Jump to content

PO: Smashing Pumpkins - ATUM


beags
 Share

Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, youspinmeround said:

Act 1 is out.

 

Don't see me listening to this ever again. Billy continues down the same synth pop/80s sounding

 

It makes me sad with every new Pumpkins release that Jimmy is still in the band. His talent continues to be wasted

I definitely long for more guitars and less synths, but I will say I actually had a surprisingly positive impression when I listened to the first 7 songs in the car this morning. Noticed some pretty nice drum fills and thankfully way more guitars than "Cyr." And while one of the lighter tracks, "Embracer" stuck with me more than any Pumpkins song has in a decade. I won't buy the vinyl until I hear all 33 tracks, but it's a possible purchase.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Alan P said:

Oops, well I hadn't listened to "Hooray!" until just now and holy crap that is the worst SP song ever. 🤮

I’ve heard it’s a character piece, which is why it’s so wacky.  
 

But, this goes back to just how difficult it is to write a concept album, that tells a story, but is still good enough to stand on its own as pop music.  If the songs aren’t strong enough, then the story better be captivating.  And so far it’s not.

 

It reminds me of stuff like The Dear Hunter where some of those Act songs, while they serve the story well, are immediate skips because they just aren’t good songs.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hooray! is revolting.

This might be the first SP album I don't buy. There are some moments that might be brilliant, I like Steps in Time quite a bit. The pervasive overuse of synths and electronic drums is frustrating enough, but the musical theater/Disney soundtrack aspect to this whole thing is just so off-putting, I can't do it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like this record more every time I listen to it.

The last two tracks are are the weakest of the lot for me, but the album definitely leaves me wanting more. So I am excited about the other two Acts. Additionally, I feel like this release, on top of the other Shiny O' so bright stuff, has left me feeling very happy with what they've released the last few years.

When they broke up, I thought that was gonna be it. And as many misses are there have been since their reformation, it's great being able to see them live, it's great hearing newer songs like With Sympathy, Purple Blood, Save your tears, Schadenfreud, Butterfly suite that have really resonated with me and are just a bonus.  not to mention oceania, and some stuff on Monuments. I think in time, people will once again give these albums due credit much like Zeitgeist receives these days.

I saw them live last week and this band is essentially a different band. It sucks that the new songs don't feel as dynamic anymore, and that Jimmy feels under utilized lately. But that just makes me appreciate what we got back then. I still really enjoy this new stuff because I go into it not knowing what to expect. 

 

I haven't posted on the board in forever, but I feel like maybe others feel the same way I do regarding their new music. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, Ryan8765 said:

I think in time, people will once again give these albums due credit much like Zeitgeist receives these days.

 

I haven't seen any praise for Zeitgeist.  Sadly it's better than this recent stuff. I would rank Oceania as their best of the sp era 2.0

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oceania is in my top 5 Corgan albums ever. And I think the only reason Zeitgeist is getting talked about (more) is because Billy pulled it from streaming, so there is mystery tied to it (but it still sucks). I do think act 1 of ATUM is decent and I am optimistic for acts 2 and 3. Seeing them live recently, while not great, did reignite my interest and been listening to the Pumpkins a lot more the last few weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’d love to see a reissue of Zeitgeist, preferably with a new mix and master to make it sound less compressed. There are some really good songs on there, and nothing really bad, I just find the production awfully hard to listen to. I’m a big fan of the bonus tracks, Ma Belle and Stellar in particular. You can really hear the creative dynamic between Billy and Jimmy in those songs, which sadly still seems to be absent somehow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/24/2022 at 6:38 AM, Ryan8765 said:

I like this record more every time I listen to it.

The last two tracks are are the weakest of the lot for me, but the album definitely leaves me wanting more. So I am excited about the other two Acts. Additionally, I feel like this release, on top of the other Shiny O' so bright stuff, has left me feeling very happy with what they've released the last few years.

When they broke up, I thought that was gonna be it. And as many misses are there have been since their reformation, it's great being able to see them live, it's great hearing newer songs like With Sympathy, Purple Blood, Save your tears, Schadenfreud, Butterfly suite that have really resonated with me and are just a bonus.  not to mention oceania, and some stuff on Monuments. I think in time, people will once again give these albums due credit much like Zeitgeist receives these days.

I saw them live last week and this band is essentially a different band. It sucks that the new songs don't feel as dynamic anymore, and that Jimmy feels under utilized lately. But that just makes me appreciate what we got back then. I still really enjoy this new stuff because I go into it not knowing what to expect. 

 

I haven't posted on the board in forever, but I feel like maybe others feel the same way I do regarding their new music. 

Have you given The Gold Mask time to sink in? I genuinely think it's the best track on the album, with Steps in Time a close 2nd.

 

Overall though, this was a polarising listen track by track on the podcast. I can honestly say, this is my favourite SP album since Machina though. It's everything I wanted Cyr to be, it has far more life to it. Yes, it still feels very much like Corgan is pulling literally every string here and Jimmy and James are there to pose for photos and collect their weekly pay cheque, but this is the most coherent collection of songs he's put out for a very long time imo.

 

I totally get that people don't dig what he's doing with the synth-y thing and that's totally understandable, but I think it's unrealistic to think he's going to release Siamese Dream or MCIS 2.0 at this point. All you can do is take or leave what he's putting out, but personally I've got incredibly high hopes for acts 2 and 3 based on what i've heard from act 1 and from the live performances of other tracks. Especially keen to see what the two 8min+ tracks sound like, he's got a good track record with those.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/23/2022 at 3:15 PM, youspinmeround said:

I haven't seen any praise for Zeitgeist.  Sadly it's better than this recent stuff. I would rank Oceania as their best of the sp era 2.0

Absolutely agree.  Oceania is a very solid album.  It actually sounds like the Pumpkins that made all their 90s material so good.  While I understand the desire for artists to "evolve", to me this seems like there's just nothing in it for me to connect with.  And for crying out loud... why in the world is Jimmy's amazing drum talent being wasted album after album if he's back in the band?  Unless I'm missing something, has there even been a classic Jimmy drum track in any of the new material?  The kid in Oceania did about as good of a Jimmy impression with his drum work on that album than I think anyone could ever do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love Oceania. I even like it a bit more than Machina because it has such a well-constructed flow. The band was in a good creative groove for a moment there, too bad it fizzled out so quickly. I like most of Monuments (Tiberius is classic SP in my book), but being so short it really suffers from the weaker tracks (Run 2 Me? Oof…).

The whole artistic evolution thing is so tough, and as an artistic person myself, I can totally sympathize with musicians trying to navigate that. If I ever made anything half as successful as MCIS, I know it would seriously disrupt my ability to continue producing art that is genuine to myself and my interests, but also speak to whomever loved what I did before. As a listener, I welcome bands trying to move their sound forward, even if doesn’t always work, I find that to be more interesting than repeating what already works. With ATUM, Corgan seems to be digging into the more flamboyant side of his musical tastes, and he’s not pandering to his older fans (with the music itself at least, trying to tack this album on to his previous work by declaring it a sequel is questionable at best), which I can appreciate. What I struggle with is that he’s steering head-first into a musical aesthetic that I just don’t connect with at all. I’m not mad about that. I’m not about to rejoin Netphoria and make a hobby out of hating Billy, that’s pretty soulless. But I also think it’s good to thoughtfully critique things, and I agree that the way Jimmy is seemingly being constrained in these newer albums is hard to reconcile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Anyone had a chance to listen to the vinyl yet? I got over my initial frustrations and ended up preordering the standard version. To my surprise, I‘ve come around to the album. There are still plenty of choices I‘m not thrilled about, but I‘ve found it surprisingly enjoyable to listen to, especially with the LP format dividing things up into chunks. There is some really great stuff in here, especially some of the mellower, mid-paced stuff that didn‘t click at first.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I almost cancelled my order a few times based on the streaming version. For whatever reason, once I played through the actual records I felt much differently. The sound feels a lot more natural in this format, which helps a lot. I guess the biggest surprise for me is that even at its gargantuan length, it somehow keeps me wanting to listen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/7/2023 at 2:52 PM, bjorn said:

Anyone had a chance to listen to the vinyl yet? I got over my initial frustrations and ended up preordering the standard version. To my surprise, I‘ve come around to the album. There are still plenty of choices I‘m not thrilled about, but I‘ve found it surprisingly enjoyable to listen to, especially with the LP format dividing things up into chunks. There is some really great stuff in here, especially some of the mellower, mid-paced stuff that didn‘t click at first.

I listened to it this weekend.  Although it was a bit dirty, the vinyl sounds good.  The packaging is nice but I am bummed the CD got a lyric book but the vinyl set didn’t.  But the vinyl did get the Act I spoken story which I heard is super cool (haven’t listened yet).
 

It seems this album is still divisive, but I love it.   SP seem to be unable to get out from under their own expectations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, bjorn said:

spacer.png

Now I really want to hear these. Others have said they sound a lot different, but I guess no one around here bought the box?

I was about to pull the trigger on it and it sold out.  
 

There are some clips on the SP subreddit if you want samples of the songs.  It’s very 60s psychedelic, like flower power stuff.  Live drums, Rhodes, mellotron.  Sounds kinda like the Teargarden era stuff but better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×

AdBlock Detected

spacer.png

We noticed that you're using an adBlocker

Yes, I'll whitelist