Smashing Pumpkins
Tarantula

the album is going to be a further testament as to why once-great bands should leave their legacy intact and not reform. (hello The Verve if you are reading this)

and the album is their 3rd 6/10 album in a row, BUT like both 'Adore' and 'Machina' it has moments that really do grab you and make it all worth it.

I stand by my 6/10 review of 'Adore'. It has about 6 memorable songs and the rest electronic rock dirges.

it irony rite?

that's a fucking AWFUL cover.

And the one for the album's even worse.

Nice one, Billy. Nice one, son.

this is a great review of a shitty review. whay can't people get the fact that the pumpkins always has been Billy and Jimmy. No-one else added anything else, bar some shitty b-sides.

Great song, decent album. I for one am happy. The rest of you can get stuffed!!!

I mean

god bless guitarists in big capes.

...

take. me. down.

mayonaise - okay, that counts. soma too. I am one is not exactly a standout pumpkins track is it, and hes put his name to what, ten more, in the pumpkins back catalogue of well over 100 released tracks?

i'm not trying to say Iha is worthless, far from it, just that the core of the pumpkins is and always has been billy and jimmy.

i don't get how people don't get so upset about other bands that continue or reform, without original members. why the fuck wasn't there uproar about the who headlining glastonburty with only 2 founding members playing.

fucking same-old corgan bashing, thats what is is.

I think it's not a great single because there are better tracks on the album, simple as that. But like so many people you spend half the review attacking the circumstances of the reunion rather than the actual music. It's a strong track, if not their best, and I really believe if the line-up was still shrouded in secrecy, you wouldn't guess that the rest of the Pumpkins weren't on board. "The vocals are trying too hard to sound like Pumpkins vocals" – what does this even mean? The guy is trying to sound like himself?

Stinks, i heard it yesterday. Its rigth up their with Zwan and his solo lp!

the circumstances of the reunion matter hugely, and impact on how the music will be received, but fair dos if you think I went a bit OTT on it. The vocals comment I stand by, though, and did at least try to explain it in the piece - Corgan smothers them in reverb yet again, rather than trying something new. But I do take your point - his voice is a tricky badger, and might sound odd without some sort of effect on it. I'd just like to see some invention, that's all, because without it, this song sounds lumpen.

but I did trash his solo album on here.

Incorporated in one man. Has anyone pulled out their copy of Mellon Collie lately? Their fucking *double* album of Mellon Collie? Had a close look at the lyrics to the one tolerable song (1979) on it? Do the lyrics mean sweet mary fuck all to you? If so, then congratulations: you, sir, are a Smashing Pumpkins fan, and I hope someone pisses into your mouth as you sit in your new Mustang convertible, howling out the words to this new grab-asstic single.

Rich heritage of music? Yep. Right next to Soul Asylum on the "essential 90s!" compilation.

It's good. Not great, but good. Certainly a lot better than Machina and in a different stratosphere to Zwan and his solo LP.

are a twat

That Tarantula video kind of proves the original reviewer's point rather than yours... This all seems far too brazen and calculated to be a "reunion." Jimmy Chamberlin has played on every album Corgan has put out since 1999 - so in what way are they "reuniting?"

... because it was good.

Not THAT good, in hindsight, but not as terrible as revisionists now make out.

As to the 'Tarantula' review, are you listening to the same song? On this and every other song on the new album, Corgan's vocals are way more prominent in the mix - and that's not a good thing. They sound horrible.

It stands up to repeated listening and it´s a hell of a lot better than the vast majority of sub indie wankery and elitist poseurs. 7 Shades of Black shouldve been the single though.

1. "the pumpkins always has been Billy and Jimmy"

If you discount the fact the band was started by Billy and James, who added D'Arcy and a drum machine before later recruiting Jimmy.

And the fact that James appeared on all of their pre-reformation releases while Jimmy was absent from Adore and 'The End Is The Beginning Is The End'.

And the fact that when Jimmy got into trouble, Billy let him go. When D'Arcy wanted out, Billy let her go. When James wanted out, Billy had to split up the band:

http://billycorgan.livejournal.com/2004/02/17/

2. "No-one else added anything else, bar some shitty b-sides."

As someone else mentioned, Iha co-wrote 'Mayonaise', 'Soma' and 'I Am One' - recognised as some of their greatest songs. He also wrote a number of songs - 'Take Me Down' was not a "shitty b-side", nor was 'Go' (Mellon Collie and Machina II). That his songs were often regulated to b-sides is not a reflection on the quality of the songs - songs such as 'The Boy', '...Said Sadly' and 'Blew Away' are pretty damn great.

You can have a differing opinion on the music itself, but at least do some fact checking on the rest of it.