Review Summary: Misunderstood, challenging, and little tough to get 'into' describes the Pumpkins' 2000 release very well.
With all of the Pumpkins' mania that is going around with their newest release,
Zeitgeist, I figured it was time to look back on Smashing Pumpkins' most difficult and equally challenging album,
Machina: The Machines of God. The last album released before the original break-up,
Machina: The Machines of God was a misunderstood epic that never did well commercially because its companion,
Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music was never released to store shelves. This album was an incomplete epic that was a very, very good album that was looked over along with their 1998 release
Adore. Sadly, this album was seen as the break-up record that eventually disbanded the band, but it shouldn't have been.
Machina: The Machines of God was a difficult album to get into and understand because on first listen its overwhelming, diverse, and a bit confusing. The album was an infusion of hard rock, new age, and just plain odd. But it worked for
Machina: The Machines of God because songs like
Try, Try, Try and
The Imploding Voice may have been odd and a little bit musically 'out there', but they were immediate classics upon first listen. This goes for plenty other songs, like the harder riff-heavy opener
The Everlasting Gaze and the a bit irritating but still catchy
Heavy Metal Machine.
The album is easily the Pumpkins' most diverse record because
The Everlasting Gaze may have just sounded like
Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness while
Try, Try, Try may have been something completely different than we've ever heard from the Pumpkins. Some of the songs are strange, but not as different as
Adore or as typical as
Gish.
Machina: The Machines of God was all in all another dimension to the Pumpkins' music.
Machina: The Machines of God was by far, a concept album. The music jumped all over the place, but the album was consistent as the album would go from the heartfelt, solemn epic
Stand Inside Your Love to the slower, atmospheric track
I of the Mourning seamlessly without even a worry in the world of the songs not fitting together. The album was also a showcase of Billy Corgan and James Iha's impressive guitar work and how they managed to make great sounds while being completely different in their style. The signature layered guitar work is present, and heavily used just not as much as it was in
Siamese Dream, but with a different sound and twinge which also captured by the album's frequent use of keyboards and fuzzy Zwan-sounding guitar work.
But the album isn't an easy listen on first glance, as it kind of gives a listener a question, of "What just happened? This is the Pumpkins?" because it sounds so different than anything we've heard so far from the Pumpkins. Its not
Adore nor is it
Siamese Dream. But after a few listens, the tracks seemingly stick out a lot more and the album becomes much easier to comprehend.
Billy Corgan's lyrics are just as prophetic, poetic, and angst-filled as they've always been. While most of his lyrics are very hard to comprehend for the standard person, they are a bit deeper and much more poetic than standard songwriters. The songs are just as catchy and interesting as they've always been and just as deep and impressive lyrically as they've always been. But
Machina: The Machines of God seems to have a darker, almost helpless feel lyrically which the former Pumpkins albums never had.
But by the end,
Machina: The Machines of God manages to slowly die off as the last few songs are especially strange and different but still quality tracks nonetheless. It doesn't take much away from the album, its still a very good album. And twenty years from now when everyone's looking back on the Smashing Pumpkins' lengthy career,
Machina: The Machines of God and it's partner
Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music will go down as the most misunderstood and challenging albums of the Smashing Pumpkins' career.
DOWNLOAD:
Stand Inside Your Love
Try, Try, Try
The Imploding Voice
