Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist

It would have been par for the course if the Smashing Pumpkins’ sixth album was ludicrously overthe- top; what’s surprising is how tedious it is. Rather than another left turn like the glossy synth-goth of Adore or the nostalgic glam of Zwan, Billy Corgan is evidently trying to reclaim the Pumpkins’ heyday, but has perhaps exorcised a few too many demons to tap the corrosive bile of Bullet With Butterfly Wings or the grandeur of Cherub Rock. Doomsday Clock and Come On Let’s Go have the fuzzy chug of Mellon Collie…’s heaver moments, with some sterling drumming from Jimmy Chamberlin, but sorely lack the fine contrast between delicacy and brutality of James Iha’s guitar work. First single Tarantula spoils a chunky, Foo Fighters-y riff with mundane lyrics. Whereas once Corgan could make relationship troubles sound like things of preposterous, Miltonic grandeur, lines such as “I don’t wanna fight every single night… I don’t wanna be alone” come off more like a whinge to his mates down the pub. Probably the best track is United States, an angry, rolling follow-up to Geek USA that, along with For God & Country, represents Corgan’s tardy two pence-worth on the Bush administration. Not enough, though, to keep the Siamese Dream alive.