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Rating: One thing is certain, the Smashing Pumpkins are back, without a doubt.
"Zeitgeist" finally brings us back (unlike "Mary Star of The Sea" and "The Future Embrace", Corgan's last two works), with tones and solutions different from the past, that fiercer anger and more childlike sweetness that are a peculiarity in the soul of the Smashing Pumpkins.
The lyrics are also interesting, with Corgan seeming to want to merge a private dimension with a public one, a world in ruins where everything is commodified, from love to what one believes in, even to the image of a band, the Smashing Pumpkins, dead and buried by their own image.
The beginning is overwhelming, "Doomsday Clock" is a track that grows with each listen, with a dark riff and apocalyptic lyrics preparing the field for Corgan's intentions, who seems to have found a fruitful source of inspiration. The rulers of the world lead us to death, relegating us behind days of loneliness; the end of the world is in our hearts that still beat (They're bound to kill us all...when will they ever stop? ...the doomsday clock ticking in my heart not broken).
"7 Shades of Black" continues along the same lines, with a driving rhythm (reminding me of "beginning is the end is the beginning") to construct the image of the man of the new millennium: I want you bad and without peer and without fear, only to remain definitively alone: I'm without anyone at all.
"Bleeding the Orchid" is, in my opinion, the masterpiece of the entire album. An aggressive and melancholic dark piece, here is the entire soul of the best Smashing Pumpkins. Corgan's reflection turns to what the band represents today, back on the scene with all the dreams and hopes saved from the past: so here we are upon your stage, the laughs we shared, the dreams we saved, we're bleeding the orchid. Perfect.
"That's the Way (My Love Is)" takes up the typical sounds of Machina, returning to a more intimate dimension. In a senseless world, with nothing to believe in, love can be the anchor, like an age that is about to come (I feel a coming age now), a sun that will rise (a certain sun keep rising on my belief in you), a dream, a hope to start anew.
"Tarantula" represents the desire to take refuge in this dream that is love (I don’t wanna fight, every single night, everything I want is in your eyes). For the first time, the tones become cheerful, but it's a restless happiness; just close your eyes, and the evil reappears (then close your eyes you'll see the angel dust). The two lovers are the ruins of society in a society that knows not how to love but knows how to fake smiles and happiness to mask its evil, knowing they are alone because of it (I don't wanna be alone). The final line is an acknowledgment (If it's a white hot soul they want, then a black heart they'll get).
"Starz" exalts, with an almost march-like rhythm, the fighting strength of men who know how to love, immortal, fearless. An anthem to courage, to commitment, stars that bleed, stars that shine, willing and able to suffer to regain their freedom. The final cry (we are free) seems to prepare the ground for the inevitable.
"United States" could be the "Silverfuck" or the "X.y.u." of "Zeitgeist," but in my view, it is superior for its deep meanings and the tension it manages to create. The dark riffs alternate with hysterical gallops, the unlistenable solos, Corgan’s screams like echoes seem to create a panorama only dreamed of, an aspired but unattainable perspective: the revolution. What will they do to me when revolution breaks out, what will they do to you, asks Billy. The piece literally explodes at the end, like an uprising in the making; Corgan's screams screech for a revolt that can be cultural before it is bloody (do you wanna watch me die??, let me do something good, let me prove something real like I should, let me embrace every single living thing, let me be every single moment I ever misunderstood).
"Neverlost" returns to earth, to hopes betrayed and those still standing. A beautiful ballad, to remember that "if you love you'll find certain truths left behind". Once again it may represent the only reason to claim that one has never lost a war, a revolution, an ideal (I lost my place, I never lost, there’s no disgrace in falling me). Stunning.
"Bring the Light" aims, therefore, to restart from personal relationships, not just to survive, but to be alive. The album regains altitude, the rhythm and riffs reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age's "Songs for the Deaf".
"Come on Let’s go", a track where the unfortunate Zwan passage can be heard only in the initial part. The overall tone is much more aggressive, and the ending is simply stunning. "C’mon let’s go" is the second invitation to change the world, a new revolution proposed after that of United States, the finale reprising it with similar riffs but with different meanings. This time the only revolution proposed is love (I wanna love!).
"For God and Country" instead marks total failure in a climate of total sterility and indifference rendered great in the album's electronic version (It’s too late for some, for what you’ve done, for everyone). Corgan seems to surrender (I can’t help what I divide in you) and enlists in the mass army that defends its country and its God in search of new recruits. Disturbing.
"Pomp and Circumstances" represents the classic closing of the album for the Pumpkins, reminiscent of a "Daydream", a "Sweet Sweet", or "Farewell and Goodnight"; in short, the little song that Corgan loves to place at the end of his works as a charming goodbye to his fans. The melody is simple, and the arrangement deserves attention.
The Pumpkins take their leave (torn, broken and frayed...war, sunshine and grace), acknowledging their defeat, with sweetness... and a solo.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Doomsday Clock (03:44)
Is everyone afraid?
Is everyone ashamed?
They're running towards their holes to find out.
Apocalyptic means are lost among our dead,
A message to our friends to get out.
There's wages on this fear, oh, so clear.
Depends on what you'll pay to hear.
They're bound to kill us all in whitewashed halls,
Their jackals lick their paws.
Please don't stop,
It's lonely at the top.
These lonely days,
When will they ever stop?
This doomsday clock ticking in my heart, not broken.
I love life every day in each and every way,
Kafka would be proud to find out.
I'm certain of the end,
It's the means that has me spooked.
It takes an unknown truth to get out.
I'm guessing I'm born free, silly me,
I was meant to beg from my knees.
Please don't stop,
It's lonely at the top.
These lonely days,
Will they ever stop?
This doomsday clock ticking in my heart,
These lonely days, when will they ever stop?
We gotta dig in, gas masks on.
Wait in the sunshine, all bug-eyed.
If this is living, sake's alive.
Well, then they can't win, no one survives.
Is everyone afraid?
You should be ashamed.
Apocalyptic screams mean nothing to the dead.
Kissing that 'ol sun to know all there is.
Come on, last call, you should want it all.
Ah, it's lonely at the top.
These lonely days, will they ever stop?
This doomsday clock ticking in my heart,
These lonely days, when will they ever stop?
This ticking in my heart, is everyone afraid?
02 7 Shades of Black (03:17)
I'm on the street yeah
I want you
I'm looking for myself
I'm gonna make it
I'll take it
Like everybody else
Belle of the fawning
I'm yawning
Sister can't you spell
Above suspicion
Hey listen !
I'm digging my own hell
'Cause I want you bad, ah
'Cause I want you bad
And without peer
And without fear
I'm without anyone at all
I'm torn apart, decrying
How unjust you are
For busting
My black heart
'Cause you don't want me no more
But just you worry
'Cause when they scratch-scratch my door
You'll hurry
Ah 1, 2, 3
This gun is loaded, devoted
You postulate the rest
Riding the seesaw
There's no law
That I have ever met
I'm just a flat punk
On dead junk
Riding a vanguard
Cut from the vaunted
I'm haunted, till death do us part
'Cause I want you bad, ah
'Cause I want you bad
Fall in hate with me with one trick
You will want it all
The yeah-yeah tears
The now and here
The without anyone at all
I'm torn without
I'm crying out for doom
'Cause you don't want me no more
But babe don't worry
'Cause when you scratch-scratch my door
I'll show you, either or?
We are the lurking
The panzers
The black as coal as night
Stealing the stealthy
And stellar
Until we get it right
Notice the yearlings
The dead things
The pretty as you please
I am the regent, the marquis
Sowing my bad seeds
'Cause I want you bad, ah
'Cause I want you bad
Fall in hate with me with one trick
You will want it all
As St. Patrick pipes on!
03 Bleeding the Orchid (04:03)
If life is my witness, love is my song.
If nothing means no one, then blank, I belong.
If fear conquers easy, I can lead on.
Milk from the flower, blood from the dawn.
So here we are upon your stage,
The laughs we shared, the dreams we saved.
Bleeding the orchid,
We’re bleeding the orchid.
Bleeding the orchid.
Blessed my weakness, blessed my wrongs,
As hate forms the sequence of one by one.
As freedoms die easy with suffrage, the want.
There’s clouds in my shower, ghosts in my arms.
Youth is where you are, faith some sinner's child.
We're bleeding the orchid,
We're bleeding the orchid,
Bleeding the orchid.
Gilded art, this silent past triumph through alarm,
So thus charmed, but hearts untouched by hearts unloved.
Bleeding the orchid,
Bleeding the orchid.
Here we are upon your stage,
The love we share, the dreams we’ll save.
They’re bleeding the orchid.
05 Tarantula (03:51)
I don’t want to fight every single night.
Everything I want is in your eyes.
You and me go back to places I don't know to care,
The spoils of all I got were left for scraps.
Don’t let me say this, but you're no worse than me.
It’s crazy.
We are the real, if real ever was, and just because,
We are the real, they feel we have enough.
We are the real, cause someone gave us up.
I want to be there when you’re happy,
I want to love you when you’re sad.
Can’t stand the morning rain?
Get out, I'll take your place then.
Can’t stand the blazing sun?
Then close your eyes, you’ll see the angel dust.
I don’t want to be anything believed,
A million watts of sound can’t compare.
Come along, you’ll see the world.
The pulse ripples, the crowd unfurls,
The current starts to flow, and then you're on.
Oh, it’s a white hot soul they want to sing for.
We are the real, if real ever was, and just because
We are the ruin of every living soul.
We are surreal cause someone gave us up.
Don’t break the oath,
I want to love you when you’re happy.
Don’t break this oath,
I want to be there when you’re sad.
Freeze-frame the pouring rain.
We are the real, as real as any ghost, so easy now.
We are the real in every living soul, oh, don't they know?
Can’t stand the blazing sun?
Can’t stand the morning rain?
Oh, get out, I'll take your place again.
I don’t want to be alone,
Oh, I don’t want to be alone,
Oh, I don’t want to be alone at all.
If it’s a white hot soul they want,
Then a black heart they’ll get.
06 Starz (03:43)
Born of love and cast in light,
Don't you know we cannot die?
We are stars, we are.
The stars above, stars of grace,
Shining down what's left to face.
You hurt so bad.
This knowing, this fallacy,
I want so much to follow as I lead,
For love, I keep silence, I weep.
Dead suns rule dead air, but Heaven is everywhere.
Stars...
Torn from God and flung towards night,
Don't you want what I can't fight?
We are stars, we are.
The stars that shine, stars that bleed,
Silver seeking destiny,
So follow, please.
This hurts so much, this knowing carries me.
We want so bad, we forget we are free.
Spirit smile on, deep black diamonds.
So rise the lost toys, islands of white noise and purple haze.
We are stars.
What hurts so much is knowing we are free.
07 United States (09:52)
Tired eyes, closed for days.
There's no regret, cause there's no place.
I don’t know what I believe, but if I feel safe, what do I need?
A home.
Revolution, revolution, revolution blues.
What will they do?
Revolution, revolution, revolution blues.
What will they do to me?
What will they do to me?
What will they do to me?
What will they do to me?
Dulcet tongues, whisper fast.
The future yearns, right now's the past.
Rouse me soon, the end draws night.
Whose side are you on?
Your blood you can not buy.
Revolution, revolution, revolution blues.
What will they do?
Revolution, revolution, revolution blues.
What will they do to you?
Well, I, I feel all right, so tonight, I got to ask you why,
Why deny it?
It's no surprise, I've got to survive.
Freedom shines the light ahead,
I'll lead the last charge to bed.
I said my last rights,
I don’t have to run scared no more.
Fight, I wanna fight, I wanna fight a revolution tonight.
I wanna fight, I wanna fight a revolution tonight,
At the light, at the light.
Do you wanna watch me die?
Let me be something good,
Let me prove something real like I should,
Let me embrace every single living thing,
Let me be every single moment I ever misunderstood.
08 Neverlost (04:20)
All hands on deck
Setting sail to get wrecked off course
You make what you want of me
I will keep you anyway
Let's fill these hours and kill desire
Let's fill these hours and kill desire
I'm in touch with you
Let's kill these hours and fill desire
Every turn is torture thought
Every kicking of the drum
I've seen the film
I know the place
I'm never lost
There's just one way across
I'm never lost
Headlights shoot north
The ends of earth off course
Of course
If you think just right
If you'll love you'll find
Certain truths left behind
All this is that once forgot
A closing down of the gate
But oh these hours
I lost my place
I'm never lost
There's just one way
There's no disgrace in failing me
Let's kill these hours and fill desire
I'm in touch with you
Let's kill these hours and fill desire
I'm in touch with you
I'm in touch with you
09 Death From Above (04:06)
A Little Hunger
A Little Wonder Of
Death From Above
Death From Above
Oh Mary Mary
What Are We Askin Of
Death From Above
Yes Love Im Sinkin
I Wonder Just How Far
What Was I Thinkin
Of When I Fell Apart
I See The Moon Move
Cover Me Under The Spell
I See The Few Souls
Cover Me Hungry And Cold
I Know The First Thing
Running Up Under Your Path
I Know This Can't Last
Death From Above
Shoot Here Comes
Death From Above
A Little Reject
A Simple Conjure Of
Death From Above
You Rock N Rollers
You Sudden Victims Of
Death From Above
Oh Death From Above
Yes Love Im Sinkin
I Hunger Where You Are
Whats Left But Notice
To Notice Just How Far
I See The Moon Light
Cover Me Under The Spell
I See The Few Souls
Beggin Bury Us Now
I Know The Valleys
Running Up Under My Path
I Know The (Spare Leaves ?)
Death From Above
Oh Here Comes Death From Above
Oh Lord Im Sinking
I Just Dont Know How Far
Its Death From Above
Yes Love Im Sinking
I Hunger Where You Are
Death From Above
Death From Above
Yes Lord Im Thinking Of
Death From Above
Yes Lord Im Thinking Of
Death From Above
13 Pomp and Circumstances (04:20)
When I was born, I lost.
When I was freed, I fought.
Now that I’m loved, I’m caught.
Between the rest and this tragic mess, an invited guest.
Torn, broken, and frayed, oh, don't we face war, sunshine, and grace?
Oh, won’t you stay for a while?
We can fail in style, I can hold your smile for a while.
What was once new, now gone.
What was once praised, now wrong.
As they go, we can say we know, but what do we know,
But war, sunshine, and grace?
Don't we see what's bitter to taste?
Torn, broken, and frayed, don't we face war, sunshine, and grace?
Won't you stay?
Cause I won't tell, I won't tell a soul that I'm mad as hell.
Torn, broken, and frayed, I'm torn, broken, and frayed,
No, I'm cold, worn out, and shamed.
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Other reviews
By MiciaTigre
This new one is ugly, gaudy, overly produced with five hundred overdubbed guitars, a plastic production that induces nausea.
The pumpkins ended after the release of the beautiful 'Adore', the rest is not Smashing Pumpkins.
By Deviljin
This 'Zeitgeist' is the most inane, monotonous, and fake thing I've listened to in years.
It’s pointless to fill an album with thousands of effects and some guitar licks if the songs aren’t there, don’t exist, and it’s like listening to nothing for over an hour.
By fastfish
Corgan seems to have run out of ideas and wanting to continue being a rocker for who knows what reasons...
Everything seems perfectly polished without particularly salient moments, it’s all a mash of old rock tricks as old as my grandma.
By zaireeka
After the fourth/fifth listen, you’ll realize it’s not like that, and even tracks such as "Doomsday", "Pomp and Circumstances"... can ultimately be counted among the best things by SP.
"United States", the most "extreme" track... will make you feel like you’re on vacation in Iraq, in the midst of a cheerful bombing.
By Torre Ste
"United States is a sonic punch that raises the quality of this return by one of the groups that marked the '90s."
"The noisy, raw, distorted sound is different from previous albums, disappointing some old fans while trying to find a new audience."
