I am unironically jamming MTAE right now

[ninsp]

Tiberius—good song, old Pumpkins vibes
Being Beige—fucking boring terrible song
Anaise—don’t remember it
One and All—ok, old Pumpkins vibes
Run2me—lmao
Drum+Fife—ok
Monuments—sounds like Muse, horrible lyrics
Dorian—Adore vibes, lyrics are lol and repetitive
Anti-Hero—don’t remember it other than “never been kissed by a girl like you”

[bigoltitties]

After hearing Solara I gave Monuments another spin and also enjoyed it.

It might lack any of the grand ambition of Classic Pumpkins and the lyrics are silly and repetitive, but Tommy Lee's drumming was class, the guitars sounded great and I enjoyed the synth pop elements of Anaise, Monuments and Dorian.

I remember being incredibly underwhelmed by Being Beige, as it was the first single, but as just another song on the album, it's alright.

And yeah, Tiberius was pure quality.

Fucking Anti-Hero though. Jesus, that is an aberration.

[House of Bread]

I legitimately love One And All

[Mals Marola]

Maybe I was in a good mood or something when this first dropped, but I enjoyed Monuments for the most part. There are a couple of bad, bad songs on here but then stuff like "Tiberius" and "One and All" which actually sound like Billy enjoying making Smashing Pumpkins music

I also like a handful of the other "experiments" on here i.e. Anaise, Dorian, title track

Being Beige I hated as a lead single but the last time I heard it I just kinda thought I may have been too hard on it before

[Zer0 Hour]

Yeah, I decided to give this thing another shot today. My thoughts...

Tiberius—Best song on the album, easily. Feels like the Pumpkins of old mixed with the Pumpkins of new. If the other eight songs on this album were of similar quality, this might be their best record since Machina II. But alas...

Being Beige—I actually like this one; it's fairly well crafted. It just feels so cheesy; it's like a song Billy should have written 30 years ago. Listening to a middle aged man sing these lyrics and in such a soft spoken voice just comes off creepy, lol.

Anaise—Eh, I guess this one is okay but it's just not really my thing. It feels like a leftover b-side from the Adore era, but not as good.

One and All—This one is decent. I get the feeling like it's Billy trying to rock more than actually rocking, but it's not bad. But again, there's something weird about a middle aged man singing about how young he is. I don't know.

Run2me—This one is cheesy as fuck. It's kinda catchy but once again, Billy feels the need to beat us over the head with the title of the song.

Drum+Fife—This one is pretty strong overall, but damn it Bill, why don't you understand you're a limited vocalist. Stop trying to belt out the glory notes, because you can't do it. "COME ON ALONG, YOU'RE MINE... MIIII-IIII-IIINNNE!!!"

Monuments—This one sounds like a mashup of the theme from an 80s horror film and a leftover chorus from The Future Embrace. Parts of it work and some don't (mainly that chorus). I don't know. It's just weird. Oh sorry... Straaaaaannnge.

Dorian—Meh. Back to beating listeners over the head with the song title again.

Anti-Hero—And again, we have a song that, lyrically, feels like it should have been written in 1988.

[TuralyonW3]

Originally Posted by House of Bread

I legitimately love One And All

man I'm so close to this, but the chorus lyrics just ruin it for me

[fuzzyroes]

One and All is my favorite off the album too.

It might be the first time of the reunion were we get some of the trademark high pitched Billy vocals.

[fuzzyroes]

Was definitely a welcome treat after all of those years with Byrne. The drums actually have a groove and solid flow for the first time since Zeitgeist.

[Zer0 Hour]

Listing to Anaise made me think about how Mayonaise would turn out if Bill wrote it today.

Mayonaise! Mayonaise! Almost be it
Mayonaise! Mayonaise! Can't quite see it
Run away with me... Mayonaise

[Ihaguitar]

It's the only post-2000 Pumpkins that has held my interest so far.

[eviltimeban]

The production / mastering is what mostly prevents me from coming back to it. So overly loud, distorted, everything is too crunchy.

Saying that it's not too bad, he doesn't do a bad job on the vox for the most part, One and All has Zero vibes, Anaise has some nice double tracked soft cooing vocals like he used to do. Run2Me is godawful and it sort of peters out after that.

It really need one more song - ironically, Solara would've been a good closer for the album (had it not shared the same guitar riff as Anti Hero). A 7 minute epic with some good dynamics could've pushed this album up the quality ladder; as it is, it just feels like it's too short and falls short.

[Zer0 Hour]

Speaking of 7-minute epics... I wish Billy would put out a full album of lengthy, epic stuff. I think he keeps trying to tap into the pop scene today by writing short, hooky rock songs out of some misguided attempt to connect to today's youths or something. I think he would do better to stop trying to write catchy choruses and instead just do an album of mostly epics, with intricate guitar leads and experimental interludes. Though I fear that we'd just get an album full of a bunch of Superchrist garbage. So maybe he shouldn't try that. I don't know.

[Butt Pope]

Originally Posted by Ihaguitar

It's the only post-2000 Pumpkins that has held my interest so far.

I’m gonna hold off on judgment to see what Wretzkybass thinks about it.

[jparker800]

I've been spinning this album for the past month or so, probably because the concert is right around the corner. This is the track-listing I use. Surprisingly, I'm able to listen the whole way through, and am growing to appreciate it for what it is:

1. Solara (Should have been on the album, so I treat it like a B-side)
2. One and All
3. Being Beige
4. Anaise!
5. Drum + Fife
6. Monuments
7. Dorian
8. Anti-Hero
9. Tiberius
Hidden Track: Run2me (Like most hidden tracks, I treat this song like a throw away/bonus song. Sometimes I'll listen to it, sometimes not)

It's surprising to me how rearranging the track listing on an album helps me to hear it a bit differently. This has worked for other albums that never seemed to click.

[Zer0 Hour]

Curious, what's the general consensus on how each post-2007 Pumpkins album ranks? I think I'd go with this:

1. Oceania - This one has some rough patches but overall, I think it's Billy's strongest material overall since taking up the SP name again, even if the drumming isn't up to par.

2. Zeitgeist - Jimmy brings his A-game, but Bill does not, at least on vocals and lyrics. Guitar work (mostly the lead parts) are very strong though. It would have been a much better album though if he included Stellar and Gossamer and dumped crap like For God and Country.

3. Monuments - Overall a forgettable album with a few really good moments. It's probably good that he didn't put Solara on this album because Jimmy's drumming is the most interesting thing about it.

4. Teargarden - I don't know if this even counts as an album but so much of this stuff was bad. Widow Wank My Mind and Ass-tral Planes are two of the shittiest songs Billy has ever written. Maybe THE worst, although All Things Change also deserves a mention in that conversation. To this day, I've never been able to get all the way through that piece of shit song.

[eviltimeban]

Originally Posted by Zer0 Hour

general consensus

LOL.

[themadcaplaughs]

I decided to listen to Monuments to an Elegy for the first time since 2015, when I listened before seeing the band on tour.

Tiberius: I actually really like this song, and I remember hearing it made me hopeful for this album after the disappointment of "Being Beige." That part that starts with the huge drum hit and has Jeff playing leads in the background (If you break, believe me, If you take, deceive me
To the sound of one clapping hand) is one of the most "Pumpkins" moments of Billy's newer music. As someone said on here earlier, it certainly doesn't count as an "A" level song, but it certainly sounds like something I would have imagined Billy playing when he decided to bring back Smashing Pumpkins.

Being Beige: Another step in the saga of Billy choosing awful lead singles. I actually enjoyed this song a lot more than I did in 2014/15. It has a strong chorus, and some decent emotive Billy vocals. I really like the end part ("till I'm read on Sunday," etc.).

Anaise! And tings begin to fall apart. Some time ago, someone on here said he could imagine Anthony Kiedis doing his stupid white-bro rapping over this. That sums up this song perfectly.

One and All: After the initial shock of hearing old-school(ish) SP fuzz wore off, it became clear this is a really mediocre song; an extremely watered down version of "The Viper." The lyrics sound like pure nonsense, and the super-dry production does it absolutely no favors.

Run2Me: Not as laughably bad as something like "Astral Planes" or "Quasar," but a completely forgettable song. Back when Billy blogged about recording the album every day, he mentioned this song had Big Country-style guitars and a huge chorus. I wonder what happened.

Drum + Fife: I'll bite. If I was attempting to compile a "best of" post-2007 mix, this would be on it. I would argue this represents the most invested Billy has sounded in vocals since 2007, and the repetition at the end actually serves the song well.

Monuments: I had completely forgotten this song. It sounds like Billy's lame attempt to ape a modern alt-rock song, but it lacks any feeling or passion. That part where the guitars fade out and Billy says "my love is strange" may be the most laughable single moment in SP history.

Dorian: A neat little curiosity that gets graded on a curve because of the songs that surround it. The instrumentation sounds really cool and lush. I could have seen this sitting comfortable on TheFutureEmbrace. I typically don't care too much about lyrics, but the lyrics in this song seem like such placeholder garbage that even I feel they take the song down.

Anti-Hero: I actually don't understand the hate for this song. Once more, it certainly isn't an "A" level song, but when Billy announced Tommy Lee would be playing on the album, this was the type of song I imagined. Jeff's little lead spot at the end (the closest thing to a solo on this album) sounded cool. Tommy's more spacious drumming style works better for this type of material than Jimmy's busier style on a song like "Solara."

Final Grade: C+

[jparker800]

Originally Posted by Zer0 Hour

Curious, what's the general consensus on how each post-2007 Pumpkins album ranks? I think I'd go with this:

Ha, yeah, you won't find a general consensus, except maybe that Teargarden is at the bottom. In terms of what I listen to the most consistently, I'd rank them:

1. MTAE
2. Zeitgeist (But I mostly listen to live performances of these songs + Stellar)
3. Oceania (The other two above, I can simply categorize as 2nd rate Pumpkins albums... this one has always felt bizarre to me. Like it has almost no edge to it, no backbone, possibly due to Jeff and Mike's noodling/lack of groove.)
4. Teargarden (I don't even know if I've heard every song on this album yet.)

[themadcaplaughs]

Originally Posted by jparker800

Ha, yeah, you won't find a general consensus, except maybe that Teargarden is at the bottom. In terms of what I listen to the most consistently, I'd rank them:

1. MTAE
2. Zeitgeist (But I mostly listen to live performances of these songs + Stellar)
3. Oceania (The other two above, I can simply categorize as 2nd rate Pumpkins albums... this one has always felt bizarre to me. Like it has almost no edge to it, no backbone, possibly due to Jeff and Mike's noodling/lack of groove.)
4. Teargarden (I don't even know if I've heard every song on this album yet.)

Good description of Oceania. In terms of the ideas Corgan seemed to be going for, I imagine it was what most people (myself included) imagined a Smashing Pumpkins record would sound like when Corgan brought the name back. I would imagine that's why it received such positive reviews when it came out (or at least more consistently positive reviews than any other Pumpkins release from 2007 on). The songs sound like logical stepping points from the softer songs on Mellon Collie, Adore, and Machina. The "band" just lacked any kind of chemistry.

[incubator]

WELL since you asked here's what I think.

Zeitgeist
Almost a legit SP album. Songs are good / great but it's lacking something...a sense of humor I think. Vocal performance, mix and mastering absolutely ruin it. It sounds very quickly and carelessly put together and is very fatiguing to listen to. It really is shockingly bad like I've had stuff mixed and mastered for pennies and if anyone sent my shit back sounding like this it'd break my heart.


Teargarden
Sounds like Billy had a stroke or serious injury and Teargarden was some form of music therapy. Starts off shockingly bad, gets gradually better with a few dips and peaks and ends up being competent but uninteresting. Not worth listening to.


Oceania
Sounds like a canadian christian rock bands take on 90s alt-prog. Nicey nice. It's fine, it's good but it's got no balls at all. Chimera is a lot of fun to play in Rocksmith. If it had a couple of heavier, nastier songs like a Quiet and a Silverfuck it'd be really good. If it also had slightly less loud and obnoxious sounding drums, particularly the snare, it'd be great. After Teargarden it was very encouraging.


MTAE
I believe you could take any half decent local open mic night singer songwriter, give them Jeff, Howard and T LEE; give them Billys pedals and amps and give them MTAEs budget and the resulting album would be no better or worse than MTAE. I don't mind it. It's fine but it's not interesting at all and could've been done by anyone. I understand what Billy was trying to do but stripping out the drama and twists and turns and solos and noise and anguish from SP songs results in dull music not modern pop hits. It does sound great and I like that each song is quite distinct while Oceania all blurred together a bit.

[Zer0 Hour]

Interesting perceptions on each album. I agree with a lot of the sentiments. I would say that all of them, even in their best moments, feel like they have something missing. I'm not sure what it is exactly. Or maybe it's just that while each album has some songs that I really dig, there's also some mediocrity in there that always feels like it's hiding just around the corner, waiting for it's moment to strike and keep me from loving the album. It almost makes me wish Bill had taken 10 years or so and only released one album that had the best songs of each of these albums (except for Teargarden... fuck that whole thing). But even if such things had happened, I guarantee there would be no "general consensus". I mean, hell... I love Quasar, and I'm probably the only SP fan that does.

[TuralyonW3]

Originally Posted by incubator

Oceania
Sounds like a canadian christian rock bands take on 90s alt-prog.

[reprise85]

i listening to monuments the song. it's fucking terrible. i don't know what you guys are on about.

oh my that bridge is something else. jesus christ

[reprise85]

drum and fife is the only good song

tiberius is ok

i can listen to one and all without wanting to turn it off

the rest are garbage but special shout out to monuments and anti-hero

[LaBelle]

I forgot all about Monuments, but the vocal delivery to Anaise is still fresh on my mind as one of the worst things I ever heard in a song.
So I guess i'm saying that's memorable?!

[Shallowed]

I think the album would be better if it wasn't MTAE and was Siamese Dream instead

[LaBelle]

like, switch the cover art?

[reprise85]

i dont know why everyone thinks run2me is the worst song. anaise! and monuments and antihero are definitely worse

[SeaPumpkinsFan]

Anaise is terrible, possibly the only thing besides Spaceboy that I've just never been able to get into by the Pumpkins/Billy.

[Alice]

I don't understand how people don't like Spaceboy