Smashing Pumpkins: Zeitgeist
After the almost embarrassing brevity of Zwan and a solo album that for some reason never made much of an impact, it’s easy to focus on the circumstances surrounding the revival of the Smashing Pumpkins instead of the songs; even calling it a ‘reunion’ is stretching it a bit when the latest effort contains only half of the original line-up. For all the gossip and sniping at the motivations surrounding Billy Corgan’s decision to reform his old band, the important thing is what should be the outfit’s raison d’etre: the music itself.
Complaining that D’arcy Wretzky and James Iha are absent from this effort is a little irrelevant considering that Corgan has for years recorded most of the guitar and bass in the studio anyway. Live, it’s a different matter of course, but that (in)famous ‘Pumpkins sound’ comes primarily from meticulous studio-craft and the dynamic between Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Zeitgeist can therefore be considered a bona fide Pumpkins album; whether it’s an outstanding Pumpkins album is a different question entirely.
The opening track, Doomsday Clock provides the quintessential explosive curtain-raiser: layer upon layer of fuzz guitar with Corgan’s nasal whine and Chamberlin’s cutting yet seismic drumming slicing through it all with defiance and urgency. Seven Shades of Black is the Pumpkins at their heaviest, harking back to Mellon Collie’s Bodies and X.Y.U with its gothic gloom and almost tangible atmospherics. Tarantula is another number that tries bravely to recapture the energy of their mid-90s heyday: a run-up drumroll, some distorted harmonics and a galloping pace reminiscent of Iron Maiden kick it into gear with squealing, chaotic solos in which Corgan seems to be reminding us how he can still rock out with the best of them.
For all its loudness though, Zeitgeist smacks of desperation - desperation to return to glory days, desperation to compete with a new crop of borderline metal/rock outfits, but above all desperation to be heard. As confident as he is in his ability to weave complex instrumental arrangements, Corgan is less confident in his ability to reclaim his place in the alt-rock pantheon: he even tries to move away from familiar lyrical territory and try his hand at politics.
Criticise Corgan all you like for flogging the ‘personal angst’ theme for all its worth, but there’s no denying he can do it very well indeed. When Zeitgeist turns its attention to current affairs and the government however, it falls spectacularly flat on its face. The preaching of For God and Country (which boasts some great off-kilter synth melodies) and the token Pumpkins guitar epic United States sounds bombastic, hollow and forced. It’s presumably an experiment in songwriting but when the likes of Pearl Jam pulled it off convincingly on their spectacular comeback, it’s hard to see what new point Corgan is attempting to make. It’s a shame really, because United States is the overlong, gloriously overdone and wonderfully pretentious art-rock fare that earned them their reputation: there’s distortion, wailing feedback and more guitar FX than you can shake a stick at as it storms on with dogged determination.
In addition Chamberlin sounds better than he’s done in years. His trademark sharp-edged pummelling delivered with a hint of jazz has always been the perfect foil for Corgan’s fuzz-laden ‘guitar army’ and in my opinion he’s on top form - sadly the same can’t be said of the rest of the album’s production. There’s a digital sheen that surrounds the album like shrink-wrap: you can see it, you can *almost* feel it but you can’t physically touch it. Even Butch Vig and Flood kept the raw energy and intimacy of their earlier work intact, no matter how many effects processors the takes were squeezed through; this effort sounds clinical with every imperfection meticulously and surgically stripped away.
That is not to say that there are not highlights on the album: Bring the Light and Come On (Let’s Go) balance youthful hope and bittersweet introspection; Bleeding the Orchid’s liquid chorus veers between Nirvana’s quavering shimmer and Black Sabbath’s sludgy, monumental riffing. That’s the Way My Love Is, reminiscent of Stand Inside Your Love from their Machina album reminds us that Corgan can pen a soaring romantic tune when he really puts his mind to it. Unfortunately, this is an album of a few highlights amongst material of questionable quality. Like the two albums that preceded it, Zeitgeist does grow on you but some of the tunes of offer here require repeated listens to be remembered.
In Summary
As fans we should be rejoicing that the Pumpkins are very much back but as with all such ventures there’s the danger of simultaneously reaching out to the future and the past, only to fall into the gulf in the middle. This isn’t the same as their older work: Corgan and Chamberlin are clearly happy to be back in the studio under their old name but have made a conscious effort to try new instrumentation and subject matter. The results of their labours are in turns glorious and faltering, not quite a shadow of their former self but not a return to the ‘good old days’ either. Zeitgeist could turn out to be a bold step in the right direction but the Pumpkins bandwagon has made a somewhat shaky return.
Tracklisting
- Doomsday Clock
- 7 Shades of Black
- Bleeding the Orchid
- That’s the Way (My Love Is)
- Tarantula
- Starz
- United States
- Neverlost
- Bring the Light
- Come On (Let’s Go)
- For God and Country
- Pomp and Circumstances
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