2007 / August 2^nd/ The Smashing Pumpkins: Zeitgeist

On July 10, the Smashing Pumpkins released the first album they’ve released in what feels like decades (oh, wait…). I desperately wanted to see them play with the opening tour, but despite the fact that they played for eleven days straight in San Francisco, the tickets still sold out within a few minutes and I missed my window. Show or no show, I picked up the CD the day it came out and overall I’ve been very pleased.

In the mix

I’m a huge proponent of good mixing. I think a band’s sound is just as important as the music they’re making. Pop in a Led Zeppelin album one day, and you’ll see what I mean. Within about 5 seconds of hearing the sound, you know it’s Led Zeppelin. The one thing that made me take notice of this right-off was how “quiet” the album is (newer albums normalize the crap out of the sound so they can get as much noise out of the speakers as possible). It’s amazingly refreshing to hear a mainstream-ish album produced in 2007 where you can hear the snare drum! A nice deep, dynamic sound: no more cardboard thuds.

Long live the mix!

Chamberlin is back!

No doubt, the drums play a huge impact on what I think the Pumpkins are. And Chamberlin brings his signature driving drumming force to Zeitgeist. Jimmy’s always been one of my favorite drummers and I love to hear him back at the Pumpkins again. Zwan was alright, but I think his real creative force lives in the old school SP sound.

Favorites

I think my favorite song off this album thus far is United States. It starts off with a distinctly Chamberlin intro, with a gradual buildup over the majority of the song. The song is a perfect example of Billy’s grown up voice that we first heard appear with Zwan. It’s like some awesome orgasmic merging of the new and old Pumpkins.

This song shows dynamics and the idea of building up tension. Ancient musical techniques that are lost on today’s volume 11 crowd. What a fucking miracle to hear a song with soft parts! It’s one of those songs you just sit there for 7 minutes waiting to rock out, and when it comes, it’s like a rush of glory.

Oh, and the last minute of the song? Bad ass. I love it.

Conclusion

I know a few people that didn’t particularly like this album, but personally: I loved it. It’s definitely a different pumpkins sound, but I think it’s a good direction. I didn’t particularly like the direction they took with Mellon Collie, and I think this album is a direct u-turn from that point in their musical career.

And damn if it isn’t nice to hear an album that isn’t technical-for-the-sake-of-being-technical or so oversimplified it sounds like everything else in the world. Great to hear more music from bands who created their style instead of copying their style.

All in all, I’d give this album a “pretty good” rating — great listen, solid songs: but at the same time not quite to the amazing level that albums like Gish and Pisces Iscariot. Now here’s hoping I can find a show sometime!

1. 

   Chris Harrison

   August 3^rd | #

   I’m with ya… it’s a pretty good album, but not quite “classic” SP sound.

   Diggin’ the new design, btw. I usu read your posts via RSS and hadn’t noticed it before…

2. 

   beth

   August 3^rd | #

   I think this album came years too late. Out of context the Smashing Pumpkins aren’t what they were in 1997, and this probably would’ve been a poorly received album even then. What I can’t get over is their blatant disregard for their fans making them purchase umpteen different copies of the album to get all the tracks. In fact, I think the Zwan album would’ve made a better Smashing Pumpkins return, but really without James they’re nothing. That’s just my two cents ;)

3. 

   Andy Kant

   August 3^rd | #

   I thought that the CD was excellent (I’ve been looking forward to it for quite a while), I’ve been listening to it in my car non-stop since it came out. I picked up the Target version with the bonus song Zeitgeist (which is a pretty good song). I agree with beth on that the multiple versions of the album is pretty lame, we shouldn’t have to pay for the album three or four times or whatever just to hear all the songs. Wish they had a Milwaukee show but I suppose I can go to Minnesota or Illinois if I need to see them that badly.

4. 

   Ryan

   August 7^th | #

   I’ve never been a big Pumpkins fan, but this CD is actually stuck in my CD player at work. I’m pretty impressed.

5. 

   napo

   September 5^th | #

   love the new cd!
   is it all the original members?

6. 

   Kyle

   September 7^th | #

   napo: nope, most definitely not :)

7. 

   J. Dakar

   September 22^nd | #

   I gave this one listen and instantly fell in love with it. “United States” is one of my favorite songs from the album, as well.

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