Smashing Pumpkins recently played a studio session for AOL as apart of its ongoing Sessions series. The general feeling of being let down since the release of Zeitgeist, the band’s highly anticipated “comeback album,” has been remarkable. In and of itself, however, I think the album is alright. It’s not stellar, but it’s not nearly as bad as many would have you believe. Performing several new tracks, including “That’s The Way (My Love Is),” “Doomsday Clock,” and “Tarantula” the group also broke out into old favorites “Tonight, Tonight” and “Heavy Metal Machine” (which for all of its over indulgence, seems to give Corgan a lively boost…strange how that is) during the session.

Taking a step outside of the over-hype (of which I too was to blame) of the album and listening to these tracks now allows them to settle into your ears without as much surrounding static that was apart of the release earlier this year. And to be honest, I think the session tracks here sound fantastic. “Tarantula” was played on loop on my computer how many dozen times when it was released and I could easily fall into the same pattern with these versions of “Doomsday Clock” and “That’s The Way.”

I stand by passing up paying $40 to see whether or not Corgan could deliver recently when he and the band played St. Paul. I’m still not sure that (despite enjoying much of the new album) the payoff at this point in time (no D’arcy or James) is worth the risk.

Smashing Pumpkins: (Official) (MySpace) (Wikipedia)

Smashing Pumpkins “Zeitgeist” (album)
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Also: (Smashing Pumpkins on the Late Show part 2) (Smashing Pumpkins on the Late Show with David Letterman) (Smashing Pumpkins Reunion Tour Video) (Smashing Pumpkins Release “Tarantula” Single) (Smashing Pumpkins Zeitgeist Cover Art & Stolen Pics?)