic and some of Oceania. Everything since, meh. Every song feels like "hey this could be something" then he starts singing in this half desperation half soft method and i get lost wondering where this song is supposed to be going and it ends up predictable. There was absolutely nothing predictable about their 90s music. I just hope Jimmy is getting paid good.
I think you’re too worried about things you know nothing about and instead should be paying attention to what’s in front of you and enjoying it for what it is.
@@BrendonSnyder know nothing about? Ok. I've been following Billy religiously for over 30 years. Cotillion had great tunes but was ruined by the vocals. This record at least he turned them down into the mix but it's still pretty cringe. I saw him in 2011 and his singing on Geek USA and the Oceania tunes was great but since then he's chosen another angle that makes the songs "interesting" at first and then forgettable, or at least nothing I really want to hear over and over. Jeff's fills were technically good but nothing like what James did and I still don't hear much of James' input in this record. Billy talked about how here they recorded like they did in 1992 and I simply don't believe him. I get it, people get old. My last Rush concert Geddy had a really hard time not piercing my ears, I hate how Ian Anderson sings a half step behind the music, and Billy decided some 10 years ago that he had to be a more generic singer and I think that's been a big mistake. I mean Christ, listen to Glynis then listen to this. He can still do it and I don't know why he refuses to. Instead it's "I'll stay in key and do the high/low thing and that'll be good enough." What happened to "and God is empty, just like me" or even "rain falls on everyone"? Do you honestly think in 3 years you'll be listening to this record with high regard after he's released another project? I love the guy, he's complicated and weird and now a family man and I'm in my fifties so I appreciate it but you can't tell me this stuff is great. It's good, serviceable, and perhaps progress but his idea that "everything is changing" well he's been saying that for over 20 years and has never found that spark apart from a few select tunes that make us fans want to say "Yeah he's still got it". When Oceania came out people were saying it was a return to form. Billy wants to say "I don't give a fuck" then produces material clearly showing he gives a fuck. This output is nothing like the early to mid 90s AND THAT'S OK but don't try to bullshit people into thinking it is. Darcy had great taste, Billy has admitted that her influence was huge. She'd have made him rewrite/reproduce at least half of these tracks and then the record could maybe go gold and get more attention than "wow he's cool for the loud guitars again". Ffs he himself billed Monuments as "guitars guitars guitars" and I guarantee you and almost nobody else remembers a single riff from that record, let alone a vocal melody.
7 min in and you have no cred. Mispronunciation on James' name and ATUM (listen to Billy interviews before you go spouting your nonsense), and just c'mon, AMM sounds like a 90s album? Ffs man 👎 and I didn't even get to the "review" 😂
Don’t know what your problem is but you can take it elsewhere. I stand by my review, pronunciation, and everything else in the review. Perhaps you should do your own review if you feel this strongly instead of complaining about someone else’s opinion with no support and back up as to why you disagree. Oh wait, you don’t have an opinion, you just regurgitate other people’s opinions. Cool 🤦♂️
I listened to it Friday. Was pretty blown away. I see there's a cd option on Amazon now. Enjoyed ATUM as well. Thanks for the review so quickly
Do you 🪴? Might be the only way to slightly enjoy some of Pink Pumpkins, I mean SP, wannabe remembered 3 new albums.
It’s super rockin and Billy guitar work shreds. I love pentagrams. As a whole it’s beautiful. Bravo
I love it! Reminds me of a mix of the real earlier stuff, with a bit of Adore. I feel the vibes of Hello Kitty Kat and Pissant, which are two of my favourite Pumpkins tracks ever, especially on Edin. :)
Love this album. Far exceeded what I thought this band could pull off at this stage in their career. You know “if past predicts future”. The output hasn’t been too good over the past decade, imo. But they are so back baby and that makes me very happy.
Hey dude! Great review, I’m thinking the same thing. Great to have that classic sound back but still sounding so fresh at the same time!
The physical release is coming in November!
Thanks to your review,I downloaded the album. I absolutely love it! Many thanks, Brendon!!
With very few caveats, they knocked it out of the park on this one. My only issue is Billy's evolution in singing style that I just don't quite get that started about 10 years ago or so. Hard initial consonants on words, then a weird hitch before the rest of the word. Like "chance" would be pronounced "CH - ance." Fairly minor quibble though. This is a great record.
Great review. Great band. Going to wait and buy the cd. 😎👍
Thanks for your great review. I can't say that I was really into this band previously, but I like the heavy sound on this album. War Dreams is also my favorite here.
As you have probably seen by now, the cd version will be released November 22nd as well as a more widespread vinyl release.
Thankfully there is a CD version that will be available. Great album, first one I've enjoyed since Oceania.
Oceania was great!
Same. And I think it tops Oceania.
yeah it almost feels like a bridge between Zeitgeist and Oceania, which is a great place for modern SP to live!
@@hobojungle1 No way, j/s
I'm going to hold out and wait for the CD edition, I have pre-ordered it. But, this review has me pumped!
Thank you, and I agree. I haven't been this pumped for a Smashing album since late 90s. This was a very welcome album where I listen it throughout again and again. Hell I can't even remember last time I played any album through last 10 years. Very well done SP
I like the record and I would say I am a casual fan of theirs, but main reason I do like this is 10 tracks 45 minutes it seems very compact and to the point. Its always interesting with the digital only releases, myself liking alot of indie artists sometimes that is all you are going to get, and very rare you willl get a full record you might get some singles or an EP. But as mentioned this digital release will be followed by a physical on 11/22 which is "Black Friday" and also Record Store Day though I know this is going to be a wide release, since amazon is already advertising it they never advertise RSD things, but I wouldn't be shocked to see some sort of special thing on RSD, similar to what Pearl Jam did with their latest release. Another note on the Digital release only thing, Kacey Musgrave's did a similar thing on August 2 by adding seven tracks to her latest album, but as of now its digital only for the bonus but rumor has it she will release those songs as a RSD 2024 release too.
Do only me hear that they played Foo Fighters riff “All my life” in song called 999 on 4:00😂?
999 is so good, Edin and Pentagrams are also excellent
Thru Billy Corigan ZuZu I was able to do a VIP preorder of the album in a gatefold color vinyl with a bonus 7inch and a poster, lyric book. Also today 8/4 in Brooklyn there is a listening party with exclusive mdse for the Smashing Pumpkins.
Album is solid and 999 is one of the best tracks by them since Machina.
Great review Brendon. 👍🏻
Truly loving on this album. Yes, we know - there will never be another “Gish” or “Siamese Dream”. Once you can accept that truth, you can let yourself be thankful that we still have great new material three decades on.
It’s a fantastic / beautiful album, every single is golden and it has really grown on me.
Hello from France brendon 😊. I hope it will be on physical copy later but unfortunelatly i' m not sure😢. I like brendon snyder's expression peak and valley😂😂😂😂.
Good sunday brendon 😊
Corgan has said that he didn't want to make another 90s album and seemed irritated that the more recent stuff didn't gain traction. I'll definitely listen to this
yeah this album is def a big FU by Corgan, but you can feel how much he enjoyed making these songs. The fans made him eat his vegetables and he liked it!
Thanks for the review of the band and the new album.
Great show Great view🎉❤
Great album. Not 90s SP, but that's not what I expect. Love this crew together.
You had it right the first time, billy says the album ATUM is pronounced Autumn (with a silent n)
on your inquiry about physical release vs digital. I would lean more to believing it's due to production delays/vinyl shortage. They want to rush the release for the tour. Side note if you revisit, you may want to check pronunciation of Iha, Atum, and Aghori Mhori Mei. Corgan has a video where he pronounced the new album for anyone questioning. And his pronunciation of Atum is much closer to Autumn.
I tried, and maybe it'll eventually click but for me this was in no way a return to anything about the records from their heyday. It's a professionally sounding radio rock record but sounds like a rock by numbers version of what they must think fans liked about their older stuff. I hear the same bland vocal phrasing that's characterized their last few releases with almost no melodic meat to grab onto, some cringey mixing choices and songs that have very little room to breath. Most of these songs blend from one to the next with very few unique qualities to distinguish them in the writing. The lyrics continue to be heartless, nonsensical word salads that borders on indulgent even for Billy. I'm glad to see it's getting a generally good reaction, though.
💯! You perfectly summed up my feelings, and I’ve listened to the Pumpkins for 30 years now. I’ll add that I enjoyed AMM’s actual instrumentation much more than Billy’s vocals-who pretty much makes me cringe anymore.
I liked it but I also liked most of Atum. Pentagrams is a standout track on AMM. It’s not Siamese dream or Mellon collie but it’s a good step in the right direction. I do wish he would bring in flood or butch vig. Also I wish they used more acoustic guitars on the lighter songs.
Great review!! I liked the album too, but... the only question I have is why Corgan insists with the chords keyboard, he abused of that sound in Atum and it's simply horrible!
Blew me away. After Atum (has its moments but not a fav of mine) id almost given up on hope that Billy could or would ever bring things back to the heavy alternative rockin that SP is best at instead of the synth pop bs hes been peddling for some time now... As a lifelong SP fan since SD released i couldnt be happier. Next to Sabbath and The Cure SP are in my top 3 bands of all time and im truly elated.
I love this new album... My top 3: Edin, Pentagrams & War dreams of itself
I listened to it amultd which i have highly recommended especially if you have a dot. Good new music from them 😊
I have to say the first 45devonds or so I was pretty excited but then it quickly descended into the familiar tropes of the band in recent years. Billy's voice just doesn't cut it anymore. Every line is delivered the exact same way, his lyrics are almost the ramblings of a mad man and if I hear the line "love or lover" by him one more time I may scream. The songs themselves are OK but nothing really jumped out at me and they all seem to have fallen into the same trap as all of they're recent stuff of everything sounding very same'y by chuntering along at the same pedestrian pace. I'm also embarrassed to say that as much as I love Jimmy I thought his drumming in this was very underwhelming. He almost seemed to have done away with his signiture jazzy style and was playing a more generic rock style which in parts (for his standard) verging on dull. Sure it's an improvement on the last few albums and the guitar work is excellent as always but in my opinion it's certainly not the triumphant return some are saying and I had hoped for but it's definitely a step in the right direction
We must be listening to two different albums because I think Billy sounds great.
@@BrendonSnyder each to their own
Great album.
People who are saying this sounds like their 90s stuff are wrong, because every SP record from the 90s sounds different than the one before and after it. They were always growing and experimenting with their sound. But for me, this record FEELS like their 90s catalog. Big guitars, big drums, intros, outros, bridges, loud, quiet, building and dying, swells and falls, dramatic crescendos and satisfying pinnacles. This was a killer metallic trip for me, slots right in with their classic catalog.
For me saying it “sounds” like their 90’s stuff and it “feels” like their 90’s stuff is the same…..so who’s wrong here? 🤷♂️
@@BrendonSnyder There isn't a unifying "sound" to their 90's stuff. The tones, production, mood all varied between studio releases. When I'm thinking about it, "sounds" isn't the best descriptor for recognizing the Pumpkins' signature style, "feels" is. Like, I can simply tell my friends what ACDC sounds like, but with the Pumpkins it's not so easy - and I like that.
Lot of songs , with the voice that don't works ....lyrics don't fit with music...
But i really love. Who goes there....very zwan style
I don't think this is a 90s throwback sound. It's definitely more rock oriented, though. I love this band and have a deep history from my childhood (like so many people) to their music. I think there are a lot of melodic/musical themes and motifs that BC has been kicking around for the last few years. Some are good in concept but I don't think that they have the same drive as a young band does to write a coherent and compelling song. This album is appreciated but ultimately lackluster. And if this is not a return to form as a rock band on a studio album, then I don't know what ever will be. I've been saying for years that I want to hear something great from them because I think that they can write something great, but the production feels unfocused. Also, in speaking about production, the mixing and mastering is just awful and feels overcompressed (or in other words with no dynamics). It's almost like listening to a demo that a novice engineer would polish for production in 2024 than something that really highlights some of the best parts of some of these songs.
In all, I find the new album mediocre from my favorite band of all time. The production feels rushed and unfocused. I'm happy to hear more of a rock/guitar oriented album, but this just misses the mark.
Give it a couple more listens
@drewlittell I absolutely will! They're still my favorite band. Nice review, BTW. I'm always interested on hearing commentary regarding their music.
where did you purchase the CD shelving?
it looks stellar
looking for some but hard to find something sleek and well made
I’m an architect so I designed it myself and had it built.
@@BrendonSnyder• excellent work brendon
Ordered the vinyl version sounds great to me
This album has grown on me after a few listens. I’m glad they went back to a more guitar driven sound. However, this in no way touches Mellon Collie, Gish, or Siamese Dream. There are good songs but this album lacks a lot of hooks. No standout choruses. The guitar solos aren’t bad but not very memorable with the exception of maybe one on Pentagrams which I thought was good. Also, Billy’s vocals…they’ve sounded like this since Zwan and don’t have the power and emotion they once did on their 90s albums. They sound ok on songs like Goeth the Fall or Pentecost but was hoping for some more “umph” on the heavier tracks. Also, some of the lyrics are a bit ridiculous (War Dreams of Itself comes to mind). Not a bad album at all and much better than the atrocious Atum and Cyr. I’d say best since Oceania. They are headed in the right direction.
Show us your Jandek collection
Don’t know who that is.
GREAT album
I have only owned the first two cds and the greatest hits cd 💿
Apparently Billy has been working on this for 2 years, so Jeff leaving didn't have any impact on this release. Better than anything they have released since Machina. I've never warmed to Oceania, or the latest few. Back to a more guitar driven sound and perhaps what the original part 2 of Monuments of an Elegy would have looked like.
I love the back to basics guitar sound…. Billy just sings different.. I don’t think he has to (due to age) I just think it’s more of a choice.
Everyone ages…no way to escape it
Yet another one of there albums I can’t have in my cd collection of all there albums released
You can on Nov. 22nd 👍
I will admit. The music is about as close to the old pumpkins I’m sure we will get. But it isn’t even close to how good their old stuff is. Plus I can’t get past Billy’s voice. He needs autotune or whatever they used in the 90s
You can now pre-order the limited vinyl from "Madame Zuzu's"!
You can also order it on Amazon
@@BrendonSnyder the limited Version?
No, sorry, just meant the album is available for pre-order on Amazon.
if you subscribe to the smashing pumpkins youtube channel he put up a video a few weeks ago showing people how to pronounce the name of the album. i guess if people say it wrong its his fault for making such a weird name.
Yah this doesn’t sound anything like golden era pumpkins and it shouldn’t! This sounds like a mature Billy with a mature band, a more mature vocalist, playing more guitar driven songs and IMO, it’s a good album. It definitely sounds like a pumpkins album though l, lots of harmonic layer layering of guitars, but not over the top. I actually think it gets better in the second half. Who goes there and Sicarus are great tracks along with several other standouts. I hope they play a few of these at upcoming shows!
Why does every SP review include a complete history of the band
It’s called context. Not everyone knows the history of the band and in the case of my review and referencing past albums, for those that don’t know the previous albums the history is for them. 👍
Absolutely hate it! 😢I really tried.
same
Best album since Oceania. Great guitar sound, but I hate the mixing of the vocals. They sound too up front and omnipresent. All Pumpkins recent albums had this same problem
This would have been a great album if Billy went back to his old singing style. Which, oddly, he uses his old singing style on tour. He's made the conscious effort to sound different (objectively bad) on newer albums. I don't get it.
There is nothing different about the way he sings except that he has aged almost 30 years since their 90’s heyday. And even then he sounds great.
@@BrendonSnyder Clearly you don't have ears. I see them on every tour, he chooses to make his voice sound bad on albums, yet sound exactly like his old voice while on tour. I don't understand why he does that.
@@BrendonSnyder His vocals on the Talking Heads cover they do on tour absolutely blew my balls off. Then you hear his vocals on newer albums and go "wtf?"
Bro you’re talking out of your ass. Just stop.
@@BrendonSnyder How? Because I have ears and noticed how bad the mix is on newer albums? And that I also see them live on every tour and his vocals are identical to the 90s?
After one spin I'm thinking there's lots of cool stuff, heavy. But the vocals got annoying after a while. I will give it more time though.
James Iha - pronounced EE HAH
Atum - pronounced Autumn
As for Iha…that’s what I said 👍
Atum had like, four or five really good tracks, and twenty five bad ones. Cyr had some inspired and memorable Gothic synth songs and then a completely forgettable second half. The best songs from both could have been combined to make a good single record.
As for the new album, it's a lot better than both. The production is a little bit wonky, but the songwriting is good and I appreciate their metal approach to this. Rolling Stone, who has never liked Corgan, wrote in their negative review that they found the metal sound to be oppressive. Rolling Stone is run by old white hippie boomers who love the band Phish, still worship Joni Mitchell (who wrote the worst song of all time aka Big Yellow Taxi) and Neil Young, and despise any artist who even vaguely reeks of libertarian thought. I'm not saying that I detest hippies, but hippies have never understood The Smashing Pumpkins
False: this sounds nothing like early 90s pumpkins. My mind is just blown with all these RUclips reviewers saying the same thing... Go listen to gish, go listen to Siamese dream, go listen to Pisces iscariot, go listen to melancholy and the infinite sadness... All of them, WILDLY different than this album. This album sounds like Billy got lost in metal-land and couldn't find his way out.
You must be listening to a different album. I stand by my statements 👍
@@BrendonSnyder and I totally respect that, but with my formal education in sound engineering and music (where I have to pay attention to the details) this is nothing like those original albums. Like objectively, there are elements missing from this new album that were in the old, both musically and from a production standpoint. But if you love the album, that's really great... I truly appreciate your vid overall. That's what's so great about art... the subjectivity of it all.
I only said it was a great throwback album…and it is…I never said it matched the earlier albums. I even said it would never replace those albums. Don’t get so worked up over someone else’s opinion being different than yours. We are all allowed to have our own opinions. You included.
@@BrendonSnyder whoa! I'm cool... I'm not worked up. It's all good. I just don't understand many of the reviews that I'm seeing on this, but that's fine if people like it. My point is that it's objectively different, but lots of the reviews that I've seen on RUclips say that it's a "return to form"... Which isn't 100% accurate, that's all .
@@digitaldosage1979
What elements are missing?
The string arrangements from melon collie?
The melody hooks from siamese dreams?
All these guitar riffs were played by Black Sabbath in 70s! So why the album is good? Only because they play heavy riffs? This is ridiculous😂
These are not Black Sabbath riffs and this comes from a place of love for both bands
Sorry but this album does nothing for me. Nothing memorable or even 90s-sounding at all. Billy’s vocals are grating after a while. I really liked Cyr but Atum was just too much.
Best album since MellonCollie
First couple of songs sound like Tool rip-offs…
Smashing Pumpkins formed 2 years before Tool so who’s ripping who off?
Meh. More gibberish lyrics. The ‘90s’ sound are lyrics we can emotionally connect with. This album ain’t that. Musically great. Would be better with no lyrics tbh.
The 90’s lyrics are from a man nearly 30 years younger…people age, change, grow, expand, develop, and move on. 👍
Since Darcy left the band Billy has done some really cringe stuff. He can still write a song but part of what made him great was her telling him he was being stupid and what he was trying to do didn't work. He's written very few good vocal melodies since she left and this record while the guitars are cool doesn't have anything resembling memorable. I liked knights of malta, solara, a few other recent tunes, but you know how you will still listen to 2112 or Animals? I can't see myself listening to anything Billy has done in the last 10 years 10 years from now. Heck, one year from now. I still revisit American Gothic and some of Oceania. Everything since, meh. Every song feels like "hey this could be something" then he starts singing in this half desperation half soft method and i get lost wondering where this song is supposed to be going and it ends up predictable. There was absolutely nothing predictable about their 90s music. I just hope Jimmy is getting paid good.
I think you’re too worried about things you know nothing about and instead should be paying attention to what’s in front of you and enjoying it for what it is.
@@BrendonSnyder know nothing about? Ok. I've been following Billy religiously for over 30 years. Cotillion had great tunes but was ruined by the vocals. This record at least he turned them down into the mix but it's still pretty cringe. I saw him in 2011 and his singing on Geek USA and the Oceania tunes was great but since then he's chosen another angle that makes the songs "interesting" at first and then forgettable, or at least nothing I really want to hear over and over. Jeff's fills were technically good but nothing like what James did and I still don't hear much of James' input in this record. Billy talked about how here they recorded like they did in 1992 and I simply don't believe him. I get it, people get old. My last Rush concert Geddy had a really hard time not piercing my ears, I hate how Ian Anderson sings a half step behind the music, and Billy decided some 10 years ago that he had to be a more generic singer and I think that's been a big mistake. I mean Christ, listen to Glynis then listen to this. He can still do it and I don't know why he refuses to. Instead it's "I'll stay in key and do the high/low thing and that'll be good enough." What happened to "and God is empty, just like me" or even "rain falls on everyone"? Do you honestly think in 3 years you'll be listening to this record with high regard after he's released another project? I love the guy, he's complicated and weird and now a family man and I'm in my fifties so I appreciate it but you can't tell me this stuff is great. It's good, serviceable, and perhaps progress but his idea that "everything is changing" well he's been saying that for over 20 years and has never found that spark apart from a few select tunes that make us fans want to say "Yeah he's still got it". When Oceania came out people were saying it was a return to form. Billy wants to say "I don't give a fuck" then produces material clearly showing he gives a fuck. This output is nothing like the early to mid 90s AND THAT'S OK but don't try to bullshit people into thinking it is. Darcy had great taste, Billy has admitted that her influence was huge. She'd have made him rewrite/reproduce at least half of these tracks and then the record could maybe go gold and get more attention than "wow he's cool for the loud guitars again". Ffs he himself billed Monuments as "guitars guitars guitars" and I guarantee you and almost nobody else remembers a single riff from that record, let alone a vocal melody.
@@cygnustspdude they had 3 songs on the charts last year and this album rips so hard. James is all over it if you just listen.
@@cygnustspYes exactly, unfortunately true.
@@cygnustsp I much prefer Oceania to this...and I've listened a few times.
i love the sound but Festers vocal style ruined it.
Album sounds like toilet.
…so you hear swirling sounds? 😂
It's awful. Band lost it's MOJO in 1999
One of the most overrated bands of all time. Which shows in their ticket sales these days…
Which has nothing to do with the quality of the album
@@BrendonSnyder It has everything to do with it. They were never good before and still arent.
Yet here you are! Smashing Pumpkins thanks you!
@@BrendonSnyder Hopefully they thank anyone who buys their tickets because they need help there! Nice one bud.
Their ticket sales Much higher now than 10-20 years ago.. Idiot
7 min in and you have no cred. Mispronunciation on James' name and ATUM (listen to Billy interviews before you go spouting your nonsense), and just c'mon, AMM sounds like a 90s album? Ffs man 👎 and I didn't even get to the "review" 😂
Don’t know what your problem is but you can take it elsewhere. I stand by my review, pronunciation, and everything else in the review. Perhaps you should do your own review if you feel this strongly instead of complaining about someone else’s opinion with no support and back up as to why you disagree. Oh wait, you don’t have an opinion, you just regurgitate other people’s opinions. Cool 🤦♂️
Great album.