New Smashing Pumpkins, Critic?

[VideoGameCritic]

Now that I've had a chance to listen to it a few times, I'd give Zeitgeist a solid B.  I really like the irregular beats and chaotic drums - it makes this album unique.  All the songs are pretty good except for United States which is a bore.

I also noticed Billy added some new people to the band for his tour including a hottie bassist. 

Has Smashing Pumpkins music ever appeared in a video game??

[BanjoPickles1]

I think the only song that I can't really stand would have to be "For God and Country" which could pass for the most boring song Corgan's ever written. Personally, I LOVE United States and think it stands in the ten to fifteen best songs Corgan's ever released for the band. Then again, I'm a sucker for epic songs.

[JasonhasRSI1]

[QUOTE=The Video Game Critic]Now that I've had a chance to listen to it a few times, I'd give Zeitgeist a solid B.  I really like the irregular beats and chaotic drums - it makes this album unique.  All the songs are pretty good except for United States which is a bore.

I also noticed Billy added some new people to the band for his tour including a hottie bassist. 

Has Smashing Pumpkins music ever appeared in a video game??

[/QUOTE]

Critic- rumor has it that "Cherub Rock" will appear in Guitar Hero III. That sort of has me pumped, though its a bit boring to play even on a real guitar.

[BanjoPickles1]

Funny that you say that, Jason, because Cherub Rock was the first song that I learned how to play on the guitar. I thought it was so cool, being able to play the main riff to one of my fave songs and then, once I started learning how to REALLY play, the riff was very boring and a bit too easy. It's still a really cool riff, but a bit simple, actually.

Also, Jason, it's not a rumor that it will appear in GH3...it IS going to appear in the game!:-)

[Zenzerotron]

Two things really strike me.......

1. Corgan somehow lost his flair for exceptional lyrics after "Adore". His solo album featured some of the weakest lryics I've ever heard. The lyrics on this new SP album aren't so hot either.

2. Most of the new SP is just a heavy metal album. I miss the phycodelic, shoe-gazer, and dream-pop elements of classic SP. Classic SP had diversity and didn't seem to have any set-rules about musical genres. This new SP seems really strict in just being a heavy metal album, excluding a track or two.

[BanjoPickles1]

Then again, Zenz, you are talking about a fourteen year gap. Corgan, as a 25 year old "shoegazer," probably had a much grander, more naive vision of his music than the 40 year old Corgan. Zeitgeist really is just him proving that he can still do it, that he is more than capable of writing a really good-to-great song. Now, is Doomsday Clock as good as Geek Rock USA or Mayonaise or even songs like Bury Me off of Gish? Probably not. However, the fact that he can make an album like Zeitgeist when so many of his contemporaries have essentially thrown in the towel and have done nothing but release work that almost shames their previous work is pretty impressive to me. Also, there are quite a few songs that, for me, stand toe-to-toe with anything he's done with the band.

[Zenzerotron]

For me, SP will always be about Gish, Picses Iscariot, and Siamse Dream.

Adore was the only other album that came close to that greatness of those albums.

It just seems to me that Billy put his heart&creative instincts into everything he did, but after Adore wasn't a commerical success, he was permanently wounded and discouraged. Since then, every album he's made seems to be pandering to what he thinks people want, what will be commerically successfull. I don't think it has to do with fame or greed, but just for the fact he's a very emotional sensitive guy and can't handle artistic rejection.