Aghori Mhori Mei one month later

[paranoid]

Where are we at?

I like it now. Edin and Pentagrams are top tier. They sound like if Gossamer was on a record these would be the songs sitting next to it. And Gossamer should be on this god damnit.

Sighommi is also great.

Pentacost last half great but first half Disney/ATUM sounding cheese so it gets skipped.

War dreams and sicarus are kinda stupid but they also kind of rip so ???

Who goes there surprised me in that it snuck up on me and now I like it.

999 good. Speed Kills like.

forgot what the other two are.

My big complaint was "it sounds nothing like Smashing Pumpkins" but that was dumb to say. I was wrong about that.

[Ram27]

the only one that still does nothing for me is murneau, track 10, whichever

everything else i've genuinely thought 'this rips. this is good pumpkins' at least once. i really wanna hear the whole thing live

[Gooch]

Nothings memorable. There are no hooks. That being said, I agree that yes live this is going to sound sooo much better, and could renew the damn thing

[deadlecturer]

It's near impossible to learn these lyrics unless you read the official transcription. How can Billiam not see this? Or is he going deaf from decades of rawk????

My guess in the moment for Murnau:

he loomed for promise
to espouse commonly
encircled gait
as ignites
time's by essence
heap of flint
would i yearn
for tenderness
for lack of in

According to Google, they're:

Illumed for promise
Do as bound
Commonly in circles I ache as ignite
Time's by essence
Heat by flint
Would I yearn for tenderness?
A light within

[deadlecturer]

Really glad to hear strings tho

[Spaldz]

The tourist arrivals in Kathmandu have surged by 8.3% this August compared to last year so Billy's done a great job for the Nepal tourism board

https://www.google.com/amp/s/thehima...rticle/1028629

[VoxUpDoc]

I like it. Decent headphones and lossless version sounds good to my ears. These songs are some of the best post-2007.

What would’ve made it better? Discounting Bill’s vocal delivery…

Put a re-recorded Magdalena on there track 3-4 for a single.
Record a 10-min Gossamer to close out the album before Murnau.
Rework the first part of Pentecost and the ATUM bits of Murnau.
Ideally just maybe another 6-12months spent polishing up track transitions and giving the album more character, better album art. Bonus tracks to push the physical edition.
Give it a proper promo push with single and this could’ve done really well. Even better than it has.

[VoxUpDoc]

Originally Posted by Gooch

Nothings memorable. There are no hooks.

This is not true at all.

[enthusaroo]

Originally Posted by VoxUpDoc

I like it. Decent headphones and lossless version sounds good to my ears. These songs are some of the best post-2007.

What would’ve made it better? Discounting Bill’s vocal delivery…

Put a re-recorded Magdalena on there track 3-4 for a single.
Record a 10-min Gossamer to close out the album before Murnau.
Rework the first part of Pentecost and the ATUM bits of Murnau.
Ideally just maybe another 6-12months spent polishing up track transitions and giving the album more character, better album art. Bonus tracks to push the physical edition.
Give it a proper promo push with single and this could’ve done really well. Even better than it has.

in other words.. make a completely different album, basically

[VoxUpDoc]

Originally Posted by enthusaroo

in other words.. make a completely different album, basically

My changes are mostly additive.

It feels like they did 60% of the work towards a finished album and called it a day.

The core here is stronger than recent releases. As people have already said Edin, Pentagram, Sighommi, 999, Sicarus are worthy of the classic Pumpkins tag.
Pentacost, Goes There and Goeth have strong elements that are kind of hampered because nobody said to Bill “hey this line doesn’t work” or “this verse needs a rework”. They’re still solid tracks with hooks even if some people round here get sniffy about mid-tempo ballads.

[Blast]

It's grown on me but I'm still split 50/50 on songs which I like, and songs which I think are still terrible. Compared to the ratio of something like Atum or Cyr that's a huge ratio emprovement though.

Negatives: Billy's breathy consonant-dropping singing is in full flow; thus I can't understand a damn word let alone sentences being said 90% of the time; word salad lyrics which have zero emotional connection; Sicarus one of the worst things ever by SP;

Positives: G-tars!; the songs which aren't Metallica parodies are pretty cool; Sighommi & Goeth The Fall; It was fun having a album drop like that out of nowhere, I guess?

[Machinist]

My view of it is still a 5.5/10 or a 6/10 album. In terms of an SP album it's a massive improvement on the last horrendous efforts. It feels more cohesive. It's still beset by some horrible decisions, poor lyrical choices and delivery, and has few memorable moments.

If compared to other music, it's probably a 4/10 album. It's not like SP releases are stellar these days.

[eyeboogers]

The album is growing with each listen. Those who still claim it has "no hooks" have "no ears". A stronger album than anything Corgan has put out post Mary Star.

[Green Eyes]

Originally Posted by eyeboogers

The album is growing with each listen. Those who still claim it has "no hooks" have "no ears". A stronger album than anything Corgan has put out post Mary Star.

I agree with above and am pleasantly surprised that Billy had it in him to release another great album. I still listen to AMM on a daily basis and the only skippable tracks are Sicarus and Mornau.

It feels kind of weird to be excited about Pumpkins music again.

[run2pee]

I still like it but feel like I’ve exhausted its available treasures. Like the songs are good but the elements that make them up are very basic and there’s no trippy soundscape or weird idiosyncratic production to draw me further in. But I have the 90s stuff for that, and to get a good pumpkins album in 2024 is such an unexpected joyful feeling that I have a lot of fondness for this album and will continue to listen to it probably

[eviltimeban]

I listened to it a few times when it came out, then one more time, and marked it as having a few decent songs.

Haven't put it on since. Was meaning to but ended up not. Listened to other things.

Probably won't play it again really. Unless I get nostalgic for 2nd August 2024.

[theslipstream]

Originally Posted by Green Eyes

I agree with above and am pleasantly surprised that Billy had it in him to release another great album. I still listen to AMM on a daily basis and the only skippable tracks are Sicarus and Mornau.

It feels kind of weird to be excited about Pumpkins music again.

Agree, completely. Sicarus sounds unnecessarily cheesy after a quality 1-2 punch of 999 and Goeth the Fall. How awesome would Gossamer have been in its place? Re: Murnau, it suffers from ATUM-style synths early in the song that usually results in me going back to Track 1.

I just wish "Who Goes There" could start 30 seconds in. Besides the oddly phrased, "Hey, Hi, How are you?" it's followed by what I swear is, "If you like that kinds of view". The latter half is fantastic. "I believe in you, not us" is a unique and heartbreaking sentiment, at least the way I interpret it.

Nits aside, I love playing this album. It rewards the listener with repeated listens and at loud volumes.

[Morlock]

It's good, not great, and there is no track I can enjoy without thinking "if only he had done X".

Among the post-James-reunion albums, I'd rank it below ATUM and above the others.

[BlissedandGone2]

still sucks for the same reasons

[houseofglass11]

No change in my initial review. If anything I’ve moved on. Might revisit a few tracks or add them to a “best of the bad years” playlist at some point.

[enthusaroo]

same thing.. it was cool for a week or so..
but still say it's 3.5/10

[eviltimeban]

I'm preferring the TGKB vibe at the moment...

[Shadaloo]

Still spinning it a few times a week. If anything, I like it more now than I did on release. It's very front-loaded and really peters off toward the end but it's a damn sight more enjoyable than I was hoping for these days.

[behived]

in the smashing pumpkins facebook group

[Joey Goldberg]

you know, i'm not sure if it's Corgan's own recent experiences with fatherhood and general family living that have somehow brought him back to a place of purer, stronger songwriting and an appreciation for the album format, but whatever it is, this album has really resonated with me. from the day it came out to now, a full month later, I feel like he and the band are back to not only doing what they do best, but perhaps doing it better than they ever have before. Iha and Chamberlin's renewed presence brings a return to the straight-up rock & roll values that made them great in the first place - hell, at times I could have sworn it was Butch Vig himself behind the faders!

ultimately, this album speaks to the here & now, both in my life personally and in the grander scheme of things. it reaches something that even the early work couldn't quite get to, and it does it with a sense of purpose I'm not sure I've even recognized in the band, from any era

to put it bluntly, this is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins albums. yes, above Adore. above Mellon Collie. above Siamese Dream.

I really, really didn't see this coming, but kudos boys. the Pumpkins camp is in full force, and I cannot wait to see them on the upcoming tour.


yours in love,

-JGx














jk, I turned it off after the first track. sounded like ATUM with clean Tool guitars

glad the rest of you seem to be having a field day with it, though

[Ram27]

gotta make the best of what we have at this point until auggie jupe starts opening up the archives

[TuralyonW3]

Great EP:

Edin

Sighommi

Goeth the Fall

Sicarius

I won't be listening to the rest much

[LoveIsSuicide42]

My initial take was that the first three tracks were great to amazing, but that the album tapers off fairly sharply following Sighommi and never really gets back up to standard of the first three tracks, while also still being quite a bit better than the average SP2 material.

After lots of listens, I am finding the shine of the first three songs has faded a bit (they are GREAT songs, but like run2pee has said, the lack of depth in the production ensures they won't ever be quite as good as the SP1 classics they remind me of), but that I've also grown to appreciate all of the later tracks more than I initially did. The album has cohered more into its own thing, and I like all the tracks for what they are. It's appreciated from being like a 7.5/10 to a solid 8/10 as a whole. The potentially cringe moments like "heavens to betsy"; "six six cicada"; "Never been to Kathmandu"; "Hey goldilocks!"; and of course, "labyrinth milk syringe" are things I don't really give af about anymore because the songwriting is strong and there's almost a weird charm to it that reminds me of some of the offbeat wordplay of the old band.

It's pretty easily the best thing since Machina. It doesn't really have the depth that make the Pumpkins my favorite band, but it's still quite a bit better than your average alt rock / metal album.

I will be so excited for the next one, but I listened to the ATUM podcast every week so that probably isn't saying much.

[phang]

It's still alright, kinda cool, kinda lame, but it's alright. I dig it. Thumbs up.

[phang]

Buckethead would have released like 40 albums in the time since AMM was released though, so c'mon Billy, what have you done for me lately? Step it up.