Corgan on Onan(ism)

[Machinist]

Ok, it's a parody thread - but please enjoy this scathing one star review of ATUM from The Australian

Smashing Pumpkins bore with overlong ‘rock opera in three parts’

Atum: A Rock Opera In Three Acts
The Smashing Pumpkins
Martha’s Music/Thirty Tigers

★ (1/5)

“I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams.” In 2006 – after six years, a failed new band and a failed solo career to boot – Billy Corgan announced to all and sundry with full-page ads in two Chicago newspapers that he intended to reform “his” band, the Smashing Pumpkins, the powerful quartet that formed in 1988 and went on to storm the 1990s alt-rock scene through several strong albums.

He got it back, all right; the songs, too. The dreams, however, seemed to mostly result in nightmares, most notably throughout a tumultuous 2010s, with Corgan cycling through band members and loosely-formed concepts (Google the phrase “Teargarden by Kaleidyscope” at your own peril). Goodwill was instilled with the return of on-again-off-again drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and founding lead guitarist James Iha – the latter in particular being quite the big deal, having not performed with the Pumpkins since its initial 2000 split. The band’s erratic live reputation improved, but its studio output became even more confusing.

Case in point: 12th album Atum, pronounced “autumn”. Rather than return to the alt-rock of its mid-90s heyday, the group has gone all-in on glassy, ‘80s style synthesisers – and frankly, it suits the band about as much as a drizzling of tomato sauce over a bowl of ice cream.

Not only was Atum frustratingly drip-fed over three instalments, its glacial pacing and utterly beguiling creative decisions exhausted any hope Iha’s return would create a comeback story. There’s also a weighty sci-fi concept driving the narrative, led by a character known as Shiny, who is the protagonist of what the singer-songwriter describes as a three-act rock opera. But what can you say about songs like Hooray!, which feels more like a cruel mash-up of Corgan’s isolated vocals with a K-pop backing track than a real Smashing Pumpkins song? What of the utter dreariness of the nearly-eight-minute Sojourner, which threatens to claim the throne as the band’s most boring song to date for its entire runtime? Why exactly is the drop-D stomp of Beguiled – one of the album’s only honest-to-god rockers – buried in the tracklist and railroaded by electronic claps? Do the math: 33 songs, 138 minutes, a million questions and zero answers.

Atum simply does not add up – and at a time when more eyes have been on the band than they have in quite a few years, the quartet has absolutely embarrassed itself with this overblown effort. Somewhere out there, former bassist D’Arcy Wretzky is surely breathing a sigh of relief at the rain of bullets she has subsequently dodged by sitting out the reunion.

David James Young

[TheAlter]

Accent is bloody horrendous but the review is perfect thank you

[Machinist]

Originally Posted by Machinist

Not only was Atum frustratingly drip-fed over three instalments, its glacial pacing and utterly beguiling creative decisions exhausted any hope Iha’s return would create a comeback story.

installments (misspelled)

beguiling: charming or enchanting, often in a deceptive way.


Great journalism.

[NovaFritz]

How do you know that misspelling isn't a nod to Corgan's own malapropisms?

[houseofglass11]

That’s the best review of ATUM so far and 100% accurate.

[Ram27]

that's how the commonwealths spell it

spot on review

[TheAlter]

Underrated thread if you ask me