Monuments is better than Zeitgeist or Oceania

[Virex Kills]

Originally Posted by thedeadofnight

I agree about Dorian. I was surprised with it. I got a sorta Here's to the Atom Bomb mixed with TFE vibe, really cool

Add to that the one chord from Stellar that makes my heart melt. Just really loving Dorian right now.

[Rumpkin]

smells like teen poo

[GLOWer]

zeitgeist and american gothic suck. worst things (aside from the zwan album) corgan has ever put out. you guys are nuts. monuments wont be burning the lies off my soul, but they're the catchiest songs billy has conjured in years (outside of the second teargarden ep, esp. freak).

he's definitely trying on this album. the whole thing smacks of effort. i appreciate it.

[ninsp]

ZEITGEIST IS TRASH

THERE LITERALLY IS NO TWO WAYS AROUND IT

STOP WITH THE FUCKING NOSTALGIA.

[BurtSampson]

Originally Posted by ninsp

ZEITGEIST IS TRASH

THERE LITERALLY IS NO TWO WAYS AROUND IT

STOP WITH THE FUCKING NOSTALGIA.

United States is a good song tho

[jimmy drevpile]

Catchy? Sounds like Tinted Windows to me.
I'm sure Zeitgeist will still be held above it in a few years

[ninsp]

Originally Posted by BurtSampson

United States is a good song tho

Live, maybe. On record it's a turd

[Butt Pope]

Originally Posted by GLOWer

zeitgeist and american gothic suck. worst things (aside from the zwan album) corgan has ever put out. you guys are nuts. monuments wont be burning the lies off my soul, but they're the catchiest songs billy has conjured in years (outside of the second teargarden ep, esp. freak).

he's definitely trying on this album. the whole thing smacks of effort. i appreciate it.

Zwan is 10X better than monuments. For one Billy doesn't sound like someone is stepping on his neck the whole album.

[GLOWer]

Originally Posted by Butt Pope

Zwan is 10X better than monuments. For one Billy doesn't sound like someone is stepping on his neck the whole album.

but the songs are so bad.

[gyang333]

Originally Posted by GLOWer

zeitgeist and american gothic suck. worst things (aside from the zwan album) corgan has ever put out. you guys are nuts. monuments wont be burning the lies off my soul, but they're the catchiest songs billy has conjured in years (outside of the second teargarden ep, esp. freak).

he's definitely trying on this album. the whole thing smacks of effort. i appreciate it.

Doriannnnnnnn Doriannnnnnnnnn Doriannnnnnnnnn Doriannnnnnnnnnnnnnn


effort?

[GLOWer]

Originally Posted by gyang333

Doriannnnnnnn Doriannnnnnnnnn Doriannnnnnnnnn Doriannnnnnnnnnnnnnn


effort?

ya ya. musically.

[killtrocity]

Originally Posted by BurtSampson

United States is a good song tho

...minus the 3 minutes of wanking towards the end. fucking terrible. but otherwise yes it's cool

[killtrocity]

yeah it's like he's completely unaware that synths don't have to sound like the shit that Mexican polka bands use. YO BILLY LOOK AT WHAT YOUR 90'S CONTEMPORARIES ARE DOING TODAY aka richard james and trent reznor

[GLOWer]

i really like Billy's synth sounds and i'm not even a smashing pumpkins fart sniffer. vintage and cheesy are often synonymous when it comes to synths, but i can get behind it. you either get it or you don't. i do understand it could be a deal breaker.

[werideatdusk]

people need to understand that Quasar is meant to be played a certain way, namely LOUD and on VINYL. maybe then you'll all get it.

hmph.

[slunken]

Originally Posted by killtrocity

yeah it's like he's completely unaware that synths don't have to sound like the shit that Mexican polka bands use. YO BILLY LOOK AT WHAT YOUR 90'S CONTEMPORARIES ARE DOING TODAY aka richard james and trent reznor

yea but look at it from the other side: his other experimental synth work is purely exploratory. he's interested but it's clear he doesn't know what he's doing in the sense that you can tell he's still fascinated by the instrument. no real nuts and bolts work going on.

also still can't believe that OPN opened for NIN

[slunken]

Originally Posted by killtrocity

The only redeeming aspect of Zeitgeist was Jimmy,

Monuments just piles on the catchy hooks and is pretty varied in style... I don't love the whole thing, but I love 40% of it, which is more than I can say about anything since Machina. Only real beef is the lyrics

Originally Posted by Sonic Johnny

Cholera is better than AIDS or Ebola

Originally Posted by Order 66

though they're very different it reminds me a lot of TFE, which was a very personal album without the weight of the brand anchoring him down. likewise monuments is a take on music he listened to growing up.

these were all points i wanted to express.

also the fact that it is so short the album never wears out its welcome. there are times when i can't believe i'm listening to the next song already and its great.

also i found this in a thread from may 2007 about what i wanted zeitgeist to sound like and it's basically this album (monuments)

You know,

Panorama by The Cars (1980) has always been one of my favorite records. Hands down The Cars' best, IMO. In fact I always personally thought that it would be the record Billy would prefer (as opposed to other early Cars releases).

So I was just listening to it today (and right now) and sure enough, there's Roy Thomas Baker's name stamped right on the back. Duh.

It's known that Billy is a Cars fan but this on this album the influence is ridiculously obvious.

The production is very modern (for the times 1980) but it doesn't go balls out like a lot of records did and exploit the technology. It's well done in its restraint.

It has that great herky-jerky quality (dynamics) with a lot of little effects here and there. I don't think we're in for "over-production" yet the album will be very "processed".

Weird processed background vocals,punctuated and distinct guitars, laser sounds as drum punctuation, really snappy but heavy drums (i'm talking the white man's two-step - floor toms and backbeats). It's very raw but definitely a studio album.

I'm talking that quasi-disco rock sound we get on things like Frantic Ab Groove, Viper, Zero single...

Lyrically the album is VERY MCIS (in the lyrical structure and style) yet thematically the songs are very MACHINA-esque.

Misfit Kid (i get cooled out / i get the come ons / i get rumbled / i get crumbled / i'm an american misfit kid / still wondering what i did) always makes me think of glass' theme

Down Boys (you were trying to be cute / but it didn't work out / you were trying to be charming / and it didn't come off / you were trying to be clever / a big waste of time / you can't make it with the down boys / you were trying to be in / oscillation in shame

Panorama (i'm going to get what's coming to me / no surprises no impressions / get the picture i'm on my knees / looking at your hot shot / turning down your offer / i'm pulling my flag up / i'm miles away)

What i'm getting at (in all this muck) is that I've got a theory that we will receive Machina lyrical themes (Bolly vs the World) with MCIS musical attitude (a modern take on 80's pop rock).

Yet it will all be very *new*.

I dunno...I've got that gut feeling again and I can only try to explain it...anybody else feelin' me?

Panorama?

lol anti-hero is the nail in the coffin

[Spira|_]

Originally Posted by jimmy drevpile

Catchy? Sounds like Tinted Windows to me.
I'm sure Zeitgeist will still be held above it in a few years

Put in your head Oceania, Z and Monuments are totally forgetable albums, in a few years nobody ever will talk about them. Just us here, and for bad reasons of course.

[Spira|_]

I prefer Monuments over Z and Ocegaynia. Sounds me better. Not sure why, maybe coz I feel it more from the heart than the others. At least some parts I feel.
But still being just an ok album and I would prefer Billly never did it and keeps the epic legacy intouchable.
What I dislike most on the album is the amateur synths. And vocals right next....

[freshfacedyouth]

ocegaynia? really?

[chotchkiss]

Originally Posted by werideatdusk

people need to understand that Quasar is meant to be played a certain way, namely LOUD and on VINYL. maybe then you'll all get it.

hmph.

I'm with you on Quasar. I'm the type that also loves Superchrist, Gossamer, The Dream Machine, As Rome Burns . . . type of songs. The more prog-rock and metal stuff is usually my preference. The song Oceania is probably my other favorite off of Oceania.

[Mals Marola]

Originally Posted by freshfacedyouth

ocegaynia? really?

really makes you wish you thought of it first, huh?

[thedeadofnight]

The synth during the "And still she's gone" part of Oceania is one of Billy's worst ever moments

[werideatdusk]

the acoustic part with "Oh would I, follow you" is one of the best recorded moments of SP2

[christian zombie vampires]

just listened to this for the first time. it really is better than zeitgeist and oceania, and machina. i can't believe it reminds me of TAFH, which i always thought of as squandered potential for a pop album. the lack of ambition and pretention put it below SP1 but also makes it stand out of the shadow of SP1 for the first time. the synths are also genuinely distinct and fresh, like he finally learned to use a synth to play a simple riff next to the big guitars instead of transforming the song into full blown new wave/new age.

it seems like throughout anytime in SP2/3 that he's talked about being serious about wanting commercial success and then whining that he doesn't have any, it's been a complete joke because nothing billy has done since adore has even remotely sounded like something that could be even close to an actual hit, until now. you could hear this in target or over a reality show montage or having a brief run on top 40 radio or whatever music success is now, which you couldn't say for most of oceania. he actually deserves it for once.

reminds me of backspacer. didn't like it or buy it or keep the mp3s but didn't hate it, could see why it existed and didn't begrudge them for earning a huge hit with simple cheesy ballad.

[reprise85]

Okay so. This album says nothing important and has very little substance. But it is VERY fun to listen to and I enjoy it more than Oceania and Z. Zeitgeist has much higher highs and lower lows and Oceania is mostly boring. This album is just fun and easy to jam out to. It's pretty good. 6/10.

[slunken]

Originally Posted by reprise85

Okay so. This album says nothing important and has very little substance. But it is VERY fun to listen to and I enjoy it more than Oceania and Z. Zeitgeist has much higher highs and lower lows and Oceania is mostly boring. This album is just fun and easy to jam out to. It's pretty good. 6/10.

i will paypal you $1000 to change your avatar to a picture of stone cold steve austin

[slunken]

preferably one of him performing his signature finishing move

[Phoenix Down]

Originally Posted by killtrocity

much better. The only redeeming aspect of Zeitgeist was Jimmy, and he's buried in the shit ass mix.

Monuments just piles on the catchy hooks and is pretty varied in style... Tiberius is the best song he's made in a very very long time. One and All sounds like a MCIS era B-side. I don't love the whole thing, but I love 40% of it, which is more than I can say about anything since Machina. Only real beef is the lyrics

idk I mean it's not MCIS, but really what the fuck are you expecting at this point?

You must be out of your fucking mind. There's so much cringe potential on Monuments it's not even funny. Run2Me is in all likelihood the worst song he ever put on an album.

Monuments could have been an okay solo record but it just completely falls flat as a pumpkins record.

[BurtSampson]

Originally Posted by werideatdusk

the acoustic part with "Oh would I, follow you" is one of the best recorded moments of SP2

this. it makes sitting through the first four trudging minutes worth it.