THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
Machina/The Machines Of God (Virgin)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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I'm pretty sure I'm wrong about this one, because people who love this kind of thing love this thing. It's basically "Billy does Goth," with a little more energy than Adore, which is a welcome development, but a startling lack of the pop energy that he so recently offered up with the last Hole release. Whatever he had left of that energy for this outing is buried in dense synthesized drones and weighed down by the bulk of Billy Corgan's personal demons of pretension. OK, Billy, so you talk to God. That's cool. I'm very happy for you. But next time, make some music for the people, OK? Something to sing along with, maybe, or dance to.

But there are definite points of appeal. Jimmy Chamberlin is back on the drum throne, and from the sound of things he's healthy again. Melissa Auf Der Maur is a suitable and satisfactory replacement for D'Arcy. "Stand Inside Your Love" is as good a Pumpkins cut as we've heard for too many years (has it really been a half a decade since Mellon Collie...?).

But like I say, people who love this kind of thing love this one, so if you're a Smashing Pumpkins devotee, you gotta have it (and probably already do). If you're not a devotee, exactly, it's at least a better introduction than their last outing.

Track List:

The Everlasting Gaze * Raindrops + Sunshowers * Stand Inside Your Love * I Of The Mourning * The Sacred And Profane * Try, Try, Try * Heavy Metal Machine * This Time * The Imploding Voice * Glass And The Ghost Children * Wound * The Crying Tree Of Mercury * With Every Light * Blue Skies Bring Tears * Age Of Innocence

© 2000 - Shaun Dale