2007-09-16
This is where we're at - "Zeitgeist" is on my table, still sealed and shut. I play "Siamese Dream" and "Gish", just for the nostalgic feeling of it, a grand opening for the Pumpkins' new album. The nineties are at their best, while outside it's 2007. Billy Corgan sings about remembering that he was once a little boy on "Disarm", and everything is alright. The new Pumpkins album, that by the name of it should capture a state in current times - could turn out as it proclaims itself to be, could be nostalgic, classic pumpkins style, or could just be thin and disappointing. The third option is the one to choose.
I can't even fake an explanation to what happened here production-wise. At first I just thought that I miss Butch Vig's tight production work. But then I realized it has nothing to do with Vig's work; this album sounds like it was recorded during a rehearsal rather then a studio album. Great demos, but nothing more.
It would be only fair to mention that the current version of The Smashing Pumpkins includes only Billy Corgan, mastermind of the band, and Jimmy Chamberlin on drums. They co-wrote this album together and played all instruments. The production part was dealt by several personals, and I hope none of them got paid.
The attempt to sound relevant in 2007 is obvious in songs like "Doomsday Clock", joining all other alternative artists in scream "can’t you see where this world is going to?" The self observed Corgan is also there in tracks like "7 Shades Of Black" and the wandering for immortality in "Starz" (which I liked a lot).
"Zeitgeist" could've gotten some mixed criticism about the quality of the material. But the overall production and vibe that comes out of the album has nothing complementary about it. Corgan still has the brains for it, but something is missing. Maybe it's the presence of other members of the original band, or I don't know what, but something just feels wrong.
Regardless, the album does have some good parts & some great melodies. Neither is enough to support a comeback album from one of the most defining bands of the nineties. I still have the sympathy for Corgan's guitar works and Chamberlin's energetic drumming and they're both in the album. You can also see they had fun making it, and nothing here has greediness written over it. But I can't help the feeling that this is a desperate attempt to recapture a magic that worked for a band but not for a due.
This album is mostly unbalanced - lyrics to music, volumes, between the tracks themselves, between past and present. If you insist on calling it "Zeitgeist" at least take inspiration from modern recording technology and not from MP3 sound quality. I should probably go back to listening to Corgan's own nostalgic feeling about him being a little boy, and everything will be alright again.
Roy Povarchik
