07 Sep 2007
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.
After Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Billy Corgan and James Iha announced that the band was taking a change in direction musically. Although this difference in sound was no doubt intended from the outset the overall feel of their follow-up, Adore, can also be attributed as much to the absence of Jimmy Chamberlin; at the time was fired from the band due to his problems with drug use. As a result, it is a very different album that lacks, among other things, the crisp and cutting drum beats of their earlier days. Instead, Adore is almost entirely a collection of slow, introspective ballads and synth-driven numbers that are a far cry from their previous alt-rock/borderline-metal offerings.
It is testament to the prolific nature of Billy Corgan’s songwriting talent that, after only two full studio albums, there was more than enough extra material to make up a complete album of b-sides, outtakes and other odds and ends. Pisces Iscariot is just that: a collection of b-sides, outtakes and other songs that had otherwise been hard to find. Because of this, it lacks the ‘flow’ of songs whose components had been intended to be heard back-to-back in one place, but there’s no denying the quality of indvidual songs on offer here.
Of the ‘alternative’ bands that made up many of the most successful rock acts of the 1990s the Smashing Pumpkins are one of the most experimental and unusual. Famous for their ambitious musical arrangements, Billy Corgan’s distinctively nasal vocal delivery and range of styles from tender ballads to all-out metal with everything in between, their debut Gish is a surprisingly modest affair that has the promise of what was to come without pushing the boundaries too far.
After Zwan decided to call it a day after only one album, it was a foregone conclusion that Billy Corgan would continue to write and record songs regardless, and this, his first proper solo effort, is the result. It has to be said that his distinctly nasal vocals and sometimes cryptic approach to lyrics are an acquired taste, but here is proof that it is a taste worth acquiring.
As soon as you press the ‘play’ button you know that this album is something special. While many alternative rock bands in the early 1990s, especially those of the Seattle ‘grunge’ scene, were producing raw, loud and low-fi rock that took elements of 70s stadium rock of Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, early punk and 60s acid rock, the Chicago-based quartet the Smashing Pumpkins were drawing inspiration from similar influences but creating a sound that outstripped its contemporaries in terms of originality, ambition and sheer nerve to experiment with the rock/pop formula.
When the Smashing Pumpkins released their classic second LP Siamese Dream, they encountered the potential problem of the notorious ‘third album’. Of course, the Chicago quartet had already proved themselves but topping that would be an immense challenge. While it could have been easy to play it safe and stick to the same formula, they took the brave step of not only broadening the range of styles and sounds but releasing it as two entire discs of new material.