Ugly
04-05-2003, 07:08 PM
from Chartattack. B0lly is the picture of the week. (for one more day)
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http://www.chartattack.com/gallery/
<B>Billy Corgan Is Jesus</B>
<img src = "http://www.chartattack.com/gallery/20030331-zwan.jpg">
If that Mellon Collie album wasn't enough proof, this picture proves it. This photo was taken by super rock photog Richard Beland when Zwan performed in Toronto last week. To read a review of the show, click here.
Photo By Richard Beland.
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Here's the review. Not very nice.
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http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/2003/03/3111.cfm
LIVE: Zwan
Monday March 31, 2003 @ 05:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
Kool Haus
Toronto, Ontario
March 25, 2003
by Darrin Keene
With the glory days of the '90s now gone, the time has come to exhume the musical remains of those alt.rock years. Enter Billy Corgan, bald-headed statesman of the alt.rock generation, a veritable Captain Picard of the starship Zwan.
Zwan is yet another mutation of the rock super-group, this time an amalgamation of indie-rock and modern alternative figureheads. On guitar there's Corgan, he of Smashing Pumpkins fame, alongside college rock icons Matt Sweeney (formerly of Chavez and Skunk) and David Pajo (formerly of Tortoise and Slint). Behind them is the ever-reliable beat of Corgan's only competent former band mate, Jimmy Chamberlin. Finally, there's the bottom end of bassist Paz Lenchantin, she of A Perfect Circle fame.
One has to wonder what this band — a marked improvement from the original Pumpkins lineup — could do with Corgan's older compositions. Zwan's material is weak by comparison, lacking a Pumpkin-esque range of dynamics, although allowing ample room for Corgan and company to demonstrate their guitar-playing prowess. The average Zwan song is just that: merely average.
Mary, Star Of The Sea, the band's debut album, is an anti-climactic effort. Whereas Corgan would once milk the melodramatic chorus on songs like "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "Today," he now settles into a relaxed '70s-AM Radio vibe on tunes like "Endless Summer" and "Heartsong" or a mock new wave sound on tracks like "Settle Down" or "El Sol." Either that, or he and the rest of Zwan noodle around with extended songs like "Desire" or "Mary, Star Of The Sea," which lack the explosiveness of similar-minded Pumpkins tunes.
The resulting lack of spark was evident in Zwan's performance this past Tuesday at Toronto's Kool Haus. A packed crowd, comprising a significant older contingent that likely had seen Corgan and Chamberlin in their past gig, failed to respond to Zwan's best-laid efforts. The crowd gave significant attention to only a couple of songs: a competent cover of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down" and an energized version of "Jesus, I" (really the only Zwan song to pick up on the Pumpkins' bombast). For the most part, the band seemed to be noodling around in jam band fashion, cooking up a muddled stew of flashy solos, atmospheric effects and half-baked pop hooks.
Near the end of the show, the heckling started. "Play Rush! 'Tom Sawyer'!" yelled one boisterous individual, taking an obvious dig at the band's prog-rock pretensions. The band nonetheless came out for two encores, even though the crowd had fizzled to about half-capacity by the second. Given the meandering material, it was amazing that many stayed to bear out Corgan and company's masturbatory musical exercise.
--------
http://www.chartattack.com/gallery/
<B>Billy Corgan Is Jesus</B>
<img src = "http://www.chartattack.com/gallery/20030331-zwan.jpg">
If that Mellon Collie album wasn't enough proof, this picture proves it. This photo was taken by super rock photog Richard Beland when Zwan performed in Toronto last week. To read a review of the show, click here.
Photo By Richard Beland.
-----------------
Here's the review. Not very nice.
---------------------------
http://www.chartattack.com/DAMN/2003/03/3111.cfm
LIVE: Zwan
Monday March 31, 2003 @ 05:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
Kool Haus
Toronto, Ontario
March 25, 2003
by Darrin Keene
With the glory days of the '90s now gone, the time has come to exhume the musical remains of those alt.rock years. Enter Billy Corgan, bald-headed statesman of the alt.rock generation, a veritable Captain Picard of the starship Zwan.
Zwan is yet another mutation of the rock super-group, this time an amalgamation of indie-rock and modern alternative figureheads. On guitar there's Corgan, he of Smashing Pumpkins fame, alongside college rock icons Matt Sweeney (formerly of Chavez and Skunk) and David Pajo (formerly of Tortoise and Slint). Behind them is the ever-reliable beat of Corgan's only competent former band mate, Jimmy Chamberlin. Finally, there's the bottom end of bassist Paz Lenchantin, she of A Perfect Circle fame.
One has to wonder what this band — a marked improvement from the original Pumpkins lineup — could do with Corgan's older compositions. Zwan's material is weak by comparison, lacking a Pumpkin-esque range of dynamics, although allowing ample room for Corgan and company to demonstrate their guitar-playing prowess. The average Zwan song is just that: merely average.
Mary, Star Of The Sea, the band's debut album, is an anti-climactic effort. Whereas Corgan would once milk the melodramatic chorus on songs like "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" and "Today," he now settles into a relaxed '70s-AM Radio vibe on tunes like "Endless Summer" and "Heartsong" or a mock new wave sound on tracks like "Settle Down" or "El Sol." Either that, or he and the rest of Zwan noodle around with extended songs like "Desire" or "Mary, Star Of The Sea," which lack the explosiveness of similar-minded Pumpkins tunes.
The resulting lack of spark was evident in Zwan's performance this past Tuesday at Toronto's Kool Haus. A packed crowd, comprising a significant older contingent that likely had seen Corgan and Chamberlin in their past gig, failed to respond to Zwan's best-laid efforts. The crowd gave significant attention to only a couple of songs: a competent cover of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down" and an energized version of "Jesus, I" (really the only Zwan song to pick up on the Pumpkins' bombast). For the most part, the band seemed to be noodling around in jam band fashion, cooking up a muddled stew of flashy solos, atmospheric effects and half-baked pop hooks.
Near the end of the show, the heckling started. "Play Rush! 'Tom Sawyer'!" yelled one boisterous individual, taking an obvious dig at the band's prog-rock pretensions. The band nonetheless came out for two encores, even though the crowd had fizzled to about half-capacity by the second. Given the meandering material, it was amazing that many stayed to bear out Corgan and company's masturbatory musical exercise.