Machina: The Machines Of God Arkansas

Machina: The Machines Of God

Smashing Pumpkins

Virgin Records, 2000

REVIEW BY: Mark Feldman

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 04/27/2000

Like all true rock innovators and visionaries, the SmashingPumpkins have never rested on their laurels of success. Because inspite of all the attention, if you don't change, it's really justboring, whether you're Dylan, Bowie, or… yes, Billy Corgan.Where is artist loyalty in this decade? Why aren't all the peoplewho loved Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness still eagerlyawaiting the next offering of remorse from the artist who is nowits prime musical source? Because they're too busy saying "Whycan't he write another 'Cherub Rock,' another 'Disarm,' another'Bullet With Butterfly Wings?'" Well, that's just too bad for them,because those who are sticking by Corgan and the Pumpkins have beenrewarded with another masterpiece.

Ironically, the leadoff track to MACHINA, "The Everlasting Gaze," bears more than a passingresemblance to "Zero" at first blush. A no-nonsense wall ofdistortion, a guitar riff pounded into our heads to the point wecan almost feel it. "You know I'm not dead / I'm just living inyour head / forever waiting on the ways of your desire." CouldCorgan be talking to those bandwagon fans? "The fickle fascinationof an everlasting god?" It's not out of the question. But there areso many possible ways to interpret these lyrics, and that goes formost of the album. If one views the Pumpkins as a continuum,picking MACHINA up where Adore left off, "The Everlasting Gaze" seems to smash mostof Adore to bits, preparing us all for a new chapter, withtwists and turns which we can't possibly imagine.

"Raindrops And Sunshowers" comes next and sounds actually muchmore like parts of the Pumpkins' last album, thevastly-underappreciated-for-no-apparent-reason-other-than-it-didn't-rock-hard-enoughAdore; an electronic beat, but a gorgeous, sweeping melodyand slightly-clumsy but endearing sentiments like "I'm just tryingto / walk with you" and "To get your love without obscuredreflections of my love." "Where is he going with all this?" was myinitial reaction to such a stark contrast between the first twosongs. Then again, "To Sheila" and "Ava Adore" don't really soundsvery much like each other either, to put it mildly.

What follows puts things sharply into focus, and is arguably thecrowning achievement of Billy Corgan's songwriting career. "StandInside Your Love" is a powerful rocker, an intelligent soundcollage, a touching love song, and a super-catchystick-in-your-head melody all in one. It's the "Feels Like theFirst Time" for the '00s (and that's supposed to be a compliment incase there are any Foreigner haters out there reading this), andalthough it has already been released as a single, the fact that ithasn't been a more successful single is criminal when you hear theflotsam that masquerades as touching love songs on the radio thesedays.