Oceania is no Siamese Dream, but I thought he ventured around some cool terrain there. Granted, it’s one listen from not a hardcore fan, so in a sense take it for what it’s worth, and even at the close of this in two albums I am not going to become one, though I do have a much greater appreciation for his work than I did coming in.

Loving the reviews, man. I'm actually envious of your position. I think I'd qualify as a bit of an SP 2.0 hater, on the weight of how highly I rate their 90's run and my potentially unfair expectations for what followed. I do try to see the good, though.

Speaking of, I need to put together my post-2000 mix like VG did.

oh yeah, i wanna see that mix!

Gossamer is bloody insane. You know your shit, Veggie.

its such a great jam...there is a 2007 live performance....rock am ring maybe? cant remember....but damn.

So our top MCIS-era songs are:

(6) The Aeroplane Flies High
(4) Set the Ray to Jerry
(4) Love (?!)
(3) To Forgive
(3) Thirty-Three
(3) Porcelina
(3) Muzzle

'Love' is a great song. Pretty wild that it comes out on top from MCIS though!

Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1

The title of this album makes me want to hate it. I can’t help it. What a dumb title.

Okay, that’s out of my system. I don’t hate this album. In fact, in the first half in particular, I was really impressed at the slight and brighter change in direction. Knights of Malta was totally unexpected and awesome for it. Silvery Sometimes sounded almost like a mid-2000s indie rock song, and it fit much better than I would have expected. Solara was also quite good. Alienation is where things turned a bit more typical Pumpkins, though this is maybe the one song I really wasn’t a fan - almost a caricature of a Pumpkins song. Marching’ On was fine, as was With Sympathy, but I actually quite like the closer, Seek and You Shall Destroy, which feels like a cleaner sounding Pumpkins rocker. Paint me surprised. The album is much better than its title

im a big fan of Shiny.

I love the production, it finally knows what to do with Billy after so long...and he is in fact singing!!
Marchin On sounds like a Machina outtake...and yes, there are unexpected and great stuff like Knights Of Malta or Seek and You Shall Destroy.

Elegy was a huge let down after Oceania. Tommy Lee was the wrong choice for that album (Elegy). He relied on his Dr Feelgood drum sound and it lacked the drumming energy and fills that seems to work best with SP.

Shiny and Oh So Bright is so much better. Jimmy is the drummer Corgan needs to be at his best. SP is never going to be what they were but I really enjoy this album and it did get SP out on the road.

I agree that Jimmy is the best drummer for Billy. Brad Wilk was also interesting.

Cyr

Alright folks, on to the final entry into this journey. After the fun and quick shot in Shiny and Oh So Bright, we get a long long album that primarily exists in the same space, a sort of hazy downbeat electronic album with a couple of breaks into higher energy, but mostly what feels like malaise, even if on purpose. Granted, there are some tracks here worth mentioning that break up the monotony, and the album really both begins and ends really well. But at nearly 75 minutes, the middle of this album is a chore. All that said, I did really enjoy The Colour of Love, Cyr, Anno Satana, Starrcraft, The Hidden Sun, Tyger Tyger, and Minerva. But that’s not really a great batting average when the thing consists of 20 songs over 75 minutes - I can even admit that had Billy Corgan decided to cut this in half and maybe release the other half as a distinct other record, I might have enjoyed it more. It’s really too much of the same thing for too long.

yeah, while i admit i need to spend more time with Cyr, i wasnt drawn the first time i listened to it. I appreciate Billy, or the band, choice to make what they wanted, a more electronic oriented music or pop, but in the long run the music feels uninspired and boring.

Yes. And I should be clear it’s not the length of the album itself - Smashing Pumpkins obviously have longer albums that I have discussed in a positive light - it’s that on this album, there isn’t much range so it’s too much of the same thing. Quite a few of my all time favorite albums are long or even double albums. But those albums tend to go by quickly despite their run times.

yeah, i agree.

Still, i need to go back to it because it happen with SP that sometimes i need to go back after a while.

Not a big fan of 'Tyger, Tyger', but if you swapped that out for 'Save Your Tears' my list would be basically identical.

Too much filler! But I do enjoy the production on this thing.

Ha. I was teetering and went with Tyger because it was a more fun song but better than the other attempts at lightness on the album. I do agree that Save Your Tears is a pretty good song here.

Greatest Hits/Judas O arrived today. Just in time for a five hour drive tomorrow. Even with all the deluxe editions I have there are still quite a few songs I have never heard before.

Damn, the guitar solo in Cherub Rock is just so good. It never fails to take me places.

What'd you think of Judas O?

Yeah the Cherub Rock solo is one of Billy's best. I think Soma takes the cake though. All of his playing on Siamese Dream was straight bonkers.

Mayonaise appeared just right now, and damn i love this one so much

That solo