Oh Yes, music fans. It's a good good day. It has been confirmed that the Smashing Pumpkins are not only reunited for a new album, called 'Zeitgeist' which is being release July 7 of 2007, but they are also touring! And their first Canadian stop will be the Virgin Music Festival in Toronto! So far it does not look as if they will be making any other stops north of the border any time soon. As a longtime Pumpkins fan, I've been waiting for this for a long time. Fans have known for awhile that something might happen, after Billy Corgan publically announced his intention to reform SP. Since then I have heard through rumour and official sites about who is or might be actually in the reformed band. Jimmy Chamberlain is on drums, which is awesome. Jimmy's drums are among the best ALL TIME, and really give the Pumpkins their backbone. Other than that, nothing is official, but I'm guessing James Iha is in for lead guitar. Rumour mills have him showing up at the studio where the new album is being put together. No sign of D'Arcy though, which perhaps isn't surprising at all. While she might not have been the core reason for why the band broke up in the first place, it's pretty obvious that she was (intentionally or not) a catalyst for some of the conflicts. My guess, which rumour mills mostly agree with, is that Melissa Auf der Maur will be reprizing her role on bass that she had after D'Arcy first left.
Now, there is pretty much no way I will be able to attend in T.O., but who knows what future tours this might lead to? My saddest story EVER is that I missed my one and only opportunity to see the Pumpkins live in the late 90's in Calgary. I had tickets and everything, but I was working in Banff, and the stupid freakin' Greyhound bus was delayed for HOURS and I missed the concert. If I had a 'dead to me' list, you had better believe Greyhound is on it.
A curiosity of sorts is the title. Zeitgeist is apprently a German expression originally meaning 'time spirit'. In philosophical terms, it refers to the view of the world of a particular social period; a 'spirit of the age'. How will this album sound? Who knows? I personally would love to hear a 'throw-back' of sorts. Something that fits into the soundscape of Siamese Dream or Mellon Collie, rather than the more progressive sounds of Ava Adore. It was a great album, and pretty under-rated in my mind, but it did seem to be a move AWAY from what made the Pumpkins amazing.
Long story short, all Pumpkin-head ears should be wide open for new SP tracks, and even the whole music world would be wise to pay attention as this monster of a band flexes it's muscle again.
1 comment:
I am truly not trying to rub it in, but that concert in calgary was one of the best concerts in my life. I would be there is a second if they came back around.
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