So track 1 of the new SP album is available for download on the official Pumpkins website. I personally think it'll take a few listens, but I'm liking the vibe of it, especially the solo.

Anyone else have any thoughts on it? Like it? Dislike it? Don't care?

sounds pretty bad to me.. and i like smashing pumpkins.


his voice sounds uninspired
[Edited 12/7/09 21:37pm]

I'm going to download it today..from what I've heard it's good. Really looking forward to more tracks.

hmmmmm....don't like it much

listen here

http://www.spinner.com/20...-premiere/

I didn't really mind it at all. I'd like it a whole lot more if he'd dig out his Big Muff distortion pedal again, but anyway it sounds good. Billy is hugely underrated as a guitar player as well.

This project is going to destroy Zeitgeist, I think (hope).

abigail05 said:

Ahh, that Big Muff! Siamese Dream immortalised this small pedal effect forever.

I hope it will be better than Zeitgeist too (even though Zeitgeist songs played live were awesome).

A couple more pedals deserve some recognition for the classic Pumpkins sound: The Small Stone phaser and the Mutron Biphase envelope filter!

I think Billy wanted to get away from them a little in the same way Prince wanted to lose the Linn. But ultimately these things are at the heart of the sound, IMO

^ Exactly. Beside of
those effects their (or should I say his?) trademark were the layers of guitars (remember "Soma"? ).
[Edited 12/8/09 7:40am]

abigail05 said:

I actually quite like it, now that I've had time to get used to it. It's a bit more mellow, and the lyrics are a bit out there, but all in all, it's a really solid song. Can't get over that solo though.
I'm loving the fact that it's on the longer side as well. Here's to hoping that since he's devoting his time to each and every song, and none of the songs are going to be "irrelevant" as he put it, then we'll get some quality stuff out of this album.

And yeah, I pretty much KNOW this is going to blow Zeitgeist out of the water. I loved that album for what it was, but this is going to be so much better, I can see it now.

abigail05 said:

He mentioned on the studio blog or something that he might pull out the Big Muff, the Bat Strat, and the Soul amp head if it felt right, so you never know. One of the Teargarden tracks might very well have that Siamese Dream sound on it. I know he used the guitar he used on all of the Gish solos already, so it's pretty likely.

BenaimanBawkah said:

So..I gave it a listen and I really like it. At first I disliked vocals - but hey, it's Billy as we all know him It really sounds like The House Of The Rising House. Now I'm looking forward to this project even more..!

I actually really love this. Zeitgeist was completely soulless to me and I don't think that Billy will ever get close to the Magic of Siamese/Pisces but this is a very interesting song, although his voice is quite jarring in the intro. It grows into the song though.

Also, is he solo, him and the drummer, are D'arcy and James included or are they still left in the cold? I know billy did a lot by himself but it's like Prince doing Purple Rain without the Revolution. Aint the same.

Oh, Billy and I share the same birthday. Not sure if that should scare me or not

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I think I read on some blog who plays what on this particular song..but no, it's not Darcy and James. I doubt they will ever come back

zaza said:

I have absolutely no idea why the split. Was it them? Was it him? I've always assumed it had to be Billy that kept them away. Perhaps they don't want to work with a crazy person?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

He has told about Darcy that she is "mean bitch" and when James Iha went away after the last concert in 2001(or 2?) in the Metro without saying a word, Billy accused James of the split If you can see some similarities between Billy and Prince, you're right
[Edited 12/8/09 11:31am]

zaza said:

Well I don't believe in Billy's innocence. That is something we have in common. Nobody believes in mine either!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I have to agree with you on the jarring intro part. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, based solely on the vocals, but it smoothed out as time went on.

He's got a new drummer, Mike Byrne (I think), and Lisa Harriton is on this album, I believe. Ginger Pooley and the rhythm guitarist from the Zeitgeist tour was rumored to be on the album, but that's not really been completely worked out.

You should probably be scared, haha. Billy's gotten a bit weird as of late.

BenaimanBawkah said:

IIRC he has found his own religion and blog about it..?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

zaza said:

He's quite religious now, and that's not what bothers me. I really could care less. It's the superstitious stuff that's cracking me up. Mercury retrograde screwed up the 1979/Mayonaise guitar... the cards are guiding his way. It's just amusing to me, really.

He does seem to be a lot happier now, and a lot more relaxed, so who am I to poke fun at him though? If it's working already, why try to fix it?

BenaimanBawkah said:

Yeah, he seems to be a lot happier than before But can you explain that bit about Mercury retrograde? I don't quite get it..

zaza said:

Apparently, when they brought out the guitar he used on Mayonaise and on 1979, the planet Mercury was retrograde. It's some astrological thing, and when the guitar stopped working, Billy blamed it on the Mercury retrograde. It was rather amusing, I must say.

I'll have to find the blog entry posted about it, because it explains it better than I can.

BenaimanBawkah said:

If I won't make my Psychology exams at the uni on Friday, I'll blame Saturn!

I probably shouldn't say this out loud but even if this record sounds like Zwan, I'm totally buying it. I thought Mary Star of the Sea had plenty of excellent tracks. Something about that record wasn't working though...I'll blame the art direction

zaza said:

That's exactly what you should do. Make sure you blame Saturn retrograde though.

abigail05 said:

Mary Star of the Sea had some solid tracks, and I actually liked it better than Zeitgeist.

Even if I don't like it a ton, I'll end up getting the physical version of this, most likely, just because I like my music in my hands.

BenaimanBawkah said:

True. Nothing compares to that feeling when you add another cd to your collection Yesterday I bought Zero cd single and it's much better than when I had it as mp3 .

Still never heard Zwan album, just the title track..but if it's better than Zeitgeist, I'll check it out.

i'm pretty happy with this track... in my opinion its the best thing Billy has done in quite some time.

NoVideo said:

American Gothic EP was good and much better than Zeitgeist, G.L.O.W and Superchrist were solid tracks, but this new song is definitely the best.
[Edited 12/9/09 8:00am]

sounds ok to me. i like it more than what i've heard from him the last
few years.

the guitar reminds me a bit of neil young's "southern man" in parts so
now i keep trailing off into that song as i listen to this one.

good enough effort though. i'm very curious as to what this project is
going to evolve into.

i hope he manages to recapture some of that 'magic' that made up large
parts of the pumpkins' albums up until Mellon Collie. after that it's
been hit and miss. with more and more miss inbetween the few hits. he
seems to have lost his muse and i hope he'll find a way to reconnect to
it with this project.

this song is a good sign, although it's still not as good as vintage
pumpkins, it's better than any of the stuff on "zeitgeist".

Nope Not digging. I've been a fan for long years. But then again, i've always been the black sheep in the smashing pumpkins fan boys and girls. I actually like Adore And Machina, and get this Machina 2 as well. Sorry don't like it all..I want my pumpkins with d'arcy and james..or nothing