Oceania

Following up on, and in many ways amending, much of the bombastic overcompensation of 2007's Zeitgeist, Smashing Pumpkins 2012 release Oceania is an exuberant, gloriously melodic, fluid return to form for Billy Corgan. While Zeitgeist certainly contained many of the elements that make for a classic Smashing Pumpkins release -- including slabs of distorted guitars, passionate vocals, and poetic lyrics, not to mention drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who was the sole remaining original member besides Corgan and who subsequently left the band -- there was something cold and perhaps a bit too calculated about the production. Ultimately, Zeitgeist didn't do much to dissuade audiences that Corgan, undeniably the mastermind behind the best Pumpkins work, was now overvaluing his abilities in an attempt to recapture fans disillusioned by his various side projects. Thankfully, none of these concerns are applicable to Oceania. Ostensibly an "album within an album" of the greater 44-track Teargarden by Kaleidyscope concept project, Oceania works as a stand-alone album. Conceptual conceits aside, these are some of the most memorable and rousing songs Corgan has delivered since 1993's Siamese Dream, the album that Oceania most closely mirrors in tone and aesthetic. Which isn't to say that Corgan is treading old ground; on the contrary, there is something fresh and inspired about the songs on Oceania. Admittedly, kicking the album off with the heavy psychedelic acid rock groove of "Quasar" -- in which Corgan croons several EST-era-style affirmations including, "God right on! Krishna right on! Mark right on!" -- is a move that almost begs comparisons to Smashing Pumpkins' euphoria-inducing 1991 single "Siva." A similar sentiment comes to mind with the latter album rocker "The Chimera," a classic rock-sounding groover that sparkles with crisscross laser-beam guitar lines recalling the jewel-toned guitar heroics of Queen's Brian May. But these are welcome comparisons, born out of Corgan finally delivering a gorgeous and cohesive set of songs that balance some his more arch, cerebral inclinations with his generously romantic and sweepingly cinematic gift for revelatory guitar rock. Elsewhere, we get the soaring "Panopticon" and the minor-key, prog rock-inflected drama of "Violet Rays." However, Oceania is perhaps best represented by the euphoric mid-album ballad "Pinwheels." Starting with a repeated keyboard line and building to swells of acoustic and electric guitar before settling into one of the most swoon-worthy melodic anthems Corgan has ever written, "Pinwheels," much like the rest of Oceania, is a masterpiece of pop songcraft and rock production. As Corgan croons on the song's chorus, "Sister soul, lovers of the tune, sing!/I got you/I got you." On Oceania, the Smashing Pumpkins definitely have us. ~ Matt Collar

2007年作『Zeitgeist』以降、楽曲のフリー配信に注力してきたスマパン。22歳のドラマーを含む新体制で作られたこの再結成第2弾アルバムでは、前作が90年代の再現に思えるほど、新しいバンド像を打ち出している。往年のファンがどう受け止めるか気になるところではあるが、本作におけるビリーは完全に攻めの姿勢だ。トラッド・フォークの影響を覗かせる一方、エレクトロ色の濃い音飾もふんだんに使っていて、先の配信曲を元にしたトラックもちらほら(当然、完成度の高さは比じゃない!)。本作に封じ込められたミステリアスな世界観が、今後、スマパンのスタンダードになり得るかどうか!? ちなみに、ビリー自身は〈95年作『Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness』以来の傑作〉とコメントしている。
bounce (C)山口智男