MACHINA/the machines of God
As usual, cool artwork and etchings don the cover and booklet for the
latest Smashing Pumpkins album, with golds, blood reds, sepia browns, and
navy setting the somewhat medieval tone for the newest roster of tunes by
the Chicago band.
Produced by Pumpkin lead singer Billy Corgan and super-producer Flood, this
was also the last Pumpkins album to include recently-departed bassist
D'Arcy Wretzsky - unless something changes drastically in the near future,
the next SP disc will be "bassed" by new Pumpkins bass player, ex-hole
bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur.
While all the band lineup confusion is working itself out, the Pumpkins music
remains as an anchor - always dramatic, always dense melodically, and always
sounding like...well, like the Pumpkins and nothing else.
The band has developed an unmistakable sound for itself, that's for sure -
but whether that's a plus or a minus remains to be seen. The album opens
with the track "The Everlasting Gaze," with a heavy wall of guitars and
drums and an acapella breakdown in the middle. With the tempo still high,
the drums cranking along like a sped-up parade march, the disc moves
quickly into Track
2, "Raindrops and Sunshowers," Corgan wailing that "...rain falls on
everyone."
"Stand Inside Your Love" is Track 3, one of the tunes slated to be a single
from the album, and, although it's not too adventurous, it's still a pretty
song - but is it pledging eternal love or eternal obsession? With Corgan,
one is never quite sure.
Track 4, "I of the Mourning," continues the disc with an interesting
lyrical narrative. Holed up in his house, the person narrating this song
seems to live behind a wall of memories, closed curtains, and caller ID, as
he waits for the radio to play his favorite song. This track paints a good
picture of the character depicted, and, with the fairly catchy melody and
refrain, it's one of the better songs on the disc.
Track 5, "The Sacred and the Profane," is also melodically one of the
better songs on the album - it starts out nicely with measured 4/4 chord
changes making for a good foundation for Corgan's vocals, and then mixes
things up just enough to make the song intriguing.
"Try Try Try" is Track 6, and it's another one of the disc's highlights,
beginning with another cool intro and more of a pop sound. The lyrics on
Try Try Try are quite colorful, and in the mix is what sounds like plucked
violin strings - oddly enough, except for Corgan's distinctive voice, this
is a tune that might have been heard on a mid-'80's Spandau Ballet album.
By Track 7, MACHINA takes a bit of a turn. "Heavy Metal Machine" lives
up to the song title, indeed with its chugging guitar and bass - but is
this the Smashing Pumpkins or Metallica, and is Corgan mocking heavy metal
music, or wishing he was more "rock n' roll!"
"This Time" is Track 8, a wallpaper of a song with an average melody and
kind of banal lyrics, but Track 9 takes the disc on an upswing again as the
tune kicks off with just guitar and drums, heavy on the fuzz box and heavy
on the kick drum - it's a slightly different sound for the band, and a good
one.
Unfortunately, the disc continues its uneven swing with Track 10, "Glass
and the Ghost Children" - guitarist James Iha gets some interesting guitar
textures on the beginning of this one, somewhere between the garage and
U2's The Edge - but, in the end, the tune ends up just being another
typical (and much too long) Pumpkins epic.
Track 11, "Wound," cruises right on by with nary a wave, and, by Track 12,
the slow, dirge-like "The Crying Tree of Mercury," you're almost asking if
the album is over yet... so thank goodness for Track 13, "With Every Light"
- with it's strong, hopeful sounding melody and faint keyboard line in the
background, it's practically a singalong for the Pumpkins.
Track 14 swerves downward once again, with "Blue Skies Bring Tears," and
the album wraps up with Track 15, "Age of Innocence," a song more
reminiscent of the band's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness sound,
ending with the repeated refrain, "desolation yes, hesitation no,
desolation yes, hesitation no..."
All in all, MACHINA... is a good, not great, Smashing Pumpkins album. It's
not particularly adventurous or groundbreaking, but more typical of the
Pumpkins' earlier work, which is perhaps the problem with the disc - it's
typical.
As mentioned earlier, the Pumpkins have a very distinctive sound - you can
always tell a Pumpkins tune from everything else on the radio, which is in
part a good thing, but which also, as of late, seems to be limiting the
band as they stubbornly stick to what they know.
With the addition of Hole's Auf Der Maur to the band, perhaps the infusion
of outside talent will help the group branch out into a new sonic direction
- if not, loyal, long-time Pumpkins fans will probably be happy, but the
rest of us will be looking to the next crop of Pumpkins-influenced rockers
for something fresh and new.
