"Zeitgeist" Discussion.

[zero]

It's simple. I think the drowning statue of liberty and the red color makes it stand out pretty well.

[livid]

The cover works well because it's eye-catching. One of the most standout colors in design is red and since there's also a floating Statue of Liberty, it's going to work well. Yeah, they could've used different text, but it's simple and works in this case.

I'm interested in hearing what the actual album sounds like though.

[Benji]

Not so sure about pretentious, but utterly horrible, yes. It just looks cheap and tacky.

"Hey we're promoting a huge band's comeback album, what do you reckon the best design would be?"

"Size 16 Impact font. That'll do it."

Tacky Windows fonts > Tacky custom made fonts

[gunnar hendershow]

I for one dig that cover.

[EndOfAnEra]

Eh, considering no one except the drummer who got kicked out for being a junkie came back, I'm not all that amped.

Then you don't really know the Pumpkins. The Pumpkins were essentially two tag teams in one stable: Billy/Jimmy and D'arcy/James. While D'arcy and James are both amazingly talented musicians, Billy and Jimmy will get by just fine. Also, Jimmy cleaned himself up almost ten years ago, kinda low to be bringing that up.

[zero]

Three months later?

You acted like it's not going to be a good band without James and D'arcy, I just don't think that's a fair assumption. Melissa Auf der Maur (someone who was actually in the band) has said that as long as it's Billy and Jimmy, it's the Pumpkins because they work so well together. They're the core of the band, all I was saying was maybe you shouldn't assume it's going to suck (or be "less amped") just because the two less-involved members of the band haven't rejoined (as of now). Plus, how many amazing bands out there have replaced a few members throughout their years? Hell, Mike Ness is the only remaining member of Social Distortion, but their last album is one of their best. And that's just one example.

And I'm aware he got kicked out for being a junkie, but he also came back to the band in 1999, before the break up. I don't see how calling him a junkie now is relevant at all when he rejoined the band during the Adore tour and went on to record Machina and Machina II. It's not like he's been shooting heroin for the last decade and Billy pulled him out of a gutter and threw him into the studio.

[livid]

Why bring it up then? He's clean now and the band is reforming now, not when he was a junkie. It'd be different if he wasn't clean, but since he is, it was kinda pointless to say.

And bands reform all the time and end up not having all of their original members, just like bands end up having non-original members years after they first formed. It's not that uncommon and you should be happy that there's even another member besides Corgan. Besides, take a poll and ask them about the Pumpkins and who their members were, most are only going to remember Corgan anyways, so it's not like it's a huge deal. Yeah, ideally, when a band reforms, you'd love to have all the original members but when a band hasn't been doing anything for awhile, the other members will delve into their own projects and they might lose love for the band that they weren't in, so it makes complete sense why some wouldn't come back. You should consider yourself lucky that there's more than just Corgan in this lineup anyways.

[gunnar hendershow]

D'arcy adds nothing to the Pumpkins, Melissa is actually a much more talented bassist than she is. Also, while James is great most of his famous riffs were really recorded by Billy Corgan. Chamerblain and Corgan really ARE the Pumpkins, everyone else just plays with them. It's like Jagger and Richards in the Rolling Stones or Plant and Page with Led Zeppelin (Though when they did get back together they didn't call it Led Zeppelin, but my point stands more or less).

[Skummy]

I wouldn't say Plant & Page "were" Led Zeppelin to that extent, Bonham was a key factor in making them as interesting as they were...Plant & Page's output post-Zep goes some way to prove that, as does the horrible reunion attempt at Live Aid...without that good a drummer, they'd be just another blues standard stealing Brit band, albeit one of the better ones. A similar argument could be made for Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones....he was as responsible, if not moreso, than Richards and Jagger for the standards set by the Stones' earliest work, much of it among their best.

That's massively off-topic, though. Personally, I prefer Melissa to D'Arcy by far, and I'm not too fussed who's in the band as long as we get a decent Pumpkins record out of it at the end of the day.

Like it's been said, bands continue to put out great material without their original members anyway, as long as you've got a core creative group there, things tend to keep to a same standard. I'm not expecting this to sound just like the Pumpkins of old, because a lot of time has passed, and you can't expect that, but as long as it's not a Zwan album, chances are it'll be pretty good.

[EndOfAnEra]

I'll actually agree on the Melissa Auf Der Maur statement. What's her deal? She released a solo album a waaaays back and I haven't heard from her in a while. Wasn't she asked to return and turned it down?

And if this band is Corgan and Chamberlain, why don't they just call it Zwan? Same thing.

[RPS]

I think Auf Der Maurs comment were they hadn't asked her, but if they did, she said she would in a heart beat.

[Steeb]

I thought it was that they asked, but she's busy recording another album and promoting it. Either way, I'm torn between D'Arcy and Melissa, because although they're both excellent bassists, D'Arcy's absolutely beautiful. But then Melissa's a redhead. OH THE DECISIONS

[Skummy]

And if this band is Corgan and Chamberlain, why don't they just call it Zwan? Same thing.

You could make the same argument as to why they didn't just call Zwan the Smashing Pumpkins, by that token, or why Grinderman didn't release their album under the Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds name, why Robert's Smith proposed solo album won't be released as "The Cure"....there's more to what makes a band than just the members, Zwan, stylistically, where completely different from Smashing Pumpkins. People would have been insanely disappointed if Zwan released their album under the Smashing Pumpkins name, and if there are any Zwan fans who don't like Smashing Pumpkins, they'd be disappointed if they bought an album that, stylistically, is the Pumpkins, but is Zwan by name.

[zero]

I thought it was that they asked, but she's busy recording another album and promoting it. Either way, I'm torn between D'Arcy and Melissa, because although they're both excellent bassists, D'Arcy's absolutely beautiful. But then Melissa's a redhead. OH THE DECISIONS

D'arcy's looking a little rough these days. Remember kids, drugs are bad. I love MADM though, and as much as I'd enjoy her back in the Pumpkins, I'd hate if it took away from her solo career. Her first album was my favorite release of 2004 and I can't wait until her new one.

And somewhat agreed with damshow. D'arcy brought a few things to the table, not as much as James, though. Still, the creative force has always been Corgan.

[fourstarfizzle]

I'm not too optimistic about this new "Smashing Pumpkins", and i don't want to get into the 'its not a bnad without the members' arguement, but i truely believe that it isn't the Smashing Pumpkins with Corgan AND Iha, that was the best dynamic of SP.

[EndOfAnEra]

And if this band is Corgan and Chamberlain, why don't they just call it Zwan? Same thing.

You could make the same argument as to why they didn't just call Zwan the Smashing Pumpkins, by that token, or why Grinderman didn't release their album under the Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds name, why Robert's Smith proposed solo album won't be released as "The Cure"....there's more to what makes a band than just the members, Zwan, stylistically, where completely different from Smashing Pumpkins. People would have been insanely disappointed if Zwan released their album under the Smashing Pumpkins name, and if there are any Zwan fans who don't like Smashing Pumpkins, they'd be disappointed if they bought an album that, stylistically, is the Pumpkins, but is Zwan by name.

[Ananas]

Just listened to the new track. I'm not even a big Smashing Pumpkins fan, but that was awesome.

[zero]

Holy... fucking... shit. That IS awesome.

The Pumpkins are back.

[gunnar hendershow]

What happened to Corgan's voice though? The version I heard was a shitty radio rip.

[Tarheels.]

I haven't heard it yet