Ok, so I went to Target to get my copy of Zeitgeist, the newest CD by the Smashing Pumpkins. You have to understand that I have been a Pumpkins fan for about 15 years. I was in high school when I first listened to Gish and Siamese Dream. The blend of guitar driven melodies and intricate, snare heavy drums combine for what is now the “pumpkin sound.”
And what is at the root of that specific sound? Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain. If you are a fan, then you know that 99% of all of their studio albums is really Billy. He plays all of the guitars, all of the bass, and lays down most of the vocal tracks. Jimmy adds the one thing that Billy doesn’t: the drums. This album is no different. In fact in the liner notes there is this credit: “songs by William Patrick Corgan, performed artfully by Jimmy Chamberlain: drums / Billy Corgan: all the rest.
There was a time when the Pumpkins lost Jimmy for a while. (His time off was a combination of addiction recovery and grief from the overdose death of touring musician, Jonathon Melvoin.) During that time, Billy tried using drum machines and computer beat tracks, much to the dislike of fans.
When I heard that the Pumpkins were reuniting for an album, I wondered if James Iha and D’Arcy would be a part of it. I secretly lusted over the idea of a fully functioning band. But that would not come about. James has other projects going and showed no interest in playing “backup” to Billy again, and D’Arcy is trying to live a “normal” life in western Michigan.
But I became comfortable with 2/4 of the Pumpkins when I put it into perspective: Billy and Jimmy are the Pumpkins and have always been the Pumpkins.
So let’s get to the CD. First, you have to know what the word zeitgeist means. It basically refers to the collective voice of the culture. When you open the booklet inside the CD case you realize that this is not just a catchy album name, it reflects a theme for the entire disc. Various pictures of television monitors are depicted throughout the booklet, each containing images depicting sex, violence, drugs, politics, education, and spoiled heiresses. The booklet reflects the cultures increasing dependence on media’s influence in our lives.
Each track on the disc has a specifically “zeitgeist” type of theme. “Doomsday Clock,” Starz,” “United States,” and “For God and Country” all represent the pulse of our current national and global situations.
When you first pop in the disc, you are bombarded with a flange-heavy guitar and drum intro to “Doomsday Clock,” a classic sounding Pumpkins song that could have been a B-side from the Mellon Collie discs. Reminiscent of the Pumpkins from 10 years ago, they have not lost their edge at all. This is by far one of the best tracks on the disc. The question is, did they put the best up front only to fall short over the rest of the disc? I don’t think so. There are at least six really strong songs on this disc, and the other seven are better than majority of the music that is out there. Aside from the four songs I mentioned above, two other tracks stand out. “Bleeding the Orchid” is a strong candidate for their next radio single. Which brings me to their current single, “Tarantula.” This is one song that epitomizes the Pumpkins sound: flanged, multi-layered guitars, snare driven beats, and multi-track vocals that combine to create one of the best Pumpkins tracks since “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.”
All in all, this is a great album. The fact that the other two original Pumpkins are not on this CD is forgotten about 2 seconds into the first song. (it is noteworthy to mention that the Pumpkins played Live Earth this week with the two newest members, bassist Ginger Reyes and guitarist Jeff Schroeder. The band sounded strong and as tight as I would expect one of my favorite bands to be.)
The one drawback to this album is this: It probably will not convert many new listeners. This is really a CD for Pumpkin fans. Time will tell if sales will indicate otherwise, but my thought is that fans from 15 years ago are still fans. But new fans will be hard to come by. I may be wrong, and I hope I am.
If I were to rate this on a scale of 1 to 5, this would be a 4 or 4.5. I was not disappointed but would have loved to have seen more songs. Thirteen tracks only piqued my interest. I would have loved to have heard 17-20 tracks. Maybe they will put out another disc in a year or two to back this up. I hope so.
Labels: Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins, Zeitgeist
