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Rating: He tried many times to be artistically reborn, good old Billy.
After the breakup of the Smashing Pumpkins, it was a long torment, starting with a first solo album full of energy and overproduced but absolutely not essential ("TheFutureEmbrace"), going through a reunion of the "pumpkins" with a completely renewed lineup that brought very few joys and many yawns.
When everything seemed lost (rumors of an original lineup reunion, fueled by Billy himself, sound very much like a late last attempt to climb back up), the guru Rick Rubin arrives with the most classic of offers you cannot refuse: a solo album that feels very much like a reboot, with the full name on the cover. A sign of a new beginning, of detachment from a burdensome past so that the fans can listen free of prejudice.
Out comes this "Ogilala", an album of dazzling beauty. There's nothing new, or complex, in this new work by Corgan: in fact, the (winning) choice of Rubin (someone who knows a thing or two about artistic rebirths, as he demonstrated with Johnny Cash) is to strip everything down to the bone. A guitar, a piano, and the stunning vocals of the old Billy, who opts for a singing style constantly close to the vibrato and moves like he hasn't done in a very long time.
Though there is a slight underlying flatness, everything works wonderfully: the new "suit" crafted by Rubin for Corgan is a winner, especially in some tracks where the ex-pumpkin's writing is still as inspired as in the old days (the phenomenal opener "Zowie", a heartfelt tribute to the Thin White Duke). Long-missing James Iha returns on the six strings (and you can hear it) for "Processional", while other beautiful things come from the two singles "Aeronaut" and "The Spaniards" (the latter featuring a beautiful video with scenes taken from "Pillbox", a short film directed by the author himself). The strings of "Mandarynne" nostalgically recall the golden times of "Mellon Collie", as does the fully convincing closure with "Archer".
Finally, a beautiful return for an author who wrote fundamental pages of alt rock between the late '90s and early 2000s. A new beginning that we hope will lead to something equally beautiful in the future.
Best track: "Zowie"
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