Machina Machines Of God: Smashing Pumpkins: Amazon.ca: Music

1. Everlasting Gaze

2. Rain Drops & Sun Showers

3. Stand Inside Your Love

4. I Of The Mourning

5. The Sacred and Profane

6. Try, Try, Try

7. Heavy Metal Machine

8. This Time

9. The Imploding Voice

10. Glass And The Ghost Children

11. Wound

12. The Crying Tree of Mercury

13. With Every Light

14. Blue Skies Bring Tears

15. Age of Innocence

Product Description

From Amazon.co.uk

With the doubters hovering round his band following the rock-is-dead pronouncement that preceded the flawed electronic dabbling of Adore, MACHINA finds Billy Corgan desperate to prove everyone, not least himself, wrong. On the Pumpkins' fifth album, they attempt to reclaim the higher ground they dominated with the peerless Siamese Dream and the sprawling 28-track opus Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. As a result they hit the ground running on MACHINA, exploding into life with "The Everlasting Gaze" in a firestorm of guitars and heavy metaphysical thunder. There are some quintessential Pumpkins moments here, notably "Stand Inside Your Love", which soars away on a spiralling guitar solo, and "Try, Try, Try" which taps into Corgan's ever present melancholy. At 73-minutes long, MACHINA overstays its welcome, beginning to flag, ironically, at the self-aggrandising "Heavy Metal Machine". No matter, by this point, the Pumpkins have made their point with brutal grace. --Mike Pattenden

Chronique amazon.fr

La seule chose à peu près prévisible avec les Smashing Pumpkins, c'est la sortie d'un autre album, avec la régularité qui la caractérise. Tous les deux ans depuis ses débuts, le groupe livre un autre objet d'intérêt à un public jamais déçu, mais toujours surpris. Et la surprise reste aussi grande avec ce sixième ouvrage que Billy Corgan a voulu épais comme un grimoire : 73 minutes. La densité du contenu comme la présentation du livret obéissent aux ambitions tourmentées de l'artiste. Tramées serré, les chansons renvoient aux premières heures des Pumpkins, et Corgan renoue avec ce rock obsédant, barbouillé de guitares sales tandis que sa voix désabusée affirme: "You Know I'm Not Dead" ("The Everlasting Gaze"). C'est en se mettant ainsi en danger à chaque autre disque que les Pumpkins peuvent s'imposer comme un groupe totalement à part. Pour cela, le jeu de guitare abrasif de James Iha vient apporter sa part de subversion au projet ("Heavy Metal Machine"). Doute et danger, deux facteurs associés étroitement à un album fascinant, où Corgan en martyr de la cause conjure "Let Me Die For Rock And Roll". D'accord, mais de mort lente, comme disait la chanson... --José Ruiz

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Customer Reviews

654 Reviews

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3 star:		(59)
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Average Customer Review

4.1 out of 5 stars (654 customer reviews)

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4.0 out of 5 stars Smashing, Mar 24 2007

By

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Machina Machines Of God (Audio CD)

Legendary rockers the Smashing Pumpkins were winding down by their fifth album, which was sadly their last as well. Instead of the dark electronic sound of their fourth album, "Machina/The Machines of God" goes sort of hard-rock/industrial, full of thunderous bass and dark songwriting. Too bad it was their swan song.

There was some backlash against "Adore," with its more electronic sound, and so Billy Corgon and Co. went back to the hard rock sound of their past albums. You can hear the determination in the dark, explosive "The Everlasting Gaze," which opens the album on a very strong note. Things get a bit less heavy from there on in, but not much.

The Pumpkins were always good at epic songs, and that kicks in with the "Adore" soundalike "Raindrops + Sunshowers," which is a bit like taking mescaline in a haunted house. The album sags on a few heavier songs in the middle, before kicking back into high gear with the songs like bass-rocker "Imploding Voice" and the otherworldly "The Crying Tree Of Mercury."

Don't expect ballads on this album -- "Machina/The Machines of God" relies on fuzz bass and percussion, giving it a complete hard-rock sound. "With Every Light" is the closest thing it has to a ballad or pop song. As a result, "Machina" has a feeling of overhanging gloom'n'doom, especially when you hear Corgan's amguished songwriting. Atmosphere lies heavy on "Machina."

Not that this album is a complete success -- the metal/industrial sound gets dull in songs like "Heavy Metal Machine." Good luck finding an actual melody in that one -- it sounds like a B-side that was kept in. The problem here is that the Pumpkins were at their best when they did different kinds of songs on a given album; when they do only one kind, it sounds... restricted.

Jimmy Chamberlain returned to the band briefly, and his drumming shines through the murky music, as does the excellent basslines of Melissa Auf Der Maur (both have solo bands now), and Corgan's songwriting still carries emotional and verbal weight. He wasn't quite on peak form, but bad Billy Corgan is still pretty good.

The only problem is Corgan's vocals on the heavier songs. Much is said about his singing skills, but here it's hard to even tell. The Pumpkins frontman's voice can't always rise above the music -- Corgan sometimes sounds like he's drowning in his own bass.

The Smashing Pumpkins never made another record after "Machina/The Machines of God," which is a shame. While one of their weaker creations, it's still a moody, atmospheric and deeply saddening album.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A memorable way to leave, May 27 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Machina Machines Of God (Audio CD)

When SP radically changed direction with Adore, people treated the band like they, well, died and started tuning into a new generation of seemingly wannabe artists which are already dying as well. With Machina, Billy Corgan picked himself up with some knoweledge that they were hanging by a thread, the end was near, butknew that Adore couldn't be the way they were going to leave after setting up a good following with Gish, SD, and MC. He succeeded, making this album a major comeback in more ways than one. Jimmy finally returned to the drums after the whole drug/death incident, which, in my mind shows courageousness. D'Arcy left due to some drug problems of her own but that didn't hinder the journey Cogan and company were about to take. To sum up the track layout, it was done fantasically. The Everlasting Gaze basically knocks you on your ass, Stand Inside Your Love brings hardcore listeners back to their early days, The Crying Tree of Mercury stands as one of the most depressing songs they have ever done, and Age of Innocence makes the SP's last gasp count, each lyric confessing what can't be denied with a sad honesty. This is the album to get for all the naysayers who bashed Adore.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant concept, monotonous execution, May 23 2004

By

ken yong (Kuala Lumpur) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Machina Machines Of God (Audio CD)

MACHINA/The Machines of God has tracks that will shook your seat at least with promising things to come later on, but ends up in monotonous cycle of ad-nauseum until you'll skip the tracks, or has incorporates such melancholy that it drives you off for being too self-indulgent. Has the Pumpkins grew dillusioned of themselves when making this album? Even the B-sides "Judas-O" featured in limited edition issues of their Greatest Hits were plague with such songs. Or Corgan thinks that such concept is fine with him, I can't judge.

The track "The Everlasting Gaze" starts and ends with a bang, a fine tribute to NIN. It hops unto a promising rock fused with club-techno Raindrops+Sunshowers, but it's repetitiveness will drive off even most shallow club music listener, followed by their weakest single and most sappy song ever "Stand Inside Your Love" and rest of the songs don't go so right, as promising as it starts with exception of songs like "Try, Try, Try", excellent Sabbath inspired "Heavy Metal Machine", the gothic "Glass and the Ghost Children" and "The Age of Innocence". Songs such as "The Crying Tree of Mercury" and "Blue Skies Bring Tears" are the most promising songs because they evolve further of Adore-concept songs and yet ruined by mediocrity.

Immedietely, they go out with a whimper. I suppose you can't blame the pressure on the Pumpkins by critics to go back the yonderin' days of Gish and Siamese Dreams ever since their supposed flop Adore. And mind you, Adore is their finest Pumpkins album ever produced. Shows you why you should stick to being yourself.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
This CD has to be one of the best CD's ever made. I admit that I am a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan but that's not why I like this CD. Read more

Published on May 19 2004 by L. McCollum

5.0 out of 5 stars God I am insaine
You know i`m not dead, i'm just the tears inside your head. Billy man you said it... it is back too old school rocking for the Pumpkins. Read more

Published on May 15 2004 by Sasa Janjac