Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Zeitgeist / The Smashing Pumpkins



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"By that standard, Zeitgeist, performed entirely by Corgan and Chamberlin, is a Pumpkins record – and a good one. Lyrically, Zeitgeist is the least self-absorbed record Corgan has ever written, although not quite the electric newspaper some song titles suggest. There is more fear of frying than actual fight and social remedy in "Doomsday Clock" and "For God and Country," the latter sounding more like Corgan's pledge of allegiance to the Cure. The closest thing to victory over Dick Cheney is the promise in "Starz" – "We cannot die. . . . We are stars/We are" – which rocks better than it reads, with Robert Fripp-like snakes of guitar and a closing frenzy of staccato power chords and Chamberlin pummeling his cymbals into splinters.

The best thing about Zeitgeist is that Corgan is back to what he does best: hard-rock architecture. His wall-of-guitars overdubs are exhilarating in their details: the harmonized squeals in "7 Shades of Black"; the creeping buzz of "Tarantula"; the long, howling solo, sinking in echo, in "United States." The Pumpkins were never more exciting in the Nineties than when Corgan unleashed his inner Tony Iommi all over his inner Robert Smith. That is what happens on Zeitgeist, which makes it a strong new start for Corgan and Chamberlin, no matter what they call themselves. " (from Rolling Stone.com)

A comeback from any band probably won't sound this good. This album proves that one CAN go back to it's roots, displaying the power felt by previous top-chart Smashing Pumpkins records, even if it wasn't critically acclaimed.
I still like it, and you should to. They still continue to define a genre, with really good music in an unique way.
:)
You know what to do.

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