IN REVIEW: Smashing Pumpkins - "Monuments to an Elegy"

There aren't too many artists as restlessly, relentlessly artistic as Billy Corgan; even in Smashing Pumpkins' infancy, plenty of great songs ended up cast aside due to time and/or space restraints. Corgan's prolific tendencies were running at their peak in the mid-nineties; he recorded enough quality tunes during the Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness sessions to fill five CDs before paring it down to a manageable two.

A incredible run of songs such as that couldn't possibly be, and has never been, matched; even if we factor this newest album in as part of his ongoing Teargarden by Kaleidyscope series, we're only up to about 35 songs, and that's over the course of half a decade. Besides, few would accuse Corgan of continuing to offer the same quality as he was twenty years ago; to be fair, though, how could he? It's only natural for artists to evolve, and to move away from the perceived sweet spot of creativity that so many expect them to stay nuzzled in for all eternity.

That said, it's worth noting that Monuments to an Elegy (the Pumpkins' ninth album overall by default, and second in the Teargarden series behind a pair of EPs and 2012's Oceania) works beautifully as a standalone record. It's arguably Corgan's most cohesive and consistent batch of songs since Siamese Dream, if not ever; then again, with a mere nine songs and under 33 minutes run time, it's also the Pumpkins' shortest record by 13 minutes (making debut album Gish runner-up).

Such a compact presentation isn't what we're used to from Corgan, and yet here we have it: a quick, painless Pumpkins record that doesn't indulge itself in too many sonic detours, coming and going in easily digestible four minute chunks. In a way, it acts as the ideal entry point for would-be new fans and re-entry for old fans who have strayed over the years; it's as low risk a sample of what Smashing Pumpkins is as you could ask for, free of most of the clutter and bombast that have (by times clumsily) marked the majority of Corgan's output for two decades now.

The most refreshing aspect of Monuments to an Elegy is that, rather than go off on wild tangents or take away from anyone's idea of what a Pumpkins album is supposed to sound like, it's all right there on the surface; nine pretty damn good synth-pop songs with enough of Corgan's trademark guitar muscle to let you know who's responsible. Some are above average (especially Drum + Fife and One and All), some come ever so close but miss the mark slightly (Run2me, Dorian), most hit the middle ground between "meh" and "wow". The album also houses perhaps Corgan's most unashamed pop song in fifteen years in closer Anti-Hero, a crunchy ditty with a bubblegum centre that could have positively smashed as the lead single on Machina.

Overall, Monuments to an Elegy won't take people back to the "glory days" of Mellon Collie or make them forget Zeitgeist exists, so as to say it isn't Corgan's grandest statement or greatest blunder; it's simply a good, straight ahead record with minimal missteps that none but the harshest cynics could find too much fault in. I suspect that, for a lot of fans, that's vindication enough for a career that's been ruthlessly criticized for the better part of the last decade.

December 9, 2014 • Martha's Music

Highlights Drum + Fife • One and All • Anti-Hero

Year in Rock 2025

Alright, I've got some explaining to do. By now anyone who's visited this blog is well aware of how infrequently I've used this space in recent years; aside from the occasional fertile year of content, I really haven't posted all that often over the last five years or so. There are many reasons for this, which have already been outlined in previous apology posts; but, essentially, it boils down to my own laziness and the cold reality that blogs are, like Refused (again), fucking dead. So, I wouldn't hold my breath for a triumphant return to reviews, or even semi-regular posts, but: a) I feel like Year in Rock posts have always belonged here and, even though I've experimented with different methods of presentation recently and been satisfied, the "blink and you missed it" unveiling via Facebook stories this year was perhaps ultimately a disservice to the records I lauded. After all, cramming the list into short videos isn't too far off from ju...

Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: Sam Roberts Band

SAM ROBERTS BAND I Feel You From: Collider Released: May 10 Having already endured the breakout success ( Brother Down was Canada's it rock song of 2002), the tentative dabbling in the U.S. market, as is the rite of passage for all moderately successful Canuck artists (2003's debut We Were Born in a Flame was the best time to try; one of the best albums of the year, it made a small dent in the American mindset upon its release there a year later), the difficult, druggy third album (the aptly named 2005 disc Chemical City ), and the subdued creative step backward (2008's Love at the End of the World , aside from hit single Them Kids , was really kinda bland), it seems according to script that Sam Roberts would start settling in on his fourth album (and first with the band credited as equal contributors), Collider (you know, I think it was a bad idea to give me brackets). Well, as far as settling in goes, Roberts does and doesn't on Collider . W...

IN REVIEW: Rancid - "Trouble Maker"

As far as punk rock goes, it's hard to name a hotter hot streak than the trio of records Rancid cranked out between 1995 and 2000; the star making ...And Out Come the Wolves , the far-reaching Life Won't Wait and their balls-to-the-wall second self-titled album solidly positioned Rancid as leaders of the second generation of punk. It also preceded a period of slow progression, as Rancid would take eleven years to release their next three records. By the time ...Honor Is All We Know came in 2014, many fans (myself included) had to wonder whether or not this was the end of the road. Such concerns are handily dealt with on the closing track of the standard edition of their ninth record, the positively punishing This Is Not the End . Well, okay then, that's sorted. Now, what of this new record? What do we make of the use of their original logo on the cover, a logo that hasn't graced a Rancid record in 25 years? Is this a throwback to the band's heyday, a new begin...

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