Smashing Pumpkins name the new album Zeitgeist, set 7/7/07 release date

better hurry up and find those other two members billy, or july 7 ain't looking too good!

Thanks to everyone who has sent in artwork.
You are brilliant!
Love, jc. "

(Frankly I would love to write the Ultimate Pumpkins Biography, in the understanding that I would include everything and Billy would have no say over the final contents. This being the case it'll never happen.)

And according to one of my friends who's from Chicago, Corgan and Chamberlain have been seen practicing with a couple of nobodies from local bands (apparently decent local bands, though). Take that as you will.

I like the sound of that. As long as there's 750 layers of distorted guitars with some e-bows and stuff, I'm content.

xpost

rip off

I kinda remember this! I just thought he was slightly insane.

Though now that I think about it, didn't the liner notes for Pisces Iscariot end with '2007' rather than 1994?

-- Ned Raggett (ne...), February 8th, 2007.

and frankly, i'd LOVE to read it! there's so much that's been swept under the SP rug, esp. billy+jimmy's rampant drug useage during the 90-95 days! and billy's crazed marriage thing. the CL thing.

and yes, PI had the 2007 mentioned. it's in reference to when Virgin's contract expries, and also it's been vaguely/allegedly the year of Armeggedon. again. isn't that EVERY year, tho?

also, wasn't whatsername, that photographer, supposed to be his soulmate?

Funnily enough, to me Adore sounds like the closest thing to a Billy Corgan solo album that the Pumpkins ever released!

yeah, right. i doubt it. the way he's held a lot of stuff so long, i doubt it very much. unless he starts runnin dry in the ol' account. then, we'll see deelux Gish/SD/maybe even MCIS. maybe. i'd be content w/ a very comprehensive b-sides comp.
aside from the one my friends and i made from collecting over the years.

ahh, the fabled Chris Fabian, BC's first wifey. oddly, there seems to be little to no info on her. she's been shielded from the public eye pretty well! yeah, BC cheated on her w/ no less than 2 confirmed peeps (Yelena Yemchuck, and CL AGAIN!), and then she dropped him. understandbly, and i hope she got him for a pretty large amount!
she put up w/ his worst time period and probably got treated as such.
YY's such a dog, tho. makes CL almost look good.
i thought he was about to be a daddy or some shit?

The full track has been played on KROQ and it's very impressive, IMHO.

They didn't mix Billy's voice very well. It sounds too dry. Song's good, though!

http://www.spinner.com/2007/05/18/new-music-tarantula-by-smashing-pumpkins/

now song is great till it gets to the chorus. then i shut it off and pretend it never happened.

NEW song ^^

I jumped the gun by calling this song "good." It is more just... there.

I still like it, sorry :-( Even the bits that sound like they were influenced by Guns 'n Roses :-)

So how exactly is this album going to be any different than Zwan with a different rhythm guitar and bass? Nevertheless I'm looking forward to it.

So how exactly is this album going to be any different than Zwan with a different rhythm guitar and bass?

sales figures

Biblically the number 7 signifies "Divine Completeness" or some such crap, so for him to release it on the 7/7/07 seems to sit well with all the Armageddon references.

Divine crapness

They didn't mix Billy's voice very well. It sounds too dry. Song's good, though!

OTM. This is much better than I expected it to be. There was something kinda cool about hearing all these excited kids calling in to Q101 and requesting it all weekend. Half the callers I heard had to have been, like, 8 when Mellon Collie was huge.

just tried to give it another shot.

once again, i got to the chorus and clicked the x.

not as bad as i expected or as it could've been.
not great, but not terrible.
but,i'm biased.

It could be worse:

· Panic! at the Disco: "Tonight, Tonight"
· (+44): "I Am One"
· The Academy Is ... : "Mayonaise"
· Deftones: "Siva"
· 30 Seconds to Mars: (track TBD)
· The Bravery: "Rocket"
· Young Love: "1979"
· The New Amsterdams: "Thirty-Three"
· Test Your Reflex: "Ava Adore"
· Ben Kweller: "Today"
· Hawthorne Heights: "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
· Gliss: "Rhinoceros"

(And by that I don't mean the tribute could be worse, as a song or two aside this looks utterly terrible.)

What record stores are going to stock this on a Saturday, and how is that going to work distribution-wise? Are they going to get it on Tuesday and just hold it until then? Bill Corgan, you so crazy.

i think it got pushed to the 10th now.
dunno where i saw that...

Yeah, it says the 10th on the band's site now. Apparently Billy failed to look at a calendar until a couple weeks ago.

wow that tribute is a perfect storm of shit! press 5 if you've seen the panic at the disco tonight tonight live!!!

55555 btw!!

this song is total crap except for the unexpected change at 3 minutes...which lasts all of a few seconds.

that tribute looks marginally better than the Cleopatra tribute (which I haven't heard, but, you know, I don't think I have to to know how it sounds)

http://i11.tinypic.com/4qs7zx1.jpg

3 hour show in Paris last night - new members: rumours were correct: Ginger Reyes & Jeff Shroeder. Setlist on the freshly updated official site here: http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/photos_138

a number of cell phone clips are on Youtube as well, btw.

for what it's worth — which maybe is nothing? — new members both have long histories in christian rock. jeff schroeder was the bass player for the groups the violet burning and the lassie foundation and was a touring bassist for the prayer chain, and ginger reyes was in a (really awful) female punk band called the halo friendlies. it's weird to me that corgan ever would have met them, since i don't think they've gigged much outside that scene, but there you have it.

lassie foundation & halo friendlies were christian rock? wtf?

My god, I NEVER thought I'd hear about the Prayer Chain again.

A genuine Piphany! (however, you did write god with a small G, so maybe not)

<i>lassie foundation & halo friendlies were christian rock? wtf?</i>

yeah. lassie was actually 95% of the prayer chain, just minus the singer.

two guys from lassie foundation were in the prayer chain, I think. not schroeder though. i don't remember ever hearing that lassie foundation were a christian band (and the picture of them on wikipedia, for instance, playing under a 'salvation' sign....is from the silverlake lounge, where the sign is part of the stage, not something they brought along). i could be wrong though. anyway, they were rubbish, but maybe he'll be good in the pumpkins, dunno.

they had a strange relationship — they were one of those bands who tried to distance themselves from their christian rock past, but a majority of the people who heard about them or talked them up were only interested in them because of said past. i have vague memories of them playing festivals like Cornerstone, but can find no corroborating evidence. i know they released their first record on the christian label velvet blue, so there's that.

like velour100 then, I guess

Billy Corgan no longer has gravel in his voice. I liked the way he sang in the 90's a lot better, but immediately after Machina he started doing this new way of singing that I just don't like as much. The aggressive rockness of "Tarantula" seems like it should have been enough to get Bolly back into singing with some balls, but unfortunately that's not what happened.

yeah every time I hear the new song I'm racking my brain to figure out what's wrong with the vocals and how it's different from the way he used to sing, and you just articulated it.

Wow. Some of you guys know way too much about christian rock! (but thanks for the info)

at least they still play silverfuck live

OK, only one song in to the Paris bootleg, but "United States" is *great*. Or, at least much, much bette than I'd been expecting. I just read somewhere that tickets from touts were only about 40 euros, which makes me wish I'd thought to get the Eurostar...

bothered.

There are (fast) torrents around of the recent shows. All I care about at this point is how they're playing Silverfuck. The answer: for the first half, straight. Like the same as the recorded version on Siamese Dream. Then he sings The Doors' 'The End' over the quiet center section. Yeah. His voice sounds surprisingly unshitty on it. And then it fades. Huh.

I was told that they stank at Primavera, but this 4 versions of the album deal seems really shitty.

ah what do I care anyway

Making fans who've been waiting the better part of a decade for new Smashing Pumpkins tunes buy an album several times over is, you know, bullshit.

So is pretending that anyone other than Ned (if even he) would actually buy all four versions instead of just grabbing one of them and, you know, downloading the other bonus tracks on the net. Def Leppard did the same thing with their last record, and I'm not even convinced that this kind of thing is ever the band's idea.

it's kinda funny the title track is a non-album bonus track.

Ned (if even he)

Not even me.

If the "title track" isn't even intended to be part of the album proper anyway I don't what the big deal is, but GOD FORBID some OCD motherfucker who has to have it because it's TEH TITLE TRACK must shop at Target to get it. It's not such a bad store. At least it's not Wal-mart.

Non-story of the year.

In other news, The Reivers reform and release an album called "Sledgehammer Calabash."

so...this album blows.

In other news, The Reivers reform and release an album called "Sledgehammer Calabash."

Seriously? I'd like to hear that. Great band.

As for Zeitgeist, I'll hear it when I do but I think this is the first time since...Christ, since Gish, I guess, that I don't go out and get a Corgan-related thing the first day it's on sale.

Heard the new single on myspace. I'm a big fan, but I'm not so into it.

Spencer I was going to ask you something music-related and it's bugging me I can't remember what it is. (Not Daft Punk, I saw the thread revive.) It'll come to me.

i've been listening to the live recording of the first paris show, and i think all the new songs are fantastic... it's possible that i'm simply blinded by my love for the pumpkins, but i loved tarantula the first time i heard it, and i think doomsday clock is also fantastically awesome. the live version of shame at the paris show totally made me appreciate that song in a way i never have before (i never used to like it at all).

but billy is a madman.

the live version of shame at the paris show totally made me appreciate that song in a way i never have before (i never used to like it at all).

That is seriously one of my favorite songs he's ever done, because it's so deft, quiet and still. A new arrangement of that would be interesting (live on the Adore tour it sounded forced).

i'm not sure where you can get the bootleg audio of the paris show. a friend downloaded it for me. but i'm sure someone here knows where to get it from, or i can try to find out for you. it really is a beautiful performance of shame. despite what others have mentioned about the change in billy's voice, i think it sounds better than it ever has.

my buddies went to the Asheville, NC shows (3 of em) and tell me all is well in Pumpkinland. the new songs will be only 'ok' but hey, that's better than what i was expecting.
album's sounding merely that, ok. United States= the best song.

the new video for tarantula is pretty disappointing. who directed it?

Theres a new song on the transformers soundtrack.

"The End is the Middle is the Reverse"

"Eye (More Than Meets The Remix)"

Oh snap, it's the 10 year anniversary of the summer both of those songs were on the radio. How convenient.

holy crap

Long overdue (but this format is the best way to release it these days).

wait, so how much is iTunes selling that for? I totally want that.

Ned listen to Zeitgeist so I don't have to
(or alternately might, if it's good and you convince me)

First I need to get it. Which I'm honestly not in a rush to do.

it's poopy.
really poopy.

and i even liked machina!

yikes

someone was telling me the drums aren't even that good

From a friend/fellow SP addict:

The mixing and production are weird. I remember the bit about his voice being as flat as a pancake, but I am not sure that would be my observation/complaint. At times his voice is really, really clear and kind of drowns out the music actually. There is something very plain about the music to me. I mean, the music could really be almost any generic band. There is nothing particularly Pumpkins-ish about it, some of the songs could be Linkin Park with Billy singing instead.

He says it improves with relistening. I'd say given that description it would almost have to.

It's really bad. And I am a forgiving dude.

Yeah, I liked SP in the 90s as much as or more than a lot of 90s alt-rock bands I've bought albums by this year (NIN, Dinosaur Jr., They Might Be Giants, Sloan), but I really have zero desire to hear this album.

It's actually not as bad as all that, actually a couple of sweet tracks on here ("7 Shades of Black", "Tarantula", perhaps others, etc).

But I wouldn't buy it

Some unintentional hilarity via a myspace bulletin:

---

Date: Jul 13, 2007 4:23 PM

Subject: SP looking for girls from the Siamese Dream album cover

Body: There's no one better to ask than the super fans themselves! We are trying to locate the girls that adorn the cover of Siamese Dream. As you all know, they were quite young when the photo was taken. They are not conjoined anymore, as far as we know.

Any one with info on this, please spread the word and send an email to w✧✧@smashingpumpk✧✧✧.c✧✧ if you have any leads.

Thanks super fans!
---

Now correct me if I am wrong but I believe said girls are relatives of Darcy's. I guess Billy *really* doesn't want to talk to her any more.

The new album really isn't as bad as I'd been hearing. Get rid of those dumb upbeat ones near the end, as well as "Starz" and "For God and Country", give it a better mix with less prominent BILLY everywhere and put in that 20-minute one they've been playing live and it would have been improved about 75%.

does all this negative stuff mean that even though i *think* i love the album now, in 6 months time i'm going to realise it's not good at all??? (this happened with zwan.)

i really like 'bleeding the orchid' and 'doomsday clock'. but i lack any degree of objectivity.

Simon all kinds of OTM, pretty much exactly what I've been saying. Fixing the mix and throwing "Gossamer" on there would make it about 10x better.

"Tarantula" is really good. The lead guitar tones are really cutting on this album. Sounds like they might be taking some cues from MCR and AFI, obv a good thing.

Taking cues from your own descendants = not *always* a good thing.

But taking cues from MCR really, really completes the circle don't you think?

Now Corgan and Way are one ...

I was listening to this in my pumpkins-loving friend's car, and they kept being like, "hey, that's from a Rush song -- hey, that's from a Black Sabbath song -- hey, that's from a Queen song." I mean, there is homage, and then there is just taking bits straight from "YYZ!"

a perfect circle (xpost)

i've never been into these dudes but tarantula is tyte at least musically, singing is ok i guess, i am curious abt more of their stuff now~

this album still blows

the production on "Tarantula" is horrible.

whatever nerds

Always rather disliked this band.

the production on "Tarantula" is horrible.
-- Curt1s Stephens, Thursday, 2 August 2007 21:00 (Yesterday) Link

i think Curt1s nailed it - personally i think about 1/2 of the songs on Zeitgeist are passably good to great, but the production on this album is awful, especially in light of Machina which was soul-crushingly layered and brilliant production-wise on tracks like "the sacred and profane" and "age of innocence"

Mojo's named it worst album cover the year so far.

I like the album art. It just seems somehow inappropriate for a Smashing Pumpkins album cover. It probably would have worked for Rage Against the Machine or something.

"If you're on mushrooms, this song will sound really good," said Billy Corgan, before launching into "Starla" at the Virgin Festival.

from here.

Uh... right.

http://www.blackpitchpress.com/billycorgan/20050729_13_27_20_comic.gif

It should be pointed out that drummer Jimmy Chamberlin is a machine on the kit. There's no drum roll too fast or complicated for him and he provided a solid backbone for the performance.

Word. Have to respect the catalogue.

this is like the Kingdom Come of 00 rawk albums or something, isn't it?

it could have been so much worse, really. it isn't so horrid that i wanna sell my promo copy or anything. "tarantula" is fun, you know?

Q: If you could have any artist living or dead covering one your songs, which artist and which song?

Billy Corgan: I would choose the as-yet unreleased version of "Gossamer" to be covered by Bach.

From You Tube / Smashing Pumpkins Q&A apparently modeled after presidential debates - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44C9Eh03Mmo

Well, they've captured the Zeitgeist in a sense. No one gives a fuck about 'em.

corgan must be living in a permanent time-trip or something. how can he expect all the same people who were enthused by his work in the mid-90s to sit up and take note now? sorry billy, if you want to do this thing you've got to appeal to new audiences. you can't expect to ride forever on the smashing pumpkins franchise.

Yeah, just ask George Lucas.

The SEVENth edition has been released in an attempt to speed up the already fast approaching death of the record industry, no doubt:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeitgeist_%28Smashing_Pumpkins_album%29#Alternate_versions_and_controversy

uh. i still like this band. in fact i'm catching the Austin and Dallas shows this weekend.

...anyone else seen SP on the new tour?

*crickets*

I've heard good things about the recent shows, but until Billy pulls his head out of his ass and schedules a hometown show I'm not going to go out of my way to see this incarnation. And, honestly, I'm about thisclose to saying to hell with the band after all this re-re-releasing of Zeitgeist bullshit. Keep in mind, from about 1992-2002 I would have considered myself a hardcore Pumpkins fan.

Looking at all the covers next to each other is actually quite pretty. It's like a rainbow of Billy.

I LIVE IN ASHEVILLE NC AND I DO NOT KNOW ANYONE WHO WENT TO ANY OF THEIR 84 SHOWS BACK IN JULY

i know a lot of people who did

i know someone who went to all, what, 10-12 of em?

anybody heard this? i didn't even know it existed until today.

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/shorttakes/

I've heard it, its actually not bad. Better than 90% of Zeitgeist anyway.

I thought it was dreadful.

whats it like

Seriously, fuck this band. I know this is kinda old news now, but I just found out how much they were charging.

The band finally plays the first Chicago area show since the reunion and what do we get?

a) It's in a casino in Hammond fucking Indiana.
b) $93 face value per ticket.

How many other bands treat their fans like complete shit?

No, see, they're treating you like royalty.

I wasn't really that excited to see the new band anyway, I'm just shocked at how horribly Corgan is treating his fans these days. Insane concert ticket prices, constantly reissuing the same album in different formats, etc. This is one band that should really be thankful for every fan they still have.

:/

'Have plans to start recording a new multi-year, multi-release concept album by the end of this year. It will be very trippy and hopefully unique, and we’ll probably keep putting out singles here.'

One of his more restrained outfits, I see:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/postrock/SmashingPumpkins-4925.jpg

So Billy sez no more old songs to be played live after this tour. No more promised Gish tour, or any album oriented tours after that. The planned archive-scraping box sets have been scrapped. All because whiny Billy doesn't like the crowd reaction to the current tour. As a slowly recovering die-hard Pumpkinhead, I sincerely say... fuck this band. I've never seen a person treat his loyal fans so poorly than Corgan has since the beginning of the "reunion".

I've never seen a person treat his loyal fans so poorly than Corgan has since the beginning of the "reunion".

he is very very very sensitive

you would be too if you were wearing that

Yeah, he's always been a prima donna, no doubt. But he used to be pretty cool about getting the music out to his fans. The free, internet distributed Machina II, "leaking" the Mashed Potatoes box, encouraging taping/sharing shows, etc. But now he's just getting worse and blaming it on the few fans left. Berating them for a chilly reception between songs on a tour that was promoted as "a celebration of 20 years of the Pumpkins", but has featured sets filled with lackluster new songs and go-nowhere jams? Releasing FOUR different versions of Zeitgeist with different songs on each and encouraging fans to buy them all in order to get the the "full" experience? Then shitting on those fans by releasing a deluxe version with them all anyway, six months later?

I'm more than happy to have gotten off the bus for some time now -- my suspicions that reviving the name would be a very bad idea have all come true.

http://www.testriffic.com/resultfiles/15043belle.jpg

Not sure it's a compliment... but can I just say the production/mastering on Zeitgeist sounds really great on cheap, Apple-brand iPod earbuds in the midst of a chatty office environment?