Album Review
Smashing Pumpkins - SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN.
3 StarsPicking up where Billy left off with ‘Ogilala’.
Last year, Billy Corgan quietly released his finest record in two decades; not too many people heard ‘Ogilala’, the bare-bones solo LP he put out under his ‘William Patrick’ moniker, but those who did would have recognised that the raw songwriting talent that catapulted himself and the Smashing Pumpkins to global stardom in the nineties remained undimmed. Plenty of reason, then, to approach this new Pumpkins album - the first to feature both guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin since 2000’s ‘Machina / The Machines of God’ - with optimism.
Billy has re-teamed with Rick Rubin, who was behind the boards for ‘Ogilala’, and the super-producer’s stately work lends a fluidity and continuity to a group of songs that comes off as a little bit of a grab-bag. The record’s title - ‘Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun’ - does not suggest that the frontman had brevity in mind and yet, this is a quickfire affair; eight tracks, with the whole thing coming in under the forty-minute mark. There’s not much in the way of stylistic cohesion, either, and you wonder whether that’s simply because the creativity was flowing out of the almost-fully-reformed lineup or simply because Billy felt confident in following his every whim. There’s wholesale ‘90s throwbacks in the form of ‘Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)’ and ‘With Sympathy’, both breezy, dreamy guitar-driven numbers in the vein of ‘1979’ or ‘Perfect’, while Billy revisits his rock chops on ‘Solara’ and ‘Marchin’ On’. It’s those earlier, more reflective numbers that are the most successful here, not least because they feel as if he’s picking up where he left off with ‘Ogilala’. Presumably, volume two is to follow; that might be the moment at which they truly begin to sound like the Pumpkins of old. They’ve made a solid start here.
Read More
Montreux Jazz Festival unveils 2024 lineup, including RAYE, Jessie Ware, PJ Harvey and more
The Swiss live series will take place on the Lake Geneva shoreline this July.
19th April 2024, 11:36am
Dua Lipa, Pearl Jam, Jessie Ware and more to play Mad Cool 2024
The European weekender returns to Spain's capital next summer.
11th December 2023, 10:45am
Smashing Pumpkins & Weezer schedule joint UK & Ireland tour
The two iconic rock groups have announced six shows in June 2024.
16th October 2023, 5:56pm
The Smashing Pumpkins - Cyr
3 Stars
It’s difficult to really tap into the heart of ‘Cyr’.
26th November 2020, 7:55am
With Bob Vylan, St Vincent, girl in red, Lizzy McAlpine and more.