Whilst I have never been so blinded by fandom that I have failed to see Billy Corgan’s myriad flaws, I maintain the belief that the Smashing Pumpkins represent one of the most ambitious bands to have come out of that whole nineties alternative scene. Whilst both ‘Gish’ and the insanely huge ‘Siamese dream’ might have catapulted the Pumpkins to fame, it was the overwrought epic that was ‘Mellon collie and the infinite sadness’ that truly suckered me in. It remains one of rock’s longest records. At two full CDs in length it dwarfs Pink Floyd’s ‘the wall’ (a meagre 90 minutes) and offers up such a mesmerising kaleidoscope of sounds that one hardly knows where to begin when discussing it. It should have made the Pumpkins the biggest band in the world, but instead the band snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Overdoses and dismissals dogged the tour that should, by rights, have been a celebration, and a worn out Corgan declared that rock was dead, put on a dress and started creating bleak, heavily synth-orientated music that gave Depeche Mode’s ‘exciter’ a run for its money in terms of shiny goth-infused electro-pop. ‘Adore’ was (and remains) a brilliant album, but from then on the Pumpkins were a divided force. By ‘Machina’, D’arcy had left and the band had seemingly run their course, calling it quits in typically contrary fashion by releasing ‘Machina II’, arguably a better record than its parent album, under the very noses of their record label.
With James and D’Arcy both absent from the reunion, critics felt that the renewed Pumpkins shouldn’t work, but ‘Zeitgeist’ turned out to be a decent record and the tour that followed was monumental. A reinstated Jimmy proved once more to be one of rock’s most powerful drummers and the band went out on stage with all guns blazing, levelling audiences with huge, sweeping prog epics and feral blasts from the band’s impressive back catalogue. It was not to last, however, and with Jimmy having departed the fold Billy then commenced on the most ambitious undertaking of his (or, arguably, any artist’s) career – ‘Teargarden by Kaleidyscope’, an album and EP cycle that has, to date, taken in three Eps; the band’s last full-length album, ‘Oceana’ and now ‘monuments to an elegy’. With such a massive project it was inevitable that the quality would be variable, but with Tommy Lee on drums for the latest outing, hopes were high for another great Smashing Pumpkins rock record and so it proves, with Billy reminding the world exactly why the Pumpkins have proved so enduring.
Opening with ‘Tiberius’ the signs are good. A brief, quiet guitar figure leads headlong into a huge distorted guitar riff overlaid with Billy’s trademark swirling vocals. It is a more urgent Pumpkins that we find in 2014, a band grasping the opportunity to rock out in the face of adversity, and Billy’s grasp of melodies remains undiminished as does his ability to pen an epic riff. Indeed, if ‘Tiberius’ harks back to anything, it is all the way back to ‘Siamese dream’ with its ethereal backing vocals and short, almost pop song structure. In contrast ‘being beige’ sits in ‘mellon collie’ territory with its wild mood swings from rim shots and picked guitar to huge, surging riffs and crushing percussion. Tommy Lee performs with customary skill and, arguably, turns in one of his most varied performance son the record, underscoring a skill that is often overlooked amidst all the sordid tales of rock star shenanigans. The album continues to explore the Pumpkins’ varied history with the electro-stomp of ‘Anaise’, a throwback to the heavier elements of ‘adore’ complete with shimmering synths, processed drums and more than a hint of Fleetwood Mac in the melody. Another crunchy rock blast, ‘One and all’ kicks in with a startling degree of force after ‘Anaise’, and whilst Billy’s voice lacks the twisted snarl of, say, ‘zero’, the guitars fizz and sparkle with real energy.
Perhaps the most unexpected track on the album is the synth laden and heavily arpeggiated ‘Run2me’ which plays like a cross between a Pumpkins remix and U2. You can imagine it being a stadium filling anthem with its simple, effective chorus and you can’t help but wonder that it has been many a year since Billy set his sights so firmly on creating so grandiose an anthem. The flip side of such grandstanding is ‘drum and fife’, a less obvious song with a wondrous chorus and a massive drum sound that echoes around the track. It’s a lovely, prop-pop song with gently distorted guitars and plenty of the titular fife and it draws the line perfectly between Billy’s more whimsical side and the grittier edge of alternative rock. The song also offers the hopeful “I will bang this drum till my dying day”, a sentiment we can only hope reflects Billy’s desire to continue making music in the coming years. A heavier beast, ‘Monuments’ with its cheesy synth sounds and grinding riffs is a great track slightly hampered by a dense production job that gives the track a claustrophobic feel despite the guitars being set to stun. It’s the sort of song destined to come to life in the live environment, when the synth lines will hopefully be pared back and the guitars bought more heavily to the fore. The next track up speaks volumes about Billy’s love for Depeche Mode and even the title, ‘Dorian’ feels like it belongs to Martin Gore et al. Driven by a pumping beat and with a melody straight out of ‘playing the angel’, ‘Dorian’ is a fine slab of retro-styled synth-pop that will do little to sate the depraved appetites of hard rock fans but which will certainly appeal to those who believe that variety has always been a key ingredient of the Pumpkins. The album ends with ‘Anti-hero’, a taut slab of Pumpkins hard rock complete with chugging guitars and a satisfyingly wide-screen chorus. It provides a satisfying conclusion to an album that is not afraid to engage with a good deal of Pumpkins history over its comparatively short run time.
In many ways ‘Monuments to an elegy’ is the album that the Smashing Pumpkins should have made after ‘Mellon collie’ as it would have provided the perfect bridge between that album’s melodramatic outpourings and the more muted palette of ‘adore’. Tracks like ‘Dorian’ and ‘run2me’ could easily be inserted into the latter album whilst the rockier numbers show that Billy can still work his way around an almighty riff when the mood takes him. The addition of Tommy Lee on drums has less of an impact that one might imagine and whilst his performance is ubiquitously excellent, you’d be hard pressed to say “check this out, that’s the guy from Motley Crue right there!” Whilst ‘Monuments to an elegy’ is unlikely to win the band any new fans, there is no question that Billy’s intuitive grasp of technology in the studio and his seemingly immutable gift for crafting songs with big guitars and even bigger melodies has allowed him to craft what is arguably the most satisfying Pumpkins album since ‘adore’. A short, sweet collection of songs ‘monuments to an elegy’ serves as the perfect counterpoint to ‘Oceana’ with its lengthy progressive epics, and it highlights once more that Billy and co. still have plenty to offer. It seems all too easy for some sections of the press to laugh at Billy Corgan, but for me the defining quality that the man brings to the table time and again is his ability to concoct the craziest artistic ideas and see them through. To my knowledge few contemporary musicians have attempted anything on the scale of ‘Teargarden…’ and the fact that Billy is not only attempting it, but that it is also a largely impressive body of work is surely worthy of respect. However you choose to view the larger context in which it was conceived, ‘monuments to an elegy’ is a fine album and a perfect balance of electronic and hard rock.
