what the hell happened to Rolling Stone focusing on MUSIC? the starred reviews haven’t been updated since The White Stripes’ new album came out nearly a month ago and even then it was days behind the actual release of the album or at leas the release of other reviews. Whatever happened to covering the most reviews with the best quality? Aqualung’s new CD didn’t even get a mention. I don’t understand – where did my old magazine go?

Why does the video cut off at 50 seconds?

this video almost works, but not quite. won’t buffer past 1:03.

Fix the video!

Fix it, you doofuses!

someone please fix this video, it stops after about a minute. Or at least give us the written review.

it dont work right…

So where is the review? And what about Velvet Revolver’s new album?

fix itttttttttt

Well, no need to fix the video I’ll tell you what the reviews will say. Corgan is the genius the media loves to slam, even though the new Smashing Pumpkins album is amazing and groundbreaking, Rollingstone will have a field day slamming Corgan’s person – it’s just the in thing to do. Zeitgeist is thrilling… period.

Video doesn’t play. What happened to the written reviews on new release Tuesdays? Whaaaaaaaa!!!

I agree…post the written reviews. Thanks!

Um, mine works for 4 seconds.

Zeitgeist is horrible and just reminds you how great the Pumpkins WERE many years ago. Spoon is great and this is their best album yet.

I think they’re wrong, I’m A NEW Pumpkins fan, I think this album will turn a lot of people on to the band.

I guess things could be worse. At least the John Mayer themed BlackBerry Curve advert works splendidly.

shut up and write the reviews.

i REALLY REALLY don’t care about watching someone review an album. It would be that much more annoying if our parents could’ve watched you trash Zeppelin back in the day.

WRITE YOUR REVIEWS, I DESPISE THIS VIDEO REVIEW STUFF

spoon is the shit. if you havent heard them before, check them out ASAP! Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is probably their best work to date (although all of their albums are really good). definatly, definatly check it out

Ummmm….A real Velvet Revolver cd review would be good….now that it has been out for a week.

Can we get a Velvet Revolver review???

new reviews please?

Please, stick to written reviews!

I bet my left nut that Rolling Stone will do the predictable (and at this point chiched) slamming of Billy Corgan.But the album is musically one of the most exciting rock albums of the year.Even if I wish that Billy’s lyrics would stop being kissy love songs to Courtney Love.I keep picturing Billy and Courtney doing “Tarantula” as a hard rock duet.Tatantula would be another Pumpkins classic if the lyrics were as strong as the melody.

hey james, i believe they covered velvet revolver in last week’s new music!

I fist men for meth

after THE WHITE STRIPES!

Horrid year for REAL ROCK just old emo boys stealing riffs!

update the written reviews!!

why would anyone care about Scott Weiland’s tired band?

The new album is really very good in a lot of aspects. Corgan voice hasnt changed but he uses it in a lot of different ways. Chamberlains drums still sound amazing, and last but not least the smashing pumpkins sound is still there. I give the album an A.

Zeitgeist is the best album of the year, just above the new Interpol and Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible.

they just did a double issue so there’s a long break between issues, thus no printed reviews for a while. they’re still mostly a magazine not a website don’t be a dumbass

This is a real rock album. Billy Corgan stayed true to himself and played to his strengths on this one. The same clash of heavy guitar sound and melodic vocals that made them take off in the first place. He knows his strengths and he plays to them as all good and smart musicians do

To those mentioning Velvet Revolver here’s a brief review. Libertad is really bad. They should take notes on Zeitgeist. Unlike Billy Corgan Slash and Duff forgot what made them good in the first place and made a terrible album trying to be something they aren’t. Scott Weiland has been a pop singer parading as a rocker and his crap rubbed off on Slash and Duff

is chiched a word that would be legal in scrabble?

Ok, this video review thing is total crap. I have no interest in listening to some scraggly hipster give his opinion on new music.

I’d rather have the starred review and some paragraphs. Unless the rest of the world has suddenly gone illiterate, keep the text reviews current and ditch this self-indulgent video garbage that you probably think is groundbreaking.

And if, for some reason, this horrid idea continues, at least get the damn things to load right instead of stopping for no good reason after 36 seconds. That’d be fuckin’ great.

I think that piano thing is from Bon Jovi’s version of Runaway. Sort of.

Why can’t RS go back to normal text reviews? This video crap is a gimmick.

The concept would be okay if those two had any personality & if text reviews also accompanied the video. Watching those two chatter about a piano riff was painful. You’ve served to spoon feed your critics who feel the magazine is elitist & out of touch. Only their closest friends & family members could tolerate this video review. Revise the concept

Libertad was okay. Unless James Iha is in the Smashing Pumpkins I don’t really care. Why has no one mentioned Spoon? that song they did for the film ‘Stranger than Fiction’ was great!

No thanks, I’m not going to download the fucking application that launches the fucking podcast that plays the fucking video review. String together a few sentence for us, please.

Please stick to the written review; this is shit.

Hey Brian, I think I’ve solved the mystery behind the seemingly familiar staccato piano in Spoon’s “A Ghost of You Lingers.” Try listening to Billy Joel’s “All for Leyna” from the Glass Houses album, and tell me if we haven’t found a match.

This site has become fumbling and useless.

zeitgeist realy rocks!!!

saw the pumpkins in the uk, they still rock, 3 hour show what more is there to say !

When I heared the first track they played off of spoon’s new record emediatly I thought of the beatles. If Joe is correct on this I find this album to be at least 3 1/2 stars or even 4.

Right away I thought of the Beatles when they played the first track off of spoon’s new album. If Joe is correct on this one I find it a least 3 1/2 stars of even 4

I really like the video reviews. Keep them coming.

I like these reviews, but Brian Hiatt has to stop mumbling (take your hand away from your mouth, sir!), Joe Levy has to stop smirking at the other interviewer when he plays a song, and its GaX5, not Ga Ga Ga Ga (but i guess they only have 6 minutes so maybe Mr. Levy was just conserving time).

What happened to SP? This album is horrid! Tarantula is the only decent song here. We are Starz? ugh… I’d take Machina over this in a heartbeat.

Yeah i pretty much agree with most of the people here. The written reviews are much better than this video thing u guys got going on. Please bring back the written reviews.

Hey, I know this sounds crazy given this crazy digital age we live in, but why dont you guys quit being so lazy and publish a written review so I can read it while I’m at work. These videocasts don’t impress me.

Written reviews!!! I understand it seems like a cool idea for two seconds to have video of the review (and really it is just the reviewers wanting to be seen), but this is retarded.

Rolling Stone, you have your heads so far up your ass it’s not even funny. Look at all the people pissed about not being able to read a review. Do both or something.

You guys need to fix your magazine big time.

These video reviews such. You are a magazine…write something.

I really hate it when people compare new albums to old ones. It just doesn’t make any sense to do that. Albums are moments in time captured and put into music. You can’t expect bands to keep putting out the same album time and time again. Times change, people change. People that compare Zeitgeist to Siamese Dream need to have their heads examined. Siamese Dream was recorded over ten years ago! Bands evolve. If we compared all U2 albums that have come out since Achtung baby – they would all SUCK. Zeigeist is a great album. It clearly kicks the shit out of any crap currently on the radio. There is no fluff here folks. Billy and Jimmy are back and they are taking names and kicking ass. This album rocks. It is heavier than anything Metallica has put out in a decade. Zeitgeist takes all current emo bands into a back ally and totally kicks the living hell out of them. Welcome back Billy – Thanks for saving us from shitty emo bands! This record is NOT Siamese Dream, and I for one don’t want it to be.

Number one, not to be nitpicky, but it’s “Ga Ga Ga Ga GA.”

Two, anyone else feel sorry for Brian being talked over left and right by Joe Levy?

First thing: Not to be nitpicky, Joe, but it’s “Ga Ga Ga Ga GA.”

Second, does anyone else feel sorry for Brian here? Seemed like it was hard for the guy to get a word in edge-wise on the mouthy Joe Levy.

The new SP is awful-god-awful.

Why the heck aren’t you people at rollingstone.com updating the CD Reviews section? Wha happen?!?

The very idea of a magazine evolves in our e-era, and these videocasts are a good step, even if the mummmmmummmmummmmbling needs to go, you overpraise the Corgan set, and you underpraise Spoon.

the people making the comments today are hating all over your video review… why not check out a band called the alarmists… you’ll like what you hear

First of all, where the hell are this weeks written reviews? Secondly, “Simply Smashing,” a good song is a good song regardless of what time in an artists career its been created. Ideas and song topics may grow and change but if the basic melody and song structure isn’t there, then it’s no good. Stop trying to kid yourself. Zietgest sucks.

This album is genius. Buy it.

why can no one ever appreciate that bands get back together and do a tour/album? Its always complaining.

the new pumpkins album is awsome, and thats just my opinion. If you don’t like it, stop complaining and go find another band to listen to.

First of all, where the hell are this weeks written reviews?! Secondly “Simply Smashing,” a good song or album is good regardless of what point in time its been created by the artist. If someone wants me to to buy their music then the songs better stand up to what they have done before. I’m loyal more towards the music than the artist. Ideas and people and sound will grow and change but if the basic song structure and melody is not there, then its simply no good. Zietgest sucks. Stop kidding yourself “Simply Smashing.”

Crowded House?

what makes these guys authorities on music anyway? Just because they work for Rolling Stone? As we all know Rolling Stone is the be all and end all of music criticism……..ya.

are you guys ever gonna post album reviews for the past two weeks worth of new music?????

This “video review” idea is a horrible. Rolling Stone is supposed to be a magazine…with written reviews.

Who cares what Rolling Stone thinks? I mean, they gave Zwan a good review, and that so-called band did exactly what it should have–disintegrated. They never made it past the college gymnasium circuit, and rightfully so. Newsflash kiddies: Billy “Uncle Fester” Corgan’s middling talent is vastly outsized by his ego. The Fifty Percent Pumpkins upcoming 11, count ‘em, 11, night stand at the Fillmore will be little more than a waste of time and electricity. Will they even sell out one night there? How many times will Corgan needlessly and obnoxiously solo over his bandmates, much like that kid you knew in high school who thought he was Peter Frampton? Dear Billy, please return to Ohio and stay there.

Hey Brian Hewitt, when you’re talking about the keyboard part from a Spoon song being lifted, are you possibly thinking of “Runaway” by Bon Jovi?

why don’t they put these in print so i can read them at work without my boss knowing?

Hey mmd……you obviously have the music sense of a 4 year old with their finger up their nose. Grow up and stop being such a cry baby. The fact that you feel it is the duty of the musicians to please you everytime they pick up their instruments shows me exactly how little you know about music. Artists make music for themselves – at least the good ones do. It’s art – not a friggin commercial made specificaly for you. Get a life.

I actually liked this review, and I’ve been critical in the past.
Now, what about that new Crowded House CD??

I actually liked this review, and I’ve been critical in the past.
Now, what about that new Crowded House CD??

I actually liked this review, and I’ve been critical in the past.
Now, what about that new Crowded House CD??

This really isn’t very insightful at all. Spoon’s album is called “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” and Mr. Levy miscounts twice, reinforcing the impression that he probably shouldn’t be reviewing Spoon’s (or anyone’s?) album in this context. Please sit down at a computer and articulate your thoughts on an album into something meaningful. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is a fantastic album worth much more than downloading cherry bomb and underdog as is here recommended.

Who the fuck are the Pumpkins? Am I the only one who remembers good music? The theme to the hit TV show “The Fall Guy” was sung by yours truly. Shove that in your IPod and go for a spin!

The Smashing Pumpkins rock! Buy the CD.

Who are these inarticulate mush-mouths? Are the writers on strike or something?

The Pumkins sucked way back when and they suck now. And Sponge? I crap was supposed to decompse after a few years?

Go back to writing reviews!!! Never mind trying to be hip & innovative. Here’s a hip idea: act like writers & write!!

Yeah the piano part in the The Ghost of You Lingers DEFINATELY reminds me of Bon Jovi’s Runaway.

i’m pretty sure interpol just released an awesome album this week too…

these videos are too short. did you like Zeitgeist? Was it okay? Don’t be afraid to go into detail.

It’s really annoying when people trash a great band for not doing an exact replica of their biggest hit. I can’t help but think these people are just dumb and have no true appreciation for music.

Have a feeling that RS doesnt update the reviews on the web page because they want you to actually buy the magazine. But it would be nice. RS.com is for reading little news bites at work, not for watching videos.

I’m going to have to disagree with these gentlemen & declare the Spoon album superior to the Pumpkins one & therefore the one that should be purchased.

Maybe that piano riff reminds the gentleman on the left of a Supertramp song?

The new Pumpkins album is great. I sense Billy and Jimmy are just getting their legs back – even more greatness to come.

Buy the album!!

I just picked up Zeitgeist today and I can honestly say, this is the best cd i’ve bought/heard in “years”. After listening to all the crap that has plagued the music industry from 2000 through 2007, its nice to hear a band that remains true to its original sound and this is a classic, every song is good. These guys are back on top, this is the music we lost due to the commercial sellout music on the radio. Zeitgeist just barely beats Neon Bible for album of the year but I will have to give it the nod. And I agree, what about the new Crowded House cd or a real velvet revolver review?

Zeitgeist was a let down for me.

Seriously, did this tell you anything about the new Spoon album? They are one of the greatest bands and I learned nothing from the review. If you don’t have it, “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” (not what Levy said) is good. Not their best, but good.

I love the new Smashing Pumpkins album. If you like old pumpkins, Pre- Adore, you’ll dig it.

Ok, so this was a “Super” Tuesday.

We saw new releases from the following: Smashing Pumpkins, Spoon, Interpol, Against Me!, Gogol Bordello, Reel Big Fish, and a few others I know I’m forgetting at this point. Instead of making a pointless, banal video that really explains nothing, how about some text reviews?!

Ok, so this was a “Super” Tuesday.

We saw new releases from the following: Smashing Pumpkins, Spoon, Interpol, Against Me!, Gogol Bordello, Reel Big Fish, and a few others I know I’m forgetting at this point. Instead of making a pointless, banal video that really explains nothing, how about some text reviews?!

You guys suck as tastemakers or reviewers.
You like SP and pretty much diss Spoon. Totally different from what I read here.
Sad

re: yuck

ummm, if you knew anything, ALL the filmore dates are SOLD OUT and billy is from CHICAGO which is in ILLINOIS… get a life you ignorant turd

Thank you for so eloquently hitting every cliche’d pumpkin critique in the book.
-Zwan, lolz!!!!
- Billy = Uncle Fest lolz!!!
- Billy has is pretentious and needs to get over himself
- OMG ITS ONLY HALF THE BAND!!!!!

not to mention all their shows are sold out,and the band is caving in skulls everywhere they play these days, most of Billy’s songs are hardly solo oriented, and the dude is from Chicago!

Why would Billy return to Ohio?

Do you really think Chicago is in Ohio?

Haha, you are a retard!

Please ignore all the genital sucking that has been going on about the “Pumpkins” album. The record company has sent legions of fake “fans” on this site to hype this record up to cartoonish heights. Why? Cause they know it blows, they know people are downloading cause it ain’t worth the money, and they need all the positive press they can get after Billy’s tantrum at Live Earth about his fans downloading. He wants that old rock star lifestyle back bad. Lets hype and hype and hype this Zwan album up into a Pumkins release to make people nostalgic for a long gone band. They were gone after Mellon Collie both musically and as a foursome.

Hey RS, where are your WRITTEN reviews of the Pumpkins, Interpol, and everything else? Get with the program. Some good music is finally out and you guys are doing retarded video instead.

Well, it’s hard not to like the Pumpkins (or Billy) in any form they come out… they are just too talented and, well, too loveable, no matter how irritating the temper tantrums are of late…. BUT, where’s the “alternative” in this album? It’s not alternative, it’s metal… with a few pop songs and/or pop elements weaved through some of the songs…..

…still, the album — despite the horrible mixing — has mostly good, smart, tasty melodies and hooks, but… but what it comes down to, is that Billy never learns a God damn thing: he himself, some years ago, said this: “I turned the Pumpkins into a circus, and I will forever be bitter for that”….and now, instead of realising that he now has the chance to redeem it all — to create a sound that is unique to the Pumpkins and only to the Pumpkins — he doesn’t do it, and instead creates a three-ringed circus, in which he’s the dancing bear. ( Bear without fur, that is. )

Bands like U2 and Nirvana are viewed and will always be viewed and remembered as great bands, and influencial bands, and legendary bands because they had a unique sound… when you hear the first five seconds of a U2 song on the radio — any U2 song, just about — you know it’s U2, because it’s the sound that gives U2 it’s identity, and it’s a sound only U2 can do… same with Nirvana…. and, my personal conviction is that the Pumpkins have the potencial to rise up to that level — they certainly possess the talent, and the magic… think of songs like “Perfect”, or “1979″, which were new-wave synth-pop gems, that were not only great songs, but also possessed a certain “Pumpkin-esque vibe”, a vibe that no other band could create…. and Billy chose to just get scattered and try everything, n experiment… which is fine, and respectful, but there should have been some emphasis on not losing identity along the way

Lumpy, you say thats horrible mixing? Oh and I suppose your a professional mixer? Listen to any U2 song and you can tell its U2? Im sorry but when I first heard Elevation I thought it was Nickleback… This Pumpkins album doesn’t have the classic Pumpkins sound? Did you skip the track Bring The Light? Or are you still living in 1994 with no willingness to progress?

Lumpy is a smart man with a good sense of what could have been. I’m with you.

The piano intro to that Spoon song is pretty much the ‘Almost Famous’ beginning.

hey if you play the intro of lcd soundsystems all my friends and the intro to ghost of you lingers back to back very close

Any idiot can immediately tell that the mixing on the new SP is horrid. Billy sounds like he lost his soul. Big let down.

INTERPOL hello!!! But the new Spoon cd is pretty solid.

What all of you and the critics don’t realize is that the Smashing Pumpkins’ albums need several to many listens before they sound like classics. Reviews are made way too early to give Zeitgeist a fair trial. It is indeed a new sounding album by SP and I believe it will take time to get used to because obviously everyone focuses on the old SP sound. Give yourselves a few more months of listening to it and I guarantee you if not a classic, it will at least be considered an album well done. I can already see it coming.

“The Fifty Percent Pumpkins upcoming 11, count ‘em, 11, night stand at the Fillmore will be little more than a waste of time and electricity. Will they even sell out one night there?”

Umm… Yeah. Every night is sold out. Maybe you should have checked to see before making an ignorant rip with no factual basis.
PS – Billy is from Illinois. Hometown is Chicago. Zeitgeist is classic pumpkins right on par with Mellon Collie.

Lumpy is an uneducated simpleton…… The new SP album is what the world needed…. a swift kick back to how music was before Nickleback and Greenday ruined it…. and its a good album to keep us busy until Chinese Democracy hits the shelves this year….

Notice how most people (save a few) who said Zeitgeist sucked offered little or no logical reason as to why they thought it sucked? Goes to show that they’re just complete morons hopping onto the “bash-Corgan-and-the-Pumpkins bandwagon”. After listening to it several times I have to say that Zeitgeist is a very good album. Not one of the Pumpkins’ best, but nonetheless very good. The first 5 tracks alone are enough to make Zeitgeist one of the standout rock albums of the year. Zeitgeist is classic Pumpkins albeit more mature sounding, maintaining that melodically rich sound that made the Pumpkins such a successful band. Corgan’s vocals have, imo improved, and Jimmy Chamberlin’s still one hell of a drummer. As for the criticism towards the mixing and production (eg. vocals being too pronounced and protruding), well remember when Mellon Collie first came out, there were similar accusations but that album turned out to be one of the all time best albums in history. Seriously people, slamming this record without a f*cking reason, or simply because you hate Billy Corgan or any other reason that ignores artistic merit is really utterly pathetic. For the record, in case people start accusing me of being merely some Pumpkins fanboy sucking on Billy’s genitals, let me tell you this: I hated his solo record and Zwan was kind of a dissapointment. So buy Zeitgeist and give it a good listen!

I just got the new pumpkins albulm , I love it , I hope after the tour they will begin working on another albulm.

I agree with you Johny Blaze. Pumpkins tunes take a few listens for some people, and some of those people won’t ever get them at all.

Anyway, I’ve listened to Zeitgeist, and I was quite impressed from the start – However, after many spins, I love every song excluding God and Country.

I just wish that there was just one version containing all of the extra songs – I have the Best Buy version with ‘Death From Above’, and it’s a great song. They should have just released the album with 15 tracks.

My favorite thing about Zeitgeist is that it is unpredictable – The songs change so abruptly, and a sick guitar or drum solo can come right out of nowhere and die off within two seconds. I think it’s their best since Infinite Sadness.

First off, if you’re writing negative comments about the band or the album, you might be a loser; Creed sucked, but I didn’t go around writing it on the internet! Crawl out from under your rocks and find some convictions FOR something. Put your old high school yearbooks back under your bed next the the vaseline, and have a real good listen to Zeitgeist. The band has sold out every show, and the album is amazing.

Don’t let them confuse things: The Spoon CD is almost flawless. The chose the only “weak” track to pick apart, The Ghost Of You Lingers, which is actually an interesting song in the context of the whole cd. The two other songs mentioned are similar in their use of horns, but the best tracks are actually “Eddie’s Ragga,” “Finer Feelings,” and “Rhtm & Soul.” Worth buying over the Pumpkins cd, which kind of sucks in my estimation…

First off, if you’re writing negative comments about the Smashing Pumpkins or the new album, you might be a loser; Creed sucked, but I didn’t go around writing it on the internet! Crawl out from under your rocks and find some convictions FOR something. Put your old high school yearbooks back under your bed next the the vaseline, and have a real good listen to Zeitgeist. The band has sold out every show, and the album is amazing.

Man, these guys made a good report. I was expecting “it sucked” “pretty good” or “now my life has meaning” but these guys made a long presentation. More reason to respect RS, and they come to the album with openness, even more laudable.

I think many of you have forgotten the core of the Smashing Pumpkins. Not to be trapped in a mainstream that’s only in the music buissnes for the mony. They have always done something different with every album they have made. It takes a lot of balls standing up to a billion dollar record company and say ” If you don’t like this and don’t wanna sell this, F*uck you. I’ll record it some other place.” And for you who only mention The second and third album. What about adore? What about machina. They are beautiful albums in their way. Didn’t get the comercial sucsess it erned, but still AMAZING albums. And for you who speak of nirvana. Curt cobain OD’ed at his peak. Who knows were Nirvana would be today. At least stop comparing with artists who were making their last record in ‘93 or ‘94, that just shows your lack of insight. we’re in F*uckin 2007 now. This is a roaring rock album. and pumpkins at it’s roots (in my opinion at least) Maybe not lyricaly as extreme as prior albums, but Mr. Corgan was in a totaly different situation back then, personaly. Thank you Billy for once again showing ‘wanna be indy f’ucks’ what rock is like!

Glad to hear that they liked the Smashing Pumpkins’ Zeitgiest; it’s thrilling & intellegent, start to finish.

Why are people dissing the new VR cd. The Smashing pumpkins cd and the VR cd are good. I hate when people try say which band is better. GUESS WHAT?!! THey’re both good in their own ways..so get over it..Zeitgeist and Libertad are awesome in their own ways.

damn people really like to bash the Pumpkins. The mixing is.. weird, but it’s not as bad as it could be. I love Zeitgeist (in fact I bought 3 copies.. not for the bonus tracks, just because I wanted to) but we can’t go back to Mellon Collie. That ended 10 years ago… SP has gone through many phases since most people stopped caring, so that’s probably why… People overlooked Adore, Machina, and TheFutureEmbrace so they don’t know where BC and JC are coming from. I can’t believe it. The world wants the Pumpkins to sell out, but they’re not, so now you’re bitching? People are dumb.

Zeitgeist really need some time and a few listens before you can appreciate it. Long time fan, at first I was a little worries, but now its really starting to work its magic on me.

Really like it.

At least this week there wasn’t the classic comment “The good songs are good and the bad songs are bad”. I came back hoping for some more comedic gold, and all I got was two lame pseudo-reviews.

Its amazing how good the Spoon cuts sound after listening to the atrocious mix of the Smashing Pumpking album. Both solid cuts though. Good summer for music.

Hey dudes, stop the hatin’! I didn’t say the new SP record was bad… I just said the production values are horrid, and that I wish there was a stronger stylistical thread between records, and in this case, within the record too… but that’s just MY opinion, and I have a right to it, don’t I?

Instead of bashing us “simpletons” ( oh great ones ), why don’t YOU write a thorough, detailed review or comment yourselves, which focuses more on your own opinions/convictions, rather than on the flaws and shortcomings of others? Prove your greatness, mighty ones! Also, I didn’t know that being an IQ-champ was a requirement to post a comment here…??? Go figure.

But you’re right: it take a big man to mention Nickelback and Green Day… Ppppffff, dude! And, YOU’re calling me un-current, when rock was ruined a looooong time before these (agreed: crappy) bands showed up…. think Matchbox 20 around the time Adore came out (and even before that.) Trust me dudes, I’ve been observing the late 90’s and 2000’s carefully… I KNOW what’s been going on.

And funny how one mentions “Bring The Light” as a song to prove me wrong… first of all, I don’t need to be proven wrong, because this here ain’t a competition, oh mighty warriors..this ain’t about being right or wrong… again, these are just opinions… welcome to democracy. ( You should try N. Korea, I think you might like it! ) Second of all, the track “Bring The Light”: sure, it has some delicious pop licks that I find very savory too… but the song as a whole? I’m mean, c’mon… it’s jam-packed with excess!!!! You are lying to yourself if you say it ain’t. Everything from cliché Tool-typed metal to Queen-esque guitar hero rock finds it’s way onto the track. Puke!

So, IN MY OPINION, not the best track to confirm that the band is back to form. However, I think “That’s The Way (My Love Is)”, is an excellent pop song ( though I miss the ultra-passionate Corgan in it… the one from “Daphne Descends” ), the pre-chorus part of “Doomsday Clock” is beyond excellent and inventitive… love the backing vocals as they brush up against the main vocals and melody to create a fine harmony… there’s almost a neo-soul, sort of pseudo Joni-Mitchell quality to it… and “Starz” seems to want to pick up where “Tonight, Tonight” left off, so that’s a nice touch, but doesn’t quite reach the heavens of that song… again, it’s the metal aspect, I think, that hurts this song (as well as some other songs on the record) ..still, it’s a good song… and “Pomp And Circumstance” may be the best closure so far to a Pumpkins record. ( And, believe me, I love “Luna” and “Age Of Innocence” dearly. )

But still, I can’t help feeling bitter myself over Billy’s do-a-bouts of late: ZG is an okay comeback, but I’d like to kick him for giving his BEST songs to such LOSER nu-metal outfits as Breaking Benjamin and Taproot ( ETC. ) — just take a listen to “Lost In The Woods” by B. Corgan on youtube… believe me, it’s THE best song he’s written in years, and what did he do with it?? He gave it to Taproot… — I mean, it’s a waste of song and it’s a waste of talent.

The closest this record comes to Billy’s fine give-away songs is “Come On (Let’s Go!)” — it’s got that alluring, bouncy Pumpkins-y pop vibe to it that I just LOVE — but AGAIN, this is just MY opinion.

So, all ‘n’ all, I have mixed feelings about the record and about the band, but, since I’m a good-hearted guy (and obviously an old fan), I have to say I am happy to have them back… even in this weird, sketchy, mutant, obsolete form. ( But maybe all they needed was this one album to recuperate. If memory serves me right, Gish wasn’t all that great either, but then look where they went afterwards. )

Oh, and yeah, agreed, they’re better than Nickelback… but by just a hair. )))))))))))))))))))))

Lumpy, I was pretty much with you until the end: “…’Gish’ wasn’t all that great either…”. WTF?!!! That album is greatness and probably my favorite Pumpkins album overall (although I love ‘Siamese Dream’ too). This new album, though? A total mess. Hopefully the next one will be better.

I honestly think it sucks. How can you have Smashing Pumpkins with out every one else. So why bothering touring for just two soul members of the band. That would be like Guns ‘N Roses touring with just Axl and Slash it would just be pointless. Pluse it is not sounding like the Smashing Pumpkin we know and love. So what the fuck..

Captain of the Dark Passion

PS if you want to leave any comments either nasty or simlar please contact me at myspace.com/wombatkatkit.com

thank you

zeitgeist = “spirit of the times”

gee, that makes sense.

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