Music of the Moment: A First Listen to The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
I’ve now listened to Zeitgeist from beginning to end. Here are my initial reactions:
I suppose it is about what I expected. It’s good. Billy Corgan is too talented and calculating to put out a complete piece of crap, but he’s not infallible and Zeitgeist is not a perfect piece of music.“Doomsday Clock,” the album’s first track, is the only one that has illicited multiple listens. Corgan has now taken to layering vocals the way he layers guitars.
Somone has been listening to their Alice in Chains records. The layered, detuned harmonies of “Bleeding the Orchid” are very reminiscent of Dirt and Alice in Chains. Layne and Jerry did this trick better, but…
Layering vocals makes Billy’s voice easier on the ears. He started doing this a lot with the wonderful Zwan record and has continued to do it here.
Social commentary is not Billy’s strength as a songwriter.
James and D’Arcy were nice for the picture, but Zeitgeist confirms what we’ve always suspected about their contributions to the sound.
There’s a reason Billy Corgan has stuck with Jimmy Chamberlin through all the shit — he really is one hell of a modern rock drummer.
That’s a quick overview. I’m going to spend more time with the record before making any bold proclamations.
Filed under: Billy Corgan, Music of the Moment, Smashing Pumpkins
While I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of this… I’m also a bit pissed at the marketing of this album. Not only is there a regular and “deluxe” edition, but there are also “store exclusive” extra tracks for at least three stores.
Why can’t an artist simply put out an album where everyone that is lucky enough to be able to purchase it, can get all of it, instead of feeling like someone wants me to buy the same album four times just to get one extra song apiece.
Anywho. I’m still looking forward to it. Maybe I can download the other tracks on iTunes.
i saw them last night on Letterman and now i’m pretty psyched to hear the rest of this….something you’ve never heard me say about Smashing Pumpkins
Michael, you’re preaching to the choir on this nonsense of store-specific bonuses. It’s wrong. At a time when the industry is trying to encourage us to buy CDs rather than… not… they do things to foil and frustrate the real fans out there. It’s a horrible practice.
To the album itself… I’ve now listened through it a couple times and I like the album. It’s not as bad as it’s being made out to be in some corners. I don’t think Billy’s outdone himself, but I think he’s made an album worthy of the Smashing Pumpkins moniker. It’s a good listen.