Album Review - CYR

My relationship status with the Smashing Pumpkins: complicated. There was a time in the 90s where they were in the conversation as biggest bands in the world and I didn’t share that fervor. That said, I am a fan of the band. For me, like many of the big bands of the era, they have become “of the time”. When I go to define the band, I actually think of the “Adore” album. Adore in 98 seemed to be in every friend's CD collection that I knew. After releasing a towering double album, Adore was considered a disappointment. In retrospect, it seems like a moment in time. The end of an era. Grunge was handing the baton to NuMetal. Bands like Korn and Marilyn Manson would top the album charts in 98 and Limp Bizkit and Creed would top the charts in 99. Those CD changers were also likely as much to contain discs by Jay Z, DMX, Nelly and Eminem. Heck, even CDs themselves were going to be on their way out before we knew it. I always had a soft spot for the otherwise unloved disc. Adore at 16 songs and 73 minutes is preposterously too long. That said, the influence of synth pop, electronic music and goth rock gave some moments that from a personal point of view. It also came out a year after the band had appeared on the Lost Highway soundtrack and there’s a certain Lynch-ian quality inherent in the album as well. It has been re-evaluated and re-examined (Pitchfork gave it an uncharacteristic 8.5 in 2014) but the truth is at the time - everyone bought it and few liked it. In a few years, ambitious rock would be personified by Radiohead, System of A Down and Tool. Other rock fans might look to Dave Matthews or Staind. The Lollapalooza era was dead. The Pumpkins never really ended but although I watched their every move, there doesn’t seem to be much worthwhile to discuss whether it was billed as such, or alternately billed as Zwan or Corgan solo. Although occasionally being billed as ‘return(s) to form’, none of the newer releases ever much interested me. The Corgan story is an unusual mess with Iha and Chamberlin floating in and out, cameos from the likes of Rick Rubin, Paz Lenchantin, pedal steel legend Paul Franklin (probably best known for his work with Randy Travis and Barbara Mandrell) and Motley Crue’s Tommy Lee, a stint playing a few dates with New Order and nothing as particularly notable as Corgan’s new role as pro wrestling executive/on-air talent. Nothing seems to have changed in recent months. Corgan recently announced a reissue of Machina which will contain “at least 80 songs”. A bounty of Pumpkins that no one seems to be asking for. On November 27, the Pumpkins released CYR- another 72 minute-20 song opus. With a core group of Iha, Chamberlain and Schroeder (once Iha's replacement, he is now a member with 13 years in) backing, it does have the authenticity of the bands name, but once again panned by many critics. That is if you were paying attention, when I bring it up to people, I think it went mostly unnoticed. I don’t expect people to get too excited, but if they would choose to take a listen, I think they would be pleased with what they heard. While given in to Corgan’s indulgences, with some paring, there is a quality album in there - and I would think it would be hard to argue that it isn’t their best work in a long time. The band is still stuck in the synthesizer rock sound. Corgan has went in debt with his influences lately, and it’s pretty evident here. For me, I think that’s a good thing. All of the criticisms are valid, it's too long, it suffers from sounding the same throughout, but I'm fine with that- for the first time in a long time, the band is back.