Adore and the so-called Pumpkin's
fans
"There's definitely the moment
where you go. 'What
happened?' You have this feeling of Desertion:
Maybe they don't love you anymore."
These
are the words of Billy Corgan- describing the lack of
loyalty of his supposed "fans" at the release of
"adore" I cant believe pumpkins fans would betray
the band the way that they did. Instead of embracing
the attempt at something new-something different, no
one gave it a chance. Despite all of this, the album
went triple-platinum and was considered a total
failure (for reasons beyond my comprehension). Some
artists dont go triple platinum in their careers.
The album's success was measured next that of Mellon
Collie and Siamese Dream. The thing is that there is
no comparison. The albums are totally different, the
concepts are different and mainly Billy was taking a
totally different direction with the music. He
warned people of this ahead of time as well: "...the
people that say it's acoustic will be wrong, the
people that say it's electronic will be wrong, the
people that say it's a pumpkins record will be
wrong..." The fans just didnt give it a chance and
that's all there is to it.
Hmmm... what else can i rant about. Oh, here's an
interesting quote from billy: "Fred Durst sings
about breaking stuff. Does he mean break stuff just
to break stuff or break stuff to create a better
place? I know a lot of people bag Limp Bizkit, but i
think they're a great band."
I just think
he's overanalyzing.
Other people's opinions (and please email
me if you have anything to say)
ADORE
different from anything the Pumpkins had ever done,
and it is so beautifully crafted. Billy Corgan still
had the heart & soul on the cutting board for this
one, just like he had for the first 3 albums - there
was no change in that regard. Adore is "Dark Side of
the Pumpkins". I love this CD. Billy shouldn't worry
about the fans' reaction, because that's not what
creativity is about, which brings me to the next
point....
MACHINA
now I'm not so sure about Billy's mindset. It's a
good album by the standards of other music, but not
by the high standards the Pumpkins have set for
themselves. It seemed that, up to and including
Adore, they pushed the bar up another notch. For the
first time with SP, Machina is where I can't really
see the Pumpkins' progression from their previous
album. But of course, it's new like a sore pair of
shoes, and despite what I've said, I do like this
album an awful lot.
(ps I'm also posting this on Lissy)
andy
Um... here's my
opinion on both of your questions. I hope that I
didn't miss anything in my little essay. Just a
warning, I'm not trying to bash the band, fans, or
trying to be elitest. I am just trying to be honest
from my many observations of SP fans, critics, and
the history of the band. So I am sorry if you or
anyone else takes what I say the wrong way. All I
really hope is for you and everyone else out there to
listen and understand where I'm coming from, that's
all. If you don't want to post this on your webpage
for whatever reason then you don't have to. But if
you do I ask that you post the essay along with my
little note that I have just written. Sorry for the
lengthy essay.
Machina vs. Adore
The new Smashing Pumpkins album is not very good.
The lyrics are very superficial, too direct, and have
very little personal meaning. I understand what Billy
is trying to get across in his lyrics, but how he
wrote the lyrics is just so unappealing,
uninteresting, and somewhat soulless. This is very
surprising for a songwriter like Billy, to have
written probably their best album "Adore," and then
completely turn around and write so terribly. To me
it is almost inconceivable that this is the same
songwriter that wrote such lyrics as "Love comes in
colors I can't deny," and "Twilight fades through
blistered Avalon." To "radio play my favorite song,
radio" and "try to hold on." Even after many many
listens to this album, and letting some of the songs
grow on me a bit, I still come up with my original
opinion that lyrically the album is somewhat weak.
Musically I have a major problem with this new
album. I say, if you want to hear what this album
sounds like, go to a used cd store and go buy any of
these CDs: The Cure (Kiss me, Kiss me, Kiss me;
Disintegration; Wish; etc.), New Order (the best of),
and pull out the singles from the Aeroplane Flies
High Box set. This isn't good for a band that has a
tradition of making each of their albums different
musically, as well as crossing over and exploring new
territory musically. Unfortunately I am sad to say
that wonderful tradition has now ended with this new
album. That tradition ended when Billy Corgan saw the
sales of how their last album "Adore" did. This is
one of the many reasons why I don't like this album.
Since "Adore" did so poorly commercially, Billy
decided to make an album that would have some of the
rock elements that all the teeny suburban-ite kids
love, and add the crap pop element that has been so
big for the past 2-3 years, and voila! We have
Machina: The!
!
Machines of God.
This is very disturbing because I
personally loved "Adore." I am an "old school"
pumpkins fan. I remember being 11 years old, sitting
in my room listening to "Drown" for the first time on
the radio, and just madly falling in love with the
lyrics and music. Ever since that day, I've been a
pumpkins fan, following them around like a sheep and
loving every album that they produced, until now. I
would say that I rank "Siamese Dream" as their best
album. But when "Adore" came out, I almost decided to
bump "Siamese Dream" out of the throne because
"Adore" was such an amazing album. Lyrically it
wasn't written by looking back on childhood or the
perspective of a 15 year old boy. It was written on a
much more mature level, actually dealing with real
issues that not just some teens can understand, but
everyone. This is what many people don't understand
about "Adore." When they say that "Adore" sucked
because it didn't rock, basically what they are
really saying is that they d!
!
idn't understand it, they couldn't identify with what
Billy was writing about, if they even got that far in
listening to the album. How most people listen to
music is that they listen for whether or not the song
has a whole bunch of heavy guitars, and it is
somewhat up-beat. Since "Adore" didn't have any of
those elements, many people wrote the album off right
away without giving any of the other elements
incorporated into the album a chance. While I do
agree that the musical aspect of a song is just as
important as the lyrics, I don't like the fact that
most people only care about whether or not a song is
"rocking" or not. One of the reasons why
"Adore" is such a great album are the lyrics. The
whole album deals with the many different sides of
love. How Billy wrote the lyrics are just so
beautiful and haunting. Once you hear them, they are
permanently stuck in your head. Because the lyrics
are so powerful and beautiful in "Adore" that I
almost considered it better than "Siamese Dream." I
think that because the lyrics are somewhat more adult
oriented in "Adore" that was just another reason why
many people wrote the album off as "sucking." But
then again lets take a look at the fan base of the
Smashing Pumpkins before "Adore" came out. In
1995, when Smashing Pumpkin released their most
popular album to date, "Mellon Collie and the
Infinite Sadness," the band's fan base grew to
including all the teeny boppers and other trendies
who like to follow what ever is hot in pop culture.
Well how did such an underdog/underground independent
band such as the Smashing Pumpkins ever become a part
of pop culture? The reason is because in 1995, a year
after Kurt Cobain's death, alternative music needed a
new king to lead rock music. So the Pumpkins gladly
took that torch. But while they took reign of the
rock world, many of the great alternative bands fell
apart and disappeared completely. So when "Mellon
Collie" came out, it became like the last battle cry
for alternative rock music. "Mellon Collie" was
almost like a parody album of alternative rock music.
While the album was written to be totally serious, it
was also somewhat making fun of what alternative
became to be and how it was on the brink of death
during !
!
the mid-90s. What made the album and the band popular
was because the lyrics were specifically written to
be in the perspective of a 15 year old. The reason
being that, alternative rock music by the mid-90s got
into a rut of just being about messed up childhoods
and teen angst. So because the songs reflected those
aspects of alternative music, they became very
popular and were widely excepted among the masses,
without them realizing what the album was truly
about. That is how the Smashing Pumpkins' fan base
grew to include the teeny boppers, etc. So when
"Adore" came out, and those fans heard it for the
first time they realized that it didn't sound like
"Mellon Collie" and that the subject matter was too
serious and adult oriented for them to handle, so
they wrote the album off as "sucking" and thus pop
culture turned it's back on the band, the album, and
everyone headed towards rap, girl and boy pop groups,
latin singers, and rap-rock/hardcore metal.
Seeing all of this happening to his band, Billy
Corgan thus decided to make Machina: The Machines of
God, very pop oriented with a bit of the old
alternative flavor that they so used to be proud of.
But what I don't understand is that Billy Corgan
stated in late 1995 that alternative rock music is
dead. So why did they decide to rehash everything
that they have done for the past 10 years musically?
They are going back because today in the music
industry album sales, singles, and getting your video
played on Mtv's Total Request Live, is what
determines whether or not a band deserves media
attention anymore. While I agree that I hate seeing
all of rap, boy pop groups, latin singers, and
rap-rock/hardcore metal stuff on that show, it isn't
a fair fight for a lot of really great bands out
there to compete with whatsoever. Back in the early
90s, the Pumpkins had to compete with the real thing,
such as: Nirvana, RHCP, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains,
Soundgarden, just to name a few!
!
of the many alternative rock bands that existed.
But because music has changed so much the competition
isn't there any more, and it just isn't fare
competing with other genres of music. It just doesn't
work! Lately I've been receiving a lot of
negative comments from pumpkin fans out there because
I said that I don't like the new album. While this
may be my opinion you still have to respect it and
listen to it. It is up to you whether or not you want
to actually listen and learn from what I have to say.
What I have found from many pumpkin fans is that a
lot or almost most of them feel like they have to
bitch you out if you don't particularly care for some
that our "beloved" band has released. They see it as
blasphemous, and that you are not a "true fan" if you
don't like everything by the band. What is a "true
fan?" Is is someone who wears SP shirts every day,
listens to their music on a daily basis, creates only
SP artwork, someone who has to love everything ever
released by the band, someone who has to know
everything including what type of underwear they like
to put on, and has to talk about the band to someone,
whether it be an SP or non SP fan, just so they can
talk a!
!
bout them on a daily basis. No. There is no such
thing as a "true fan." Even myself, I pretty much fit
the description that I mentioned in my list, along
with being a fan since 1992. All of that still
doesn't make me or anyone else a "true fan" of SP.
Every fan of SP, loves and (yes) dislike the band for
different reasons. If someone where to make up some
kind of "true fan" initiation of SP, then that would
be very scary, because it would be like we were in
some kind of cult. I mean really, all that SP cares
about is whether or not you like or dislike the
music, and understand what they are trying to do. If
you don't like it, then they will pay attention and
try not to do whatever it is you dislike again. So in
my "personal opinion" I am proudly stating that I
don't care for the new Smashing Pumpkins album
because it doesn't challenge me lyrically or
musically. To me the album is just a rehashing of all
their past albums, so they could possibly make some
money and get some media attention. I personally find
this very offending from the band. While I'm not
gonna go to the extreme and completely stop liking
the band, I am just not going to support whatever
comes out from this album, and I will continue to
listen to the other albums by the band, along with
the rest of my gothic-industrial collection that I
have; in hope that SP will come out with a better
album in years to come.
Till next sign…
-Pumpkinlady
My opinion on both Adore and MACHINA is that they're two of the best friggin albums ever made. I love EVERY track on both of them (well, except for Annie-Dog). I can't even comprehend dissing an albums with such great songs as Appels+Oranjes, Stand Inside Your Love, Behold! The Night Mare, Wound, etc. on them. Both albums are classics and the Pumpkins are the greatest, period.
HELLO I ONLY HAVE ONE THING TO SAY
ANY THING BILLY SINGS IS FUCKING GREAT
BYE
Me again.. The new cd: Machina, the
machines of god- Just Adore
with guitars. I love it. It's not the hard rock
album he promised but it's probably the closest the
pumpkins are going to get for a long while. The two
hardest tracks are "the everlasting gaze" and "heavy
metal machine" that's about it for rock. The
critics totally crushed the pumpkins on this album as
well. Reviews werent even reviewing the album-
instead of concentrating on the music they were
insulting the band. here is a terrific review i
found that really really angered me:
Smashing
Pumpkins
MACHINA/The Machines of God
[Virgin]
Rating: 4.2/10
Billy Corgan needs someone on his shoulder to whisper
"no." The angel has apparently taken a break for now,
but it might have said things like, "No, Billy,
you're not Nicky Nosferatu, the Cabbage Patch Kid;"
"No, Billy, black leather trenchcoat-dresses do not
flatter you, or for that matter, Jimmy Chamberlain
and James Iha;" "No, Billy, working with Flood will
not make your records sound good;" and most
importantly, "No, Billy, some of those songs are
better left in the ProTools wastebasket." Somebody
needs to have line-item veto power over the one-party
congress of Corgan's ego. Over half of the Pumpkins'
103 post-Siamese Dream songs could have been cut to
make three decent albums.
Sometimes I wish you readers could sit on this side
of music criticism. It's amusing to see how many
writers mine bands' official press releases and
follow the leader. The press on MACHINA serves as an
interesting example. Nearly every review I've read
proclaims the new record to be "a return to form" or
"a return to their hard rocking days" or "the true
follow-up to Siamese Dream." Obviously, they're
trying to distance MACHINA from Adore, the least
successful Pumpkins record to date. The whole thing
stinks of P.R.
In reality, though, MACHINA just sounds like a
continuation of Adore. It's the infinite sadness to
Adore's Mellon Collie. In fact, Adore showcased
greater variation, better production, and about as
much "rocking." Writers keep focusing on Jimmy
Chamberlain's return, but the venerable Joey
Waronker, who played all over Adore, is a far better
drummer. Besides, Chamberlain's overproduced, steady
clicking on MACHINA sounds exactly like-- and might
as well be-- a drum machine.
Every track on MACHINA sits in a heavy syrup of
synthesizer. Flood deep-fries the sound in golden
calf fat. Guitars hiss like hig pressure hoses.
Gelatinous bass issues from the crust like pus. The
psoriatic sound comes off like infected yellow scabs
growing on fragile frosted glass. If this is a
"return to form," Billy Corgan has thrown his
baby-head out with the bathwater. Siamese Dream never
utilized computer and keyboard crutches to such a
degree.
Every generation of kids in black needs a goth
martyr, and Billy vies for their troubled hearts
throughout MACHINA. Plodding numbers like "The Crying
Tree of Mercury" and "Blue Skies Bring Tears" steal
liberally from the cemetary-obsessed Cure songs that
never seem to make it to singles compilations. Even
the albums strongest tracks-- "Wound," "Raindrops +
Sunshowers," and the ironically titled "Try, Try,
Try"-- lugubriously cruise along like New Order in a
crystal convertible flossed out with chrome.
Sadly, an ego scud has blown up Corgan's muse,
distributing the gore between the territories of 4AD,
Windham Hill, Cleopatra, and Elementree. The result
is songs like "Heavy Metal Machine," a static-filled
dinosaur that slowly shits Soundgarden's "Rusty
Cage," and the hysterical "Glass and the Ghost
Children," in which Chamberlain pulls his best Neil
Peart imitation while Corgan and Iha spittle fuzz
like Orgy covering Cream's Disraeli Gears. Midway
through the ten minute bulk of "Ghost Children," a
lone piano interludes while tapes of Corgan
confessionals crackle on top. "I always assume that
the voice I hear is the voice of God," he proclaims.
"So I'm operating on the premise that I hear the
voice of God." Atheists rejoice. Then, four more
minutes of underwater gongs and seagull guitars bring
you back down from the laughter. And just to put the
official seal on The World's Most Pretentious Stadium
Rock Song Ever certificate, Corgan finishes with the
refrain: "As she counted the spiders/ As they crawled
up inside her." The entire affair makes Tori Amos
sound like Raffi.
The Pumpkins' fascination with sepia tones,
parchment, and God kills whatever joy might otherwise
be gleaned from their fifth LP. Filling up the entire
capacity of a compact disc, MACHINA simply blabbers
on far too long. Even grating tracks like "The
Everlasting Gaze" become appreciated for the fact
that they at least grate.
The problems with Billy Corgan are conveniently
packaged in the track "I of the Mourning" (note the
fucking "u"). Over reheated new wave pop and
fluff-metal that sparks under microwaves, Corgan
whines through his wax-paper septum, "Radio/ Play my
favourite [Note the fucking "u"] song/ Radio/ Radio/
Radio/ I'm alone/ Pick up where my thoughts left
off." Radio is a commercial-bloated joke. When's the
last time, Pitchfork reader, you heard your favorite
song on the radio? Who even listens to the radio? Who
finds solace in FM? I mean, shit, what do they even
play these days? ...Oh, the Smashing Pumpkins.
-Brent DiCrescenzo
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