Smashing Pumpkins - Adore
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Free Music Notes for Adore
Free Music Review: Love is the force behind which all is created
Hit: 5 Stars
I really have no clue why I'm writing this, as there are well over 400 reviews for this album. I just feel so strongly about it, and I don't think enough people really appreciate the pure emotion that went into the creation of this masterpiece. So I'll bludgeon you with repetition...This CD does require a few slight provisions prior to experiencing it. You don't necessarily have to be in any particular mood to get the full effect, but I think it should at least be dark out. I can never listen to this CD during the day, just because it sounds a little odd. 'So Tonight That I Might See' by Mazzy Star is the same way with me (if you haven't heard it, I highly recommend it and if you like 'Adore' you'll love that one). I also think you need to have about 74 minutes on your hands. It really spoils it if you skip your way through the disc. And finally, an open mind is a must. You will probably not love this album as much as you think you will after the first listen. You might not even make it all the way through. But if you keep on listening, I guarantee that it will slowly become more than just "a Smashing Pumpkins CD" to you.
Onto the music. I don't think this CD is depressing at all. It's not a happy record by any means, but it certainly isn't sad. It's about growth, and moving on. It's about embracing the love we should all feel for each other. It's about so much more than that too, and I really can't even do its meaning justice. Upon your first listen, make sure to pay close attention during To Sheila, Appels + Oranjes, and For Martha. Those are the three that will draw you in, and open you to the rest of the material; three of the best songs Corgan has written. With time, you will probably develop an intense love for Perfect, Crestfallen, and Behold! the Night Mare. From there, all of the gaps are filled in and from this point on the album is truly whole. I'm suprised I remember the exact chronology, but this is how my love affair with 'Adore' blossomed. Don't be suprised if it's one of your favorites not long after that last phase.
I have to comment on the critical reception of this CD too. It is beyond me why everyone felt the need to slag 'Adore' when it was released, as it is on a different planet when compared with anything else that came out that year. The Smashing Pumpkins poured their collective souls into this, and I completely understand why they wigged out when everyone hated it. This CD took a lot of balls to make after releasing something like Mellon Collie, and I love the Smashing Pumpkins for making it. I always like thinking about how easily this CD could have never been released, and I am eternally grateful that it was allowed to see the light of day (or the dark of night, whichever you prefer).
'Adore' is without a doubt THE definitive Smashing Pumpkins CD. If you only own one, I believe it should be this one. With its release, the Smashing Pumpkins became more than just an "alternative band". They became artists to the truest sense of the word, and in 10 years I hope it gets the recognition it so desperately deserves. I do realize that a lot of the things I've said about this music probably sound exaggerated, as rock n' roll is hardly the place to discover life changing beauty. In all honesty, I'm always quite suprised that I harbor such an intense love of it, but I never question it. It's just damn good music.
Free Music Review: The album that killed rock
Hit: 5 Stars
Anyhow, had the Pumpkins made another rock album maybe things would be different today. But Adore is still genius. I also have a lot of respect for Corgan's egotism and "I'll do what I want" attitude. When Adore was recorded he didn't put on two guaranteed hit singles he wrote during the sessions (Cash Car Star and Let Me Give the World to You) simply because he didn't think they fit the rest of the album very well. Sixteen tracks of mostly acoustic-style songs is a little difficult to stomach, so it'll take quite awhile to grow on you, but its worth it. Perfect used to make me nautious, but now its one of my favorite songs, and that's saying a lot since I used to hate everything the Pumpkins did with a passion.
To Sheila--Soft, beautiful fingerpicking ballad that proves Corgan could care less about people who think he's overly sentimental.
Ava Adore--When I first heard it I didn't know what to think other than that they somehow must have recorded music inside a washing machine or something. Along with Perfect, the best song on the album.
Perfect--If any more proof is needed that Corgan is the single best songwriter in the history of the world, this should do the trick. Happy and sad at the same time, a ballad yet with a fast tempo, electonic and acoustic at the same time, this song is lacking in absolutely nothing.
Daphne Descends--The album starts getting a little hard on the ears right about here. The ending is botched, but its still an okay song even if could have been left off the album.
Once Upon a Time--Things get happier with some sparkling acoustic guitar. It makes me think of a nice autumn day.
Tear--Corgan wrote it along with Eye for the Lost Highway soundtrack, but it was rejected so he rewrote it for Adore. Not nearly as good as Eye, and in fact I would really like to hear the original version of Tear if I could find it, but its still a good song.
Crestfallen--One of the weakest songs on a Pumpkin album ever, I think Corgan just loved something about it too much to resist not putting it here. Its not awful, just a bit off-kilter.
Appels and Oranjes--Excellent song, quite innovative too. Very electronic-based and fast-paced, the album could have used more songs like this one to balance it out.
Pug--Weird, a bit grating on the ears at times though.
The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete--Another midtempo acoustic song along the line of Once Upon a Time, it tells the story of a murder and a ghost.
Annie Dog--Minimalist piano ballad, Corgan storytelling about a prostitute.
Shame--Slow, plodding, mature song. One of the better ones on the disc, perfect for late-night driving.
Nightmare--In the vein of Shame, but slightly more upbeat and electronic. Nice backing vocals from the rest of the band.
For Martha--For Corgan's dead mother. Epic, piano-driven song.
Blank Page--Slow-moving song with random piano chords banged out in some incomprehensible fashion, yet Corgan still somehow finds a semi-coherent melody to sing over them.
17--Somebody's idea of a joke, because its 17 seconds long.
Free Music Review: (Insert Happy Go Lucky Heading Here)
Hit: 5 Stars
There are records that everytime you hear them they take you back to a certain time and place in your life so vividly that the smells, the exact dialogues you had at the the time come back word for word, scent by scent. And for me, "Adore" is one of those records.
I remember I got "Adore" the Saturday after it came out at a Circuit City in Atlanta, Ga, excited as I had ever been to hear a new record(I was only fifteen at the time). As soon as I got home I put the record in my cheap K-Mart bought C.D. player and put the headphones on, ready to be thrilled, taken back, surprised, enthralled, whatever overly used adjective you can think of. And I was. Instantly I loved "Adore". It was the soundtrack of my summer of 1998 and has pretty much been the soundtrack to every one of my winters since(in addition to the Cure's "Disintigration")
So to put it simply, I love this record. This is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins record by a mile, the one I come back to time and time again. It was dismissed as just another attempt of a rock band trying to utilize electronic/ techno elements to stay contomporary(U2's "Pop", Bush's remix record, David Bowie's "Earthling") but those people had it wrong all along. The electronic elements for the most part are not the basis of the songs, but rather atmospherics to add to the feel of the record. This is, for lack of a better word, a lullabye of a record, a quiet, introspective, sad, intimate album that is better when heard as one part as opposed to being held accountable for only a few songs.
"Ava Adore" rocks an electronic drum beat to a sublime chorus, where "Perfect" is pretty obviously a successor of sorts to "Mellon Collie's" hit "1979". "Daphne Descends" is the most electronic track on the album, but also in my opinion the best, a wall-of-noise instrumental with one of Corgan's most plainitive and open vocals ever.
"Crestfallen" is simply heartbreaking, where "Apples+Oranges" and "Behold! The Night Mare" are darker tinged pop songs with instant melodies and enough going on to make you return to them again and again. And I dare you not to get excited and heartbroking when the guitar solo to the majestic and top notched "For Martha" kicks into high gear.
The record also finds Corgan in a more subdued mood then he ever was, or has been, before. There are no epic anthems to teen angst and suburban suffering(one thing that probably hurt the record sales wise) but instead meditations on death, love, faith and where all three collide. It is Corgan's masterpiece lyrically, a record that finds the personal in the universal and vice versa.
I don't care if this is the cool Pumpkins record to like. It's of little consequence to me. By the time the piano outro finishes all I ever want to do is press repeat and start it all over again. There is absolutly nothing I dislike about this record, from the packaging(this record has one of the prettiest booklets I have ever seen) to the music to the execution. I love this record and is one of my favorites of all time.
And if you give it a shot I'm sure you will love it too.
Free Music Review: Please Give Another Listen
Hit: 5 Stars
Talk about being ahead of your time. Billy Corgan has always been one to move musically advanced beyond his peers, but given this album it's utterly astonishing. This is basically his album, not the Pumpkins. It's the first album James Iha their quitarist had no hand in writing. Billy wrote it and produced it with minor help from Flood. The other two pumpkins barely have any instrumental part. This is Billy alone and it shows. It was way ahead of its time, in an era before Radiohead obliterated rock mainstream. Maybe people can finally accept it years later.
What's so ironic is that so many criticize it for not being siamese dream, when in actuality, it basically is. It's the exact same premise as Siamese. Everyone song represents pain and anger building up until the final track when everything is let go and released into happiness. Corgan just went about it differently. This album is utter gloom and sadness. A dark veil covers it and sometimes its easy to get lost in this album. It's so beautiful.
The intro "TO Sheila" makes sure the listeners know where this is going. A soft beautiful piano ballad. The first single "Ava Adore" is a techno rock song that sets the dark gothic mood that encompasses the album. From there on there's pain and depression set to tripped out piano chords and a drum machine that has more bass than a rap set. It's a bit pointless to pick out individual songs since this album is so cohesive and must be listened to fully as a concept album. If I had to pick highlights though, I'd have to say "Daphne Descends" is a brilliant work especially lyrically about Corgan's wife leaving him for someone else. "Crestfallen" is probably one of the most beautiful songs ever writen, and "For Martha" about Corgan's mother, will bring you to tears. "Shame" is also a great slow ballad which I think is most likely about then outcast member Jimmy Chamberlin.
As all the sadness and doubt continue on it's almost too much to take. The album is summed up by a line in "For Martha". Billy wails, "Long horses we are born, creatures more than torn. Mourning our way home." Yeah, pretty depressing, but definitly beautiful. The album ends with "17" a seventeen second ditty that simply states that all you need is seventeen seconds to let go of your pain and realize how beautiful life is. This is without a doubt their best album, but it's just not for everybody. Many can't listen to constant depressing balads and gothic pop, and I understand that. But that doesn't mean its a bad album. Its a beautiful album about pain and suffering that is worth a listen. what this album deserves is respect, something that is way overdue.
Free Music Review: The greatest cd i have ever heard
Hit: 5 Stars
It took me a while to really get into this cd, because i was more into basic rock at the time. At a talent show in my school, 2 kids played Tear, from this cd, but I did not catch the title when they played it. All i remember is that the song stayed in my head and i couldn't stop thinking about it. So at a thrift shop, i found M.C. and the I.S for 5 bucks, and got it. It became my all time favorite cd. Next i got Simese Dream, the one that was supposed to be the best. I didn't think it came close to M.C. though, but it was ok. Then I got Machina, and that became my favorite cd of all time. Basically, it was older pumpkins more mature. Adore came next, and like I said, it took me a while to really get in to it. But one day i popped it into my cd player, and i actually listened to it for the first time, i didn't just hear it. The songs on this album seemed like they spent a lot more time writing them. Billy Corgan wrote some of his most personal lyrics, and the music was amazing. To Shelia starts off with that nylon-stringed acousic riff, and the song just bulids into a musical masterpiece. Definatly my favorite song on the album. Next comes the 2 radio songs like the gothicy Ava Adore, and the 1979ish Perfect. Both great songs for radio, which makes me only wonder why this album wasn't more popular in sales (like it matters anyway). Then comes Daphne Desends, another song that i think could of been on the radio. Once Upon a Time reminds me of Gish for some reason, maybe because the guitar sounds similar. Tear, the first Pumpkins song i ever heard is next, which sounds like one of the saddest songs ever written. Crestfallen is simply one of the greatest songs ever written, and Appels and Oranjes is great with that electronic drum beat and wonderful synth and guitar. Pug is another song that sounds really gothic, and i think that might of even mmade it on the radio. The Tale of Dusty and P. Pete could of fit in on M.C. Annie-Dog is extremely fun to play on the guitar, just using the piano chords. Shame is a masterpiece written to the death of the late INXS singer, and Behold! the Night Mare is another one of my favorites on the album. For Martha is the beautiful song Billy wrote for the death of his mother, and 17 is just 17 seconds of the b- side Blissed and Gone. All in all, i think later on down the road this cd will make more sence to people, and maybe they will finally listen to it rather then just hear it. One more note, check out some of the songs that didn't make the album. Waiting, Soot and Stars, Eye, and Once in a While are definatly worth getting, but to be sure get them all.