Like Prince – another US Midwesterner renowned for his prolific output – Billy Corgan has over the course of two decades honed a sound that is uniquely and unmistakably his. Combining the brawn of American alternative rock and the soft underbelly of the UK shoegazer movement, Smashing Pumpkins miraculously managed to bridge and then transcend both, and for a few brief, shining moments, they enjoyed as much artistic credibility as they did commercial success.
Those moments are well in the rear view now, but Corgan shows no signs of slowing down. ‘Oceania’, his umpteen-zillionth Smashing Pumpkins release, hit stores on June 18.
10‘Zeitgeist’
First single ‘Tarantula’ is allegedly a tribute to cheeseball hair metal vets Scorpions – and sadly, that’s one of the album’s least regrettable songs. ‘Zeitgeist’, the first record to bear the Smashing Pumpkins’ name in seven years, is comically heavy and there’s a palpable sense of desperation throughout. After this aimless atrocity, Jimmy Chamberlin, the sole remaining member of the original line-up, apparently decided enough was enough, firing a none-too-subtle shot at Corgan in announcing his 2009 departure: “I can no longer commit all of my energy into something that I don’t fully possess.” Oomph.
While not as dire as its immediate predecessor, ‘Oceania’ is hardly the return to form fans were hoping for. True, the album features some of Corgan’s most aggressive and dazzling guitar work in a decade, but the pyrotechnics are rarely in service of memorable songs. Worse, Corgan’s vocals, never a particularly strong draw, have been pushed to the forefront, as if the 30-second a cappella interlude on ‘The Everlasting Gaze’ was a high water mark in the Pumpkins catalogue. Oh well, at least he seems to have retired the white flowing robes.
8‘Adore’
Arriving at electronic music’s pre-dubstep zenith when acts like The Chemical Brothers and The Crystal Method were anointed as saviours-to-be, ‘Adore’ is the sound of a band confused and experimenting in ways that rarely play to Corgan’s strengths as a songwriter. Though frequently cited as his most personal record (‘For Martha’ was a tribute to his late mother), the album’s programmed beats and instrumental patchwork make for an oddly detached, off-putting listen. Even Corgan seemed to agree in hindsight as he has rarely revisited the sounds explored on ‘Adore’.
Not so much a proper release as a giant extended middle finger in the direction of their record label, Machina II is a deliberately messy affair. Corgan always took special care with The Smashing Pumpkins’ production, so it’s more than a little jarring to hear the band stripped to the bone. When it works, like on the pulverizing, visceral “Glass’ Theme,” the band sounds reinvigorated. But mostly, it sounds like a bootleg in need of a proper mastering job.
All the singles from ‘Mellon Collie’ with their associated B-sides proved to be the perfect stocking stuffer for all the kids who had already worn out the previous year’s double album. There are some genuinely great originals here that Corgan might have been advised to hold over for future albums (hello, ‘Pennies’). Unfortunately, they’re placed alongside some truly heinous covers, including an unforgivably egregious version of The Cars’ ‘You’re All I’ve Got Tonight.’
‘Pisces Iscariot’ proves that Corgan was also a shrewd editor at what was arguably his creative peak. This is an excellent odds and ends collection by almost any standard, but not a single song, with the possible exception of the sprawling, luminescent ‘Starla’, stands up to the A-sides. A must for the faithful, a welcome curio for everyone else.
Unjustly maligned upon its release, ‘Machina’ is easily the most underrated album in the SP canon. Like ‘Mellon Collie’, an album it’s transparently modeled after in both structure and scope, Machina is wildly uneven, but it’s redeemed by a handful of brilliant tracks. Those somehow able to slog through the insufferable pretension of ‘Glass And The Ghost Children’ were rewarded with one of the finest non-singles in the Pumpkins catalogue: ‘Age of Innocence’. Corgan, an Edith Wharton fan… who knew?
3‘Gish’
Opener ‘I Am One’ still stands as one of the most thrilling salvos from the mosh-pit era. The rest doesn’t quite soar to the heights of ‘Mellon Collie”s best tracks, but the Pumpkins’ debut is probably their second most consistent album behind ‘Siamese Dream’ and tantalisingly hints at the breadth of Corgan’s talent – talent he would very soon realise.
2‘Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness’
Unlike many of his spotlight-averse peers, Corgan wasn’t afraid to put his rock star hubris on display. Double-album ‘Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness’ is Exhibit A. From the lengthy title to the 28-song arc, the album is both ridiculous and laudably ambitious. As with almost any undertaking of this magnitude, the misses outnumber the hits, but those hits, calculated and obvious as they are, indeed sound every bit as good as you remember. For this writer (and presumably countless others), ‘1979’ will forever be the soundtrack to 1995.
Let’s be honest: 19 years on, it all comes back to this, doesn’t it? Corgan’s propulsive commercial breakthrough is an alt-rock tour-de-force, enveloping grunge’s slacker ethos in hi-fi sonic bliss. Siamese Dream is one of those rare records where everyone has a different favourite song – a powerful testament to how loaded it truly is. ‘Today’, ‘Rocket’, ‘Disarm’, ‘Cherub Rock’ – ‘Siamese Dream’ is not their greatest hits record, but if there are people out there who prefer listening to ‘Rotten Apples’, they’re probably not worth knowing. No matter how batty Corgan gets – railing against pop stars like Britney Spears, lashing out at former band members, or promoting various wrestling matches – for this album alone, he has forever earned the right to his eccentricities.
