“Hi, my name is Billy and I’ll be your server. The special of the day - and the only thing available tonight - are apocalypse cutlets sautéed in a succulent arena-rock reduction, and served on a plate so hot that you may burst into flames should you touch it.”
“We call it Zeitgeist,” he adds.
Of course, Billy recommends it. He whets our appetites by informing us that not only is it his favorite item on the menu, but comes directly, in fact, from his heart and soul. The three of us submit to his suggestion because he’s already told us so much about it, and we’re too curious to go somewhere else and leave w/o having a taste, for good or ill.
The dish eventually comes out on warm (but hardly combustible) plates, and an unusual odor fills the room. Some are pleased and have a look of familiarity in their eyes; they lick their lips as they think about the first time they inhaled this comforting fragrance. The others look bored if not repulsed, remembering all too well the first time their faces were stuffed with Flair de Corgan, and had thought they’d never have to go back there. Their stories follow:
* * *
Billy Corgan and the ‘Smashing Pumpkins’ are back sans D’arcy and James Iha (which, following that formula, would have constituted a Beatles reunion on almost every one of Ringo’s solo albums), and are out to prove relevancy after years of wishful reunion speculation and full-page apologies in the Chicago Reader and Tribune. This Zeitgeist… Corgan has plenty to say about the state of the world, and very little of it exceeds the level of conversation with someone who saw the headlines and got pissed, but skipped to SuDoku without reading the story. Like talking to a dim but driven activist, we can assume that “they” represent either the government or fat, dumb Americans (the two of which are interchangeable, mind you), and he invokes “them” quite a bit.
The album is consistently coarser than Siamese Dream or Melancholy, and leaves less room to breathe. Of course, we’re supposed to feel a little uncomfortable and claustrophobic (’they’, after all, are coming for us), but the front-runner for the Mainstream Artist Lamentation of the Erosion of Personal Freedom And Harbinger of Doom (MALEPFAHD) award of 2007 so far is Trent Reznor. Still, the music is better than what you’d expect from the brains behind Zwan and TheFutureEmbrace, which is like cheering the White Sox for losing by two and not by ten.
It’s still like the old days in at least one other way: Corgan’s spirit - zeitgeist, if you will - still outshines his savvy as songwriter. Mystique, again, overcomes a number of sins (consider the Pumpkins’ success all along) and Corgan’s music is, at best, back to where he was before the Pumpkins’ demise.
The album is bolstered by Jimmy Chamberlain’s skin-tight drumming - the star of the show - and Corgan’s guitar is surprisingly dynamic and rich. The opening track, ‘Doomsday Clock’, couldn’t be more obvious, but is a good intro to what is to come: fun listening, but sapped of its power by the lyrics (note to Billy - when talking about the apocalypse, like sex, it helps to build tension by not actually mentioning the word itself).
Corgan may have a pedantic assessment of the things of which he speaks, but the furious drums and highly textured guitar tracks make a few tracks worth repeating. ‘Neverlost’ is an adept throwback to 60’s psych-jazz (like a less-high Ultimate Spinach or Soft Machine), and ‘Starz’ pulls the throttle back just enough to let some air into the room while making some snide remarks about America’s sense of infallibility. Those and a few others keep the album from falling straight to the Ranks of the Forgotten.
A few bright moments, however, don’t justify the speculation and build-up surrounding this ‘reunion’. ‘United States’ isn’t much of a statement that your half-wit malcontent hasn’t already made, not to mention that the Sigue Sigue Sputnik vocal effects just aren’t that funny (or scary… hard to tell what he’s going for). ‘For God And Country’ is yet more endrowsifying criticism from the entertainment industry hurled at the religious and patriotic community, and the only thing new about any of this is that we hadn’t heard it from Billy Corgan until now. Everyone else with an Internet connection and a political bent has already been there, and often more convincing and terse.
The majority of the listening public who still can’t figure out why Billy Corgan is so revered, or who actually reveres him for that matter, will not be swayed by Zeitgeist. Fans will instantly claim genius, but will spend months listening and hoping to wake up one morning to find they genuinely like it, like the reaction (and subsequent indifference) to Zwan.
Release Date: July 10, 2007
Label: Martha’s Music/Reprise
Rating: 6.43/10
2 Comments »
i would give Billy Corgan, the rock “idol”, a 3 on the Kenny Loggins chart.
Jimmy Chamberlain’s drumming…that gets a 6 on the Kenny Loggins chart.
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Comment by Sam E. — July 18, 2007 @ 4:46 pm
It’s hard for me to imagine a setting in which Sigue Sigue Sputnik vocal effects aren’t funny…
And I think you should start giving your ratings in irrational numbers, now that you’ve started down that road. You know, “I give it pi stars,” or, “all in all, it’s about a square root of thirteen album.”