The Smashing Pumpkins ~ Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness (album review) ... Want a tissue?

Style: alt rock
Label: Virgin
Year: 1995
Home: Chicago, Illinois

Members: Billy Corgan ~ vocals/lead guitar/
Jimmy Chamberlin ~ drums/vocals
James Iha ~ rhythm guitar/b. vocals
D'arcy Wretzky ~ bass/b. vocals

Additional: Chicago Symphony Orchestra ~ n/a
Greg Leisz ~ pedal steel guitar/lap steel guitar

"Tonight, Tonight" & "1979" need no introduction as two of the best songs to come not just from the SP but also the era of grunge. There's a few more hits off this double album including "Bullet With Butterfly Wings", "Thirty-Three" & "Zero". Then there is the rest of this monstrosity that leaves one wondering ... typical of double albums, actually, which often sink or at least struggle to stay afloat. The ambition of the double album is a noble but flawed one. Few bands have been able to get it right. In its favor, SP's attempt doesn't sound gluttonous or overdose the listener with their double album attempt. It has its weak tracks & does feel a bit long, but for those interested in the unique SP sound it doesn't drone on & on monotonously. But, I need to back up a minute. Those last few sentences are only partially true. Let me review the album this way ... I listened to the first CD, which includes all the above mentioned songs sans "1979" & "Thirty-Three", plus the great Soundgarden-esque gurgling "Jellybelly" & the under-rated "Muzzle", while "Love" may not be a highlight but it interestingly foreshadows Machina/The Machines Of God. The ballads on this first CD aren't so bad, though the James Iha penned ballad that ends the CD should stay on his solo album as its tenderness feels out of place. He gets a track ending the second CD. I ignore them both. His solo album isn't bad but his sound clashes in this context. This first CD on its own might not be the greatest SP album, or not even close, but its got some decent moments walking a tightrope between creativity, experimentalism & excess. Then, there's the second CD. Everything I previously wrote? Forget it. Suddenly what I had enjoyed seemed to fall apart at my feet in an embarrassing mess of excess, unfriendly music & experimentalism gone haywire. The songs are cold, distant, but not in the interesting way I think the overly layered Machina is. It's almost like there is two SP creating one album here. On one hand there is the intricately layered "1979" SP, the band most of us gravitate to, while on the other hand there is the monotonous guitar churning distortion laden SP that is more interested in the drive of the music than the softer layers of a womb. One is creative, again, if you know "1979" you know what I'm talking about, while the other stuff is creative in a different way & some of the twisted guitar solos are fascinating ... but the songs here are too droning, too angry, sometimes too unfocused in that anger & never climax but tease. The second CD seems to fall where the first stands. But, the first takes the whole project down with it making this a hard sell in total. Yes, it has some moments that beg listening (for example "In The Arms Of Sleep"), but it doesn't feel like there's enough of those moment ... particularly when sitting next to the torturous Machina wannabe "Tales Of A Scorched Earth" that makes you wonder if you're listening to the same band, a horrible track to follow "1979" too. Or, the experiment is so over the top that while there might be value in the idea the outcome I have trouble recommending. If the album is about shocking than goal achieved. If it's about making a great SP album, I think my goals for the band are different than founder Billy Corgan's. I know, before you say it, everyone raves about this album. I listened to it over & over & over & felt the lyrics bad & there was nothing that I liked about SP from either before or after remaining here except in glimmers. But, that's what you get in these reviews - my opinion based on my ears & not what others say. I happen to really like the SP. Other reviews here will vouch for that, so I'm not trying to be trendy or arrogant not liking the album. It's not until editing this review I wiki'd the album & saw how different my review was compared to others. I honestly thought it only was successful because of its singles.

Smashing Pumpkins ~ Machina II/The Friends & Enemies Of Modern Music (album review) ... If there is a god you won't find him here!

Style: heavy metal, progressive
Label: Constantinople
Year: 2000
Home: n/a

Members: Billy Corgan, James Iha ~ guitar/vocals
Meliss Auf der Maur ~ bass
Micke Garson ~ keyboards
Jimmy Chamberlin ~ drums

For a band as popular as the Smashing Pumpkins it might surprise many to know that their sixth album remains largely unknown, let alone unheard by many, though it was released free online in 2000 ... what could be better than a free Smashing Pumpkin's album? Machina II/The Friends & Enemies Of Modern Music was originally planned to be bundled with the brooding concept album Machina/The Machines Of God, but the record label was uninterested in releasing a financially questionable double CD set after low sales of the previous SP album Adore. Following disagreements with the label Machina II was released by frontman mastermind Billy Corgan's own label. Only 25 copies were made, given to friends of the band & a few select prominent fans in the online community with instructions to release it immediately on the internet at no charge. The band would formally break up soon after & thus Machina II would not get heavily promoted or performed & thus lost to many casual followers of the band. It's a shame because it has some good music, particularly following the musical experiment that was Machina that alienated many fans with its moodiness & overly industrial approach let alone confusing indecipherable story of Glass. Machina II picks up the Glass story, but like the first album it's a trivial aspect as the story is the least interesting thing about the album. It's as trivial as the story of the Sgt. Pepper band in that so-called concept album. It doesn't help endorse the story any that some of the songs on Machina II are weaker alternative versions of songs found on Machina ("Try, Try, Try", "Heavy Metal Machine" & "Blue Skies Bring Tears") plus an outtake from Adore ("Cash Car Star") ... which makes it a new story with some of the same songs ... while other songs were meant for Machina but left out when it was not going to be a double album ... thus it's a story using songs meant for another story, plus alternative songs from that story. Doesn't say much for the story. There are some additional tracks that truly continue the story of Glass & the Machines Of God but they get lost in the shuffle like the idea itself. But, one doesn't go to SP for story time but for the great modern take on 60's psychedelic/garage rock. For those that lost interest in SP because of the changed direction of Machina Machina II offers an opportunity to return with a dynamic array of songs that couldn't have made Machina a much more powerful & less alienating album if included. Machina II offers both the modern experiments of Machina but also is a hearkening back to earlier SP days with their trademark blend of power pop & hard rock. Because it was not formally released Machina II got few reviews but they were unanimously positive, one even calling it an 'artistic high', showing the potential of SP had they continued. This release might essentially be a collection of outtakes but it does shine in its own way. It has everything Machina wasn't but which fans wanted - its warm yet introspective in that expected Billy Corgan way, lots of great ballads which are always a SP highlight, lots of memorable songs in an array of dynamic styles & though its 2 CD's it doesn't getting boring ... & it even includes a thrashy version of James Brown's "Soul Power" that sounds more like Iggy Pop than funky soul. There are a few odd tracks that show the experimental side of SP that came to the fore with Machina (i.e. "Saturnine", "Glass Theme", "If There Is A God" & the keyboard instrumental "Le Duex Machina") that often sound incomplete & verge on noise experiments, but with 2 CDs they are easily skipped over & a good album's worth of enjoyable songs is left if not an album & a half. You really can't ask any more from a double album as no double album is perfect. There's also a few tracks that need repeated listens to really get (i.e. "Speed Kills", "Lucky 13", "White Spider", "In My Body", "Here's To The Atom Bomb") but everything SP album has those. Requiring mention is "If There Is A God" with just acoustic piano & Corgan singing, complimented by a full band version for comparison. The solo piano take is obviously a demo version as it gets an abrupt end with studio chatter but it's an absolute must hear. Guitarist James Iha also gets lead vocals on "Go" which feels like waves against the shore & is completely relaxing in the midst of experimentation. More of that please. & if you like "Go" check out Iha's solo album. Machina II is an incredibly interesting compilation ... or compilation disguised as an album. If it had been given a little more time in the studio it could have been a great album. One can't help but wonder if this had been released instead of Machina ... a question never to be answered as we continue to ask the question surrounding Machina of what happened to the songs in Corgan's quest to experiment?

James Iha ~ Let It Come Down (album review) ... Smashing down the past!

Style: folk rock
Label: Virgin Records
Year: 1998
Home: n/a


Members: James Iha ~ vocals/guitars/bass

Neal Casal ~ guitar/b. vocals
Greg Leisz ~ lap steel guitar/guitars/bass
Adam Schlesinger ~ piano/bass
Solomon Snyder - bass
John Ginty ~ keyboards
Matt Walker ~ drums
Curt Bisquera ~ percussion
Eric Remschneider ~ cello
James Sanders, Stacia Spencer ~ violin
Jim Goodwin ~ sax
Ralph Rickert ~ trumpet
Nina Gordon, Tonya Lamm, Shawn Barton ~ b. vocals

Guest: D'arcy Wretzky ~ b. vocals

Few will probably come to Let It Come Down, the only solo album by guitarist James Iha, expecting something along the lines of his former, though at the time current, band the Smashing Pumpkins. As for those few who don't know that the the sound of the Pumpkins is largely dominated by frontman Billy Corgan, even if Iha is a co-founder ... don't expect Pumpkins Mach II on this release, or any any over-the-top smashing of any sort ... instead expect James Iha - the famed 'quiet one' of the Pumpkins who has more to share than ever allowed. Yes, one might be getting deja vu with another famed quiet one George Harrison. Any comparison would be accurate. While Lennon-McCartney wanted to write pop love songs, Harrison leaned toward self-questioning somber spiritual tunes using basic instrumentation. Iha does similar here. While, instead of the dark distorted angst of Pumpkins Iha creates a soft acoustic session that never would be possible with the Pumpkins. While bandmate Corgan tends to go for a progressive edge Iha aims for the folk music of Wilco or any of the folk rock bands where tender ballads with simple but memorable lines take dominance over fancy playing. If music could be called quiet, & that is quiet in a sense not in reference to volume, this is quiet music. There's no loud guitar solos & Iha isn't the greatest singer but his voice is perfect for the context he's created of a small ensemble of strings, repeated acoustic patterns, piano & generally light drumming. Let It Come Down sneaks up on the listener with its seemingly homespun appeal that is probably one of the least pretentious albums you've probably heard in a while with numerous standout tracks. Actually, one distant relative in sound & feeling is George Harrison's final outing Brainwashed, deja vu once again, even brought home on "Country Girl" that sounds like John Lennon is on vocals. In line with Harrison these aren't songs of social strife but of personal reflections ... they're love songs of hope & complacency ... both albums are modest little affairs that won't be rocking up the charts & are completely under-played by their more than competent creators but are comforting hours for a rainy night in the same way one might turn to a Paul Simon album ... & both are under-rated affairs that you very well might have missed when they hit the shelves but not through any fault of the music.

Smashing Pumpkins ~ Machina/The Machines Of God (album review) ... When God dances!

(Click on heading to visit official website.)
Style: industrial, heavy metal
Label: Virgin
Year: 2000
Home: n/a


Members: Billy Corgan ~ vocals/guitar/bass/keyboards
Jimmy Chamberlin ~ drums
James Iha ~ guitar
D'Arcy Wretzky ~ bass

Additional: Mike Garson ~ piano

I loved this album the first time I heard it & have even claimed it as my favorite Pumpkins album for a long time. I largely hadn't listened to it for many years when I pulled it to review. Hearing it again everything was musically there that I remembered but lost was the love I once had. Except for a few tracks I found the experience cold & chilling, anything but the fascinating & delightful listen I remembered it as. Listening again, as I always listen multiple times to every album while writing these reviews, I was also debating whether I wanted to keep it any longer or if there were any individual tracks I'd prefer to copy to my computer & keep instead. I soon found myself wanting to keep most of them. On the second listen the experimental distorted wall of sound was full of mystery & depth again along with the warm & the personal emotional lyrics typical of Corgan's pen that I had heard & loved so long ago. With these two listens comes both the good & bad of Machina/The Machines Of God. Fans will find this either an alienating listening unlike any previous Pumpkins album that is an experiment in tolerance & an odd coda as the band broke-up afterwards ... or it's a treasure chest, or more fitting Pandora's Box, of layers of sounds coming from some dark recess of Corgan's mind. The opening guitar notes could be right off of a Nine Inch Nails album & sets the tone to be relentlessly used to extreme effect for the majority of the album. But, unlike NIN which is industrially cold yet personal, this is mostly a cold reflecting its impersonal android title with the personal emotions tightly tucked underneath a distorted wall of guitars that are dark, heavy & generally cluttered. Supposedly, this is a concept album but the story is confusing & difficult to figure out, but it certainly must have something to do with a cold robotic world. The music makes this clear. Albeit, according to wikipedia it's actually about a "rock star gone mad" so one is forced to wonder at this strange Pandora's Box if not even the music can accurately relay the story. Even the ballads (i.e. "Raindrops + Sunflowers") are given the wall touch, making them still attractive but far from as memorable as earlier albums' ballads. If it wasn't for Corgan's vocals it would be at times difficult to figure out what is a ballad & what isn't as so many of the songs blend into each. There are a few standout songs but nothing memorable while most of the album suffers from a monotony occasionally broken by pop rock interludes that seem out of place. If you're expecting the Smashing Pumpkins that created the memorable "1979", "Tonight, Tonight" or "Today" this is not the album for you. This is not your band. "Today" has become 'Yesterday' with a complete reversal of what's loved about the band. This is not the best Smashing Pumpkins album but provides such a contrasting view of the Corgan's creativity that it's hard to not take notice. Let alone if one can make an album for robots this is it. But, perhaps that's the point of the monotony. This is a concept album after all. I'm reminded of the rock version of the classic movie 'Metropolis'. Add in the music of Android Lust & you've got the perfect soundtrack if there should ever be another remake. Sadly, this feels like an experiment single handedly created by Corgan, which it largely is. It pushes the boundaries so far to lose the listener. If he'd lightened up this could have been a better album, never the best album, but definitely better. Listen to this album twice. Let it sink in & then make a decision on what you think. A two CD sequel was later released for free online only featuring the continuing story & alternative versions.

Singles Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (comp) (album review) ... The soundtrack to end all soundtracks!

Style: grunge, hard rock
Label: Epic
Year: 1992
Home: Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago


Includes following bands: Alice In Chains

Pearl Jam

Chris Cornell

Soundgarden

The Lovemongers

Mother Love Bone

Mudhoney

Jimi Hendrix Experience

Screaming Trees

Paul Westerberg

Smashing Pumpkins

Grunge is one of the more mysterious musical movements, united by geography not sound. At least when one talks L.A. everyone thinks big hair & glam, while San Francisco brings up images of 60's flower power, New Jersey is synonymous with Springsteen, with New York conjuring up ... well, that's always been questionable outside of the Velvet Underground. When grunge first came to national attention it was via the breakthrough overnight success of Nirvana & Pearl Jam that sound nothing alike let alone other bands in the area. Let alone the Seattle music scene was doing quite well before grunge with the label actually being a mis-representation of the diversity of bands playing there, even the bands labeled as grunge. If anything is grunge it might be Mudhoney & the Screaming Trees with Mother Love Bone being the glam side, if one is limited to nationally known bands. But, what it is or is not put Seattle on the map forever. So, to then make a movie about life in the city, even though it's just another city but with a little more rain & some mountains & lots of coffee, is a bit of an odd thing. Okay, so many residents are known for being laid back poets & artists, but that's not enough to make a movie out of. Though, when it comes to music soundtracks based around a mysterious musical genre that for all intensive purposes was around before it became known & died when Nirvana did, this is one of the best rock/metal soundtracks one could ask for. Actually, if it wasn't for the soundtrack the weakness of the movie would be much more apparent. It's much like Eddie & The Cruisers in this respect. Further, this is probably one of the few compilations where every song is outstanding with no weak links. It has a stellar line-up & thus no excuses: Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Chris Chornell solo & with Soungarden, The Lovemongers featuring Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart, Mother Love Bone, Mudhoney, Jimi Hendrix, Screaming Trees, Paul Westerberg of the Replacements & the Smashing Pumpkins, though the last two are from Minneapolis & Chicago respectively but work incredibly well in the mix let alone ending the album perfectly with the distorted "Drown" by the Pumpkins. With both well known songs & some more obscure ones this very well could be a photograph of 90's Seattle. All it's missing is Nirvana ... surprisingly ... and some lesser known bands. Though, except for Hendrix and Mother Love Bone all the bands were making music at the time Singles was released in theaters with a few bands actually finding a big career boost afterwards. The highlights are many, which is why the album is one of the best selling of soundtracks of the 90's, let alone helped solidify the grunge movement. Highlights include Chris Cornell's haunting acoustic ballad "Seasons" which shows what a great singer he is, the Lovemonger's acoustic take on Led Zeppelin's "Battle Of Evermore" that couldn't even be eclipsed by the future Page/Plant reunion, the under-rated Hendrix gem "May This Be Love" from Are You Experienced, along with songs that would become hits for Mother Love Bone ("Crown Of Thorns"), Pearl Jam ("Breathe", "State Of Love & Trust"), Screaming Trees ("Nearly Lost You") & Alice In Chains ("Would?"). Paul Westerberg's material ("Dyslexic Heart," "Waiting For Somebody") is probably the lightest stuff on the album, being his first solo material & still sounding very Replacements-esque, but it also lends a comic balance to the heavy handedness of Soundgarden ("Birth Ritual") & raw distortions of underdogs Mudhoney ("Overblown"). This is one of those rare compilations where the range of styles paints a complete picture not a broken one of mis-matched music. This will get repeated listens where not a single track will want to be missed.