ALBUM REVIEW: Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist

Smashing Pumpkins
Zeitgeist
Reprise, 2007

The current political and social climate in the United States is creating some pretty interesting art. After all, art is a reflection of the times, so wouldn't the best art reflect a society with real causes to rail against and wars to protest? Maybe that's why Smashing Pumpkins' last two albums were so weak: Billy Corgan just didn't have much to say. There is a feeling of fear and righteous indignation against the injustices of the current administration that pervades Zeitgeist, and it has created some great results.

Simply put, Zeitgeist is the best Smashing Pumpkins album in a decade, which, in rock years, is eternity. It's certainly the best since Melancholy and The Infinite Sadness, and arguably the best since Siamese Dream. To be fair, it doesn't have to work that hard to top Adore or Machina/The Machines of God, but Zeitgeist returns many of the elements that make Smashing Pumpkins an interesting proposition, and abandons much of the pomp and pretension that have tended to weigh their recordings down.

You can't imagine how difficult it was to come to that conclusion. I was so very prepared to lambaste Zeitgeist as a son-of-Zwan, cheap exploit-the-brand-name exercise that only happened because Corgan's solo record, 2005's TheFutureEmbrace sold about three copies. After all, only Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlain remain from the original quartet. However, judging by the results, D'arcy Wretzky and James Iha won't be sadly missed.

The truth is that Corgan is best backed by a veritable orchestra of Tony Iommi-inspired guitars, and not, say, Casio synths. With the heavy, low-tuned axes laying a big, fuzzy, riffing bed, his adenoidal whine cuts through the maelstrom. The sound could be best described as a cross between Goth, Alt-Rock and classic British metal. There are some serious Iron Maiden-isms going on, and truth be told, Corgan's yelp doesn't sound a million miles removed from Bruce Dickinson's dog-whistle scream.

Lyrically, the album is solidly on target: society is apathetic. People are allowing themselves to be taken advantage of, and sometimes you have to fight to keep the democracy from those who desire, in the form of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act, to take it away. From the opening Doomsday Clock, "Is everyone afraid / You should be ashamed" to United States, "I don't have to run scared no more / Fight, I wanna fight, Revolution", the lyrics are a far cry from, "Today is the greatest day of my life."

If there was ever a reason to welcome the return of the Smashing Pumpkins brand name, Jimmy Chamberlain is it. His drumming on the 9:53 United States is nothing short of stunning. According to internet lore, the drumming for this track was done in one take. Considering I've not heard so many toms being pounded since I last put on Children of the Grave, this is an amazing achievement.

True, the meticulous production occasionally gives the whole package a bit too much cold gloss and tracks like Tarantula feel as though they were tailor-made by committee to be rock radio drive-time fodder. It's also true that in a perfect world, Billy Corgan would stop making his voice sound like a Mazda revving in first.  But these are quibbles: overall, Zeitgeist shows Smashing Pumpkins at the top of their game, almost twenty years in.

Review by Greg Hood-Morris

Agree? Disagree? Email Greg at criticizegreg@gmail.com