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Rating: Only today do I begin to appreciate the greatness of this excellent group: the fact is that I discovered them with Adore and Machina, albums in which the raw and powerful sound that characterized their beginnings had vanished, and when finding a good track required navigating through the extracted singles (fans, don't kill me for what I just said).
With this second album, there's no need to skip for good music, because it's very rare to find an unpleasant track. It opens with a splendid intro (self-titled), with only the piano dominating the scene, highlighting that more pop side of genius Corgan that fans already appreciated with Mayonnaise in Siamese Dream. More melody with "Tonight, Tonight": there's no need to define its greatness, the lyrics are shocking and mesmerizing, and the music is played divinely, proving that the Pumpkins can also do it technically (in this case, I'm referring to Chamberlain). From track number 3 onwards, the electric guitars begin and "finally" the distortions: "Zero" and "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" are the peaks, moving through "Here Is No Why" until reaching "Love", a track that hints at what Adore will be, with its almost electropop sound. In this part of the album, the already mentioned calm side of Billy takes over again, which this time gets lost in some overly sweet melodies that, in my opinion, slightly lower the average.
The second disc is not at the level of the first, even if it starts off well, especially when listening to "Bodies". But it's "1979" that stands out: a very catchy riff, simple and precise drums that break in without disturbing Corgan's very expressive voice here. A track that perhaps owes something to My Bloody Valentine (?); it must be because I always have "When You Sleep" in my head, but anyway... The masterpieces are "finished" but the album continues to be enjoyable as it began, that is, among more rock tracks ("X.Y.U") or sweet ones ("Stumbleine"). I don't consider it, like many do, a masterpiece, but certainly the best in the discography of the Chicago band, with an ensemble of historical tracks and others of little depth, yes, but an excellent album.
THANKS FOR READING
p.s: I write reviews for personal satisfaction, so I hope not to see the usual "it's already been said, adds nothing" in the comments, I'm aware of that but I still want to share my opinion on an album I appreciated; I will do so in the future as well.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 Tonight, Tonight (04:14)
Time is never time at all.
You can never ever leave without leaving a piece of youth.
And our lives are forever changed; we will never be the same.
The more you change the less you feel.
Believe, believe in me, believe. (believe)
That life can change, that you're not stuck in vain.
We're not the same, we're different tonight.
Tonight, tonight, so bright.
Tonight, tonight.
And you know you're never sure, but you're sure you could be right;
If you held yourself up to the light.
And the embers never fade, in the city by the lake;
The place where you were born.
Believe, believe in me, believe. (believe)
In the resolute urgency of now.
And if you believe there's not a chance tonight.
Tonight, tonight, so bright.
Tonight, tonight.
We'll crucify the insincere tonight. (tonight)
We'll make things right, we'll feel it all tonight. (tonight)
We'll find a way to offer up the night. (tonight)
The indescribable moments of your life. (tonight)
The impossible is possible tonight. (tonight)
Believe in me as I believe in you, tonight.
Tonight, tonight. [x2]
03 Jellybelly (03:01)
Welcome to nowhere fast.
Nothing here ever lasts,
Nothing but memories of what never was.
We're nowhere, we're nowhere, we're nowhere to be.
Nowhere, we're nowhere, we're nowhere to see.
Living makes me sick,
So sick I wish I'd die,
Down in the belly of the beast,
I can't lie.
You're nowhere, you're nowhere, you're nowhere to be.
Nowhere, you're nowhere, you're nowhere to see.
There's nothing left to do.
There's nothing left to feel.
Doesn't matter what you want, so...
To make yourself feel better,
You make it so you'll never,
Give in to your forevers and live for always.
And forever, forever, you're forever to be.
Forever, forever, you're forever to me.
04 Zero (02:40)
My reflection, dirty mirror
There's no connection to myself
I'm your lover, I'm your zero
I'm the face in your dreams of glass
So save your prayers for when we're really gonna need them
Throw out your cares and fly
Wanna go for a ride?
She's the one for me
She's all I really need
'Cause she's the one for me
Emptiness is loneliness, and loneliness is cleanliness
And cleanliness is godliness, and God is empty just like me
Intoxicated with the madness, I'm in love with my sadness
Bullshit fakers, enchanted kingdoms
The fashion victims chew their charcoal teeth
I never let on that I was on a sinking ship
I never let on that I was down
You blame yourself for what you can't ignore
You blame yourself for wanting more
She's the one for me
She's all I really need
She's the one for me
She's my one and only
06 Bullet With Butterfly Wings (04:17)
The world is a vampire, sent to drain
Secret destroyers hold you up to the flames
And what do I get for my pain?
Betrayed desires and a piece of the game
Even though I know, I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold like old Job
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Now I'm naked, nothing but an animal
But can you fake it for just one more show?
And what do you want, I want to change
And what have you got when you feel the same
Even though I know, I suppose I'll show
All my cool and cold like old Job
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Tell me I'm the only one
Tell me there's no other one
Jesus was an only son
Tell me I'm the chosen one
Jesus was an only son for you
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Then someone will say what is lost can never be saved
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage
Tell me I'm the only one
Tell me there's no other one
Jesus was an only son for you
And I still believe that I cannot be saved
And I still believe that I cannot be saved
And I still believe that I cannot be saved
And I still believe that I cannot be saved
07 To Forgive (04:16)
ten times removed
i forget about where it all began
bastard son of a bastard son of
a wild eyed child of the sun
and right as rain, i'm not the same but
i feel the same, i feel nothing
holding back the fool again
holding back the fool pretends
i forget to forget nothing is important
holding back the fool again
i sensed my loss
before i even learned to talk
and i remember my birthdays
empty party afternoons won't come back
holding back the fool again
holding back the fool pretends
i forget to forget nothing is important
holding back the fool again
i forget to forget me
i forget to forget you see
nothing is important to me
i knew my loss
before i even learned to speak
and all along, i knew it was wrong
but i played along, with my birthday song
holding back the fool again
holding back the fool pretends
i forget to forget nothing is important
holding back the fool again
10 Cupid de Locke (02:50)
Cupid hath pulled back his sweetheart's bow
To cast divine arrows into her soul
To grab her attention swift and quick
Or morrow the marrow of her bones be thick
With turpentine kisses and mistaken blows
See the devil may do as the devil may care
He loves none sweeter as sweeter the dare
Her mouth the mischief he doth seek
Her heart the captive of which he speaks
So note all ye lovers in love with the sound
Your world be shattered with nary a note
Of one cupids arrow under your coat
And in the land of star crossed lovers
And barren hearted wanderers
Forever lost in forsaken missives and satan's pull
We seek the unseekable and we speak the unspeakable
Our hopes dead gathering dust to dust
In faith, in compassion, and in love
11 Galapogos (04:46)
Ain't it funny How we pretend we're still a child?
Softly stolen under blanket skies
And rescue me from me and all that I believe
I won't deny the pain
I won't deny the change
And should I fall from grace here with you?
Would you leave me too?
Carve out your heart for keeps in and old oak tree
And hold me for goodbyes and whispered lullabyes
And tell me I am still the man I'm supposed to be
I won't deny the pain
I won't deny the change
And should I fall from grace here with you?
Would you leave me too?
Too late to turn to turn back now, I'm running out of sound
And I'm changing, changing
And if we died right now
This fool you love somehow is here with you
I won't deny the pain
I won't deny the change
And should I fall from grace here with you?
Would you leave me too?
Would you leave me too?
12 Muzzle (03:44)
I fear that I am ordinary, just like everyone
To lie here and die among the sorrows
Adrift among the days
For everything I ever said
And everything I've ever done is gone and dead
As all things must surely have to end
The great loves will one day have to part
I know that I am meant for this world
My life has been extraordinary
Blessed and cursed and won
Time heals but I'm forever broken
By and by the way...
Have you ever heard the words
I'm singing in these songs?
It's for the girl I've loved all along
Can a taste of love be so wrong?
As all things must surely have to end
The great loves will one day have to part
I know that I am meant for this world
And in my mind as I was floating
Far above the clouds
Some children laughed I'd fall for certain
For thinking that I'd last forever
But I knew exactly where I was
And I knew the meaning of it all
And I knew the distance to the sun
And I knew the echo that is love
And I knew the secrets in your spires
And I knew the emptiness of youth
And I knew the solitude of heart
And I knew the murmurs of the soul
And the world is drawn into your hands
And the world is etched upon your heart
And the world so hard to understand
In the world your can't live without
And I knew the silence of the world.
And I knew the silence of the world.
And I knew the silence of the world.
And I knew the silence of the world.
And I knew the silence of the world.
13 Porcelina of the Vast Oceans (09:21)
As far as you take me, that's where I believe
The realm of soft delusions, floating on the laves
On a distant shoreline, she waves her arms to me
As all the thought police are closing in for sleep
The dilly dally of my bright lit stay
The steam of my misfortunes has given me the power to be afraid
And in my mind I'm everyone,
And in my mind
Without a care in this whole world
Without a care in this whole world
Without a care in this life
It's what you take that makes it right
Porcelina of the oceans blue
Porcelina, Porcelina...
In the slipstream of thoughtless thoughts
The light of all that's good, the light of all that's true
To the fringes gladly, I walk unadorned
With gods and their creations, with filth and disease
Porcelina, she waits for me there with seashell hissing lullabies
And whispers fathomed deep inside my own hidden thoughts and alibis
My secret thoughts come alive
Without a care in this whole world
Without a care in this whole world
Without a care in this life
It's what you take that makes it right
And in my mind I'm everyone
And in my mind I'm everyone
And in my mind I'm everyone of you...
You make it right
It's all alright
You make it right...
Porcelina of the oceans blue
Porcelina of the oceans blue
14 Take Me Down (02:52)
Take me down, to the underground
Won't you take me down, to the underground
Why of why, there is no light
And if I can't sleep, can you hold my life
And all I see is you
Take my hand, I lost where I began
In my heart I know all my faults
Will you help me understand
And I believe in you
You're the other half of me
Soothe and heal...
When you sleep, when you dream, I'll be there if you need
me,
whenever I hear you sing...
There is a sun, it'll come, the sun, I hear them call me
down
I held you once, a lover that once, and life had just begun
And you're all I see...
And trumpets blew, and angels flew on the other side
And you're all I see, and you're all I'll need
There's a love that god puts in your heart
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