My problem with Zeitgeist...

Cropduster84
Cropduster84 Posts: 1,283
edited June 2008 in Other Music
None of the songs have any emotional impact on me......



I find it hard to believe this is the same Billy Corgan that wrote Thirty Three, Crestfallen, In The Arms of Sleep, Mayonaise, Stand Inside Your Love, Tonight Tonight, Slow Dawn, etc.....



Zeitgeist is empty to me......
'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments

  • Joe2TheRevenge
    Joe2TheRevenge Posts: 904
    Zwan was Smashing Pumpkins-lite

    and Zeitgeist is Zwan-lite
    You can't spell "dumb" without DMB
  • Cropduster84
    Cropduster84 Posts: 1,283
    Joe2TheRevenge wrote:
    Zwan was Smashing Pumpkins-lite

    and Zeitgeist is Zwan-lite


    I very much agree with that.....
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • hodge
    hodge Posts: 519
    Neverlost, That's The Way My Love Is
    ..and you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable
  • rhcpjam1029
    rhcpjam1029 Posts: 1,982
    Zeitgeist is an awesome album though. Bring The Light totally gets me.
    Beavis: All my friends are brown and red? What does that mean?
    Butthead: It means that his friends are like turds and that they like suck.
    Beavis: Heh heh. Oh yeah. Yeah! Get those spoons out of my face before I shove them up your butt!
    Butthead: Huh huh.
  • Music For Rhinos
    Music For Rhinos Posts: 1,693
    I don't have Zeitgeist and have only heard the singles plus Pomp and Circumstances.

    I have liked everything I've heard.

    Yet, everyone says it's a bad album, I don't get it.
  • hailhail82
    hailhail82 Posts: 330
    I think it's a great record. I guess the problem most people have is that it doesn't show the range that the great records do. There's no real soft material on there that is as good as what came before. Billy set out to write a great, heavy album and I think he did that, but it doesn't contain the emotional dexterity of the previous albums.
    Using the word "methinks" in your message board posts doesn't make you look smart.
  • facepollution
    facepollution Posts: 6,834
    Cropduster84 wrote:
    None of the songs have any emotional impact on me......



    I find it hard to believe this is the same Billy Corgan that wrote Thirty Three, Crestfallen, In The Arms of Sleep, Mayonaise, Stand Inside Your Love, Tonight Tonight, Slow Dawn, etc.....



    Zeitgeist is empty to me......

    Ah but it does have some really strong melodies. Personally I think it's better than both Adore and Machina, purely becasue it's more consistent. Both those albums had some amazing moments (which probably eclipse anything on Zeitgeist), but a ridiculous amount of filler too.

    I'm not sure really where I stand on the Pumpkins these days. They put on a helluva show at Shepherd's Bush Empire last year, but then delivered an incredibly self-indulgent snore-fest at Reading. I was gutted. Fifteen minutes of Heavy Metal Machine was mind-numbing in the extreme. How they possibly thought they were going to top NIN with such a lacklustre performance is anybody's guess. Fuck, Lostprophets put on a more entertaining show.

    I was first in line to defend them returning with just the two original members, musically speaking it shouldn't matter, and Zeitgeist does have a fair few decent songs. But, it does seem that the other original members helped to temper Billy Corgan's insane ego - something which hired hands don't seem able to do.
  • bladworth116
    bladworth116 Posts: 344
    i think that Billy did things on such a grand rock scale with Zeitgeist that some of the emotional impact was lost in translation. that could have been his intent with this one
  • Bangers_n_mash
    Bangers_n_mash Posts: 1,241
    Some of the new songs are great live. Like For God And Country acoustic, sweet tune live (love Ginger's backing vocals! ;)). But on Zeitgeist it sounds kinda hollow. And as with the whole album there's too much of Billy's voice layered over itself a dozen times...
    uʍop ǝpısdn ǝɹ,ǝʍ 'punoɹ ʎɐʍ ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ ןןɐ s,ʇı
  • Bangers_n_mash
    Bangers_n_mash Posts: 1,241
    djerdap wrote:
    The album is crap. Lifeless and bland. Dozens of guitar layers trying to cover the one thing this album misses - at least one memorable melody.

    Not to mention Corgan's vocals are terrible throughout the record. He sounds much better live, ironically.

    I'll admit United States rocks, though.
    Bingo! Lifeless and bland. :(
    uʍop ǝpısdn ǝɹ,ǝʍ 'punoɹ ʎɐʍ ɹǝɥʇo ǝɥʇ ןןɐ s,ʇı
  • Cropduster84
    Cropduster84 Posts: 1,283
    yeah, i think lifeless and bland sums it up for me.....


    it all just sounds very flat......

    When i think of songs like Stand Inside Your Love and Mayonaise, theres nothing remotely comparable on this one.....
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • DaytimeDilemma
    DaytimeDilemma Posts: 2,008
    The problem with Zeitgeist is that it is horrible
  • Cropduster84
    Cropduster84 Posts: 1,283
    DaytimeDilemma wrote:
    The problem with Zeitgeist is that it is horrible


    lol yeah :D
    'The more I studied religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.' - Sir Richard Francis Burton
  • Music For Rhinos
    Music For Rhinos Posts: 1,693
    speaking of the pumpkins, does anyone have corgans solo album, the future embrace....if so, any good?
  • facepollution
    facepollution Posts: 6,834
    djerdap wrote:
    The album is crap. Lifeless and bland. Dozens of guitar layers trying to cover the one thing this album misses - at least one memorable melody.

    Not to mention Corgan's vocals are terrible throughout the record. He sounds much better live, ironically.

    I'll admit United States rocks, though.

    I don't think it lacks memorable melodies at all. Doomsday Clock and Tarantula are both very catchy modern rock songs. I think the album lacks identity to an extent, which is what makes it less memorable than stuff like Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie, where the songs all seemed to fit together seemlessly.

    I think the problem they faced was, after a fair few years apart, how did they pick up where they left off and yet still sound current. That is no mean feat, and I think what they really decided to do, was to try and create an album that has a little bit of all their old styles mixed together. Consequently the album as a whole doesn't sound very cohesive. I don't know what people really expected? Considering where they finished with Machina (their worst album IMO), I think Zeitgeist has some flashes of brilliance that I presumed were gone for good. The musical landscape has changed so much in the time they were apart, that it's hard to know exactly where they fit in these days, and I'm sure that played pretty heavy on their minds when they wrote the album.

    I guess what I'm getting at is, that I think people are being unnecessarily harsh. Cut them a little slack, they're just finding their feet again. I also find it much easier to appreciate the album for what it is, rather than what it isn't. I agree that the production is waaaay too polished, but that happens on plenty of decent albums, it doesn't mean the muic itself is awful.
  • facepollution
    facepollution Posts: 6,834
    Music For Rhinos wrote:
    speaking of the pumpkins, does anyone have corgans solo album, the future embrace....if so, any good?

    Steaming heap of turd, in my opinion. Boring as hell, just a lot of whining over syths and not a guitar to be heard.
  • prytocorduroy
    prytocorduroy Posts: 4,355
    Vocals
    5,000 different editions
    Vocals
    Vocals
    Billy's ego (all instruments played by Billy except for drums)
    -> Not that that's new...
  • g under p
    g under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,237
    Cropduster84 wrote:
    None of the songs have any emotional impact on me......



    I find it hard to believe this is the same Billy Corgan that wrote Thirty Three, Crestfallen, In The Arms of Sleep, Mayonaise, Stand Inside Your Love, Tonight Tonight, Slow Dawn, etc.....



    Zeitgeist is empty to me......

    My first Smashing Pumpkin album buy and it was one of my BEST album buys of 2007. Why visit the past after being 7 years away, they wanted a heavy album and came through with Zeitgeist.

    Odd thing is one by one I'm going back and picking up their albums starting with Siamese Dream. At first I didn't like it as much as Z however is getting everytime I now listen to it.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • Music For Rhinos
    Music For Rhinos Posts: 1,693
    g under p wrote:
    My first Smashing Pumpkin album buy and it was one of my BEST album buys of 2007. Why visit the past after being 7 years away, they wanted a heavy album and came through with Zeitgeist.

    Odd thing is one by one I'm going back and picking up their albums starting with Siamese Dream. At first I didn't like it as much as Z however is getting everytime I now listen to it.

    Peace


    Cool, I am doing the same. Start with Gish, awesome record.
  • hodge
    hodge Posts: 519
    pumpkins are like PJ
    they've put our 3 mediocre albums in a row (binaural, riot act, avocado // machina 1+2, zeitgeist)

    but each album still has some killer tracks on them, and both still put on a hell of a live show
    ..and you will come to find that we are all one mind, capable of all that's imagined and all conceivable

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