Smashing Pumpkins Atum

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BanjoPickles
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Smashing Pumpkins Atum

Postby BanjoPickles » November 15th, 2022, 4:59 am

When I first heard that Billy Corgan was writing a sequel, of sorts, to Mellon Collie, I’ll admit that I first rolled my eyes…..but then I developed a sense of false hope. “Maybe this will actually push him to write something great.”

Then the first single, Beguiled, dropped: chugga, chugga, chugga. It’s almost like the only kind of “rock” song Billy knows how to write now is that kind of song (think Solara).

I just finished listening to the first of three volumes, which launched today. Nothing stood out. He sings every song in the same boring key. No real hooks. The songs start blending together. I get that he’s fifty-five, and no longer a young man, but how is this the same guy who gave the world Adore, Mellon Collie, Siamese Dream, Machina? I even went back to Zeitgeist, which I hated at the time, and it sounded downright refreshing!

I’m not expecting another Siamese Dream—that would be an impossible task—but I guess I was expecting more than this. The song Hooray may be one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard from him.

2/5

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VideoGameCritic
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Re: Smashing Pumpkins Atum

Postby VideoGameCritic » November 15th, 2022, 7:31 am

Thanks for the report! I was waiting for him to release the three volumes on CD in April.

I wasn't crazy about Beguiled, but thought maybe it might be one of those songs that grow on you.

Let us know if that's the case!

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Re: Smashing Pumpkins Atum

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 26th, 2023, 9:58 pm

Listened to ATUM three times through, and not very impressed. Somebody needs to take away Billy's Casio keyboard, backup singers, and Prozac.

No way is this a sequel to Mellon Collie. That opus sounded like it was recorded in a gothic cathedral. This one sounds cheap, like it was made in Billy's basement during Covid.

The songs sound like the stuff leftover from the Cyr album. A lot of light-weight ditties with cheesy synth. Even the songs that should have been bangers are poorly mixed with the guitars low and vocals high (see Empires).

There are a few decent songs. Avalanche reminded me of the "Machina" Days, and Every Morning had a vague 1979 vibe. But there are no singles to speak of, and a few songs like "Hooray" and "Springtimes" sound like they were written for a Kindergarten class.

Finally, although it's ostensibly "three acts", I did not detect any kind of themes or storylines running through the 30 songs. There is nothing holding them together. It's just a mishmash.

The "solo" Pumpkin albums (Zeitgeist, Oceania, Monuments to an Elegy) are looking better all the time!

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Stalvern
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Re: Smashing Pumpkins Atum

Postby Stalvern » July 27th, 2023, 9:22 am

I've always liked Oceania. The only one after Adore that feels like a "real" Pumpkins album to me. I never understood the bellyaching about the lineup, since you don't hear a single note from James Iha or D'arcy Wretzky on the '90s albums either. The Pumpkins were not a "band" in any meaningful sense in the studio.

bluenote
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Re: Smashing Pumpkins Atum

Postby bluenote » July 27th, 2023, 9:54 am

I was chatting with my friend the other day about this (not about smashing pumpkins in particular, but about aging musicians). It seems once bands/artists hit their 30s, they are musically spent creatively. With very few exceptions, once musicians hit their 30s the quality of their new songs drops dramatically. Look at Paul McCartney: 8 years with the Beatles, all during his 20s. Dozens and dozens of fantastic songs, some the best rock has ever produced. Then, he goes solo, and maybe in the next 50 years he has a handful of good songs. How can this be?

It seems musicians peak during their 20s/early 30s and then their output after that is usually nothing compared to their earlier work. Of course, there are exceptions (David Bowie immediately comes to mind), but for the most part, this is what I see.

the weird thing is, this doesn't seem to affect filmmakers, writers, actors, etc.

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Re: Smashing Pumpkins Atum

Postby VideoGameCritic » July 27th, 2023, 6:46 pm

I think David Bowie fell into that category as well. After the early 80's he struggled to regain relevance.

I think I figured out what's wrong with Atum, and that is it was produced by Billy Corgan. Just like Lennon needed a McCartney (and vice versa), Billy would really benefit from the Butch Vig. Someone to talk him out of his worst impulses.

jon
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Re: Smashing Pumpkins Atum

Postby jon » July 27th, 2023, 8:12 pm

bluenote wrote:I was chatting with my friend the other day about this (not about smashing pumpkins in particular, but about aging musicians). It seems once bands/artists hit their 30s, they are musically spent creatively. With very few exceptions, once musicians hit their 30s the quality of their new songs drops dramatically. Look at Paul McCartney: 8 years with the Beatles, all during his 20s. Dozens and dozens of fantastic songs, some the best rock has ever produced. Then, he goes solo, and maybe in the next 50 years he has a handful of good songs. How can this be?

It seems musicians peak during their 20s/early 30s and then their output after that is usually nothing compared to their earlier work. Of course, there are exceptions (David Bowie immediately comes to mind), but for the most part, this is what I see.

the weird thing is, this doesn't seem to affect filmmakers, writers, actors, etc.


That’s pretty much what I think is the case. I think most actually peak in their early 20’s. It’s hard to tell because just about every musician has their first hit song in their early 20’s and then subsequent albums have singles played on radio due to their already established popularity. Billy Corgan is a good example. Just by looking at his bio, he was probably around 25-26 when he wrote the hit songs for Mellon Collie. That’s about the latest imo someone writes great songs, around 25. Kurt Cobain was probably around 23 by the time he wrote Nirvana’s last great hit song. I don’t think Heart Shaped Box was all that great and I think he was 25-26 when he wrote it. Of course there are exceptions.

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Stalvern
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Re: Smashing Pumpkins Atum

Postby Stalvern » July 27th, 2023, 10:25 pm

Jazz musicians and orchestral composers don't really follow that trajectory. I've also noticed that rockers who start sucking around age 30 often get at least decent again after a decade or two, if rarely at the same level. Looks to me like a gap between youthful energy and the wisdom of age.

Unlike jon, I think the peak in this scheme tends to be right at the end of the 20s or 30 itself, followed by a drop-off. A good example is Rush, who did Moving Pictures and Signals at that age (Neil Peart being a year older than the other two) and then followed them up with the much weaker and less distinctive Grace Under Pressure. This kicked off a stretch of dull competence (with a couple of flat-out bad albums in the '90s) that only ended with Vapor Trails, when they were 49 and 50. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were both 29 when the Stones put out Exile on Main St. and 30 when they followed it up with Goat's Head Soup. Pete Townshend was 28 on Quadrophenia and 30 on The Who by Numbers. Eddie Van Halen was 29 for MCMLXXXIV and 31 for 5150 (the best parts of which had already been written for some time). The suck strikes suddenly.


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