The Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments to an Elegy

You may not be a fan of Billy Corgan's eccentric ways through the last 20 years. You may not be a fan of the band. You may not be a fan of their heavy guitar riffs, their No 1 albums and their Grammy nominated career. You may also throw up a bit in the back of your mouth every time he sings, spitting on the mic and performing like a freak. But come on, you have to admit it - he is a fucking genius even in projects like this, where he has written simple rock songs with up-to-date attitude and 90's alternative wit.

"Monuments to an Elegy", their tenth album, is a part of the project "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope" and it's actually, as Corgan stated himself, "Guitars, guitars and some more guitars". It's the first time in years they are releasing a pure rock project (just skip "Run2me", it's an electronic pop mistake in the recording sessions) and it's the first time ever they are releasing a half an hour album, which is peculiar and maybe a reason to question the songs' potential. Don't let that piece of information mislead you though, we are talking about good music here.

The guest surprise is called Tommy Lee, playing drums on all nine tracks. The first two, "Tiberius" and "Being beige", remind you of their first three albums - light, almost pop songwriting, accompanied by heavy guitar production and rough vocals. The overall production is aware of the electronic orientation in music business today, so synths and pads are almost everywhere and in between the drums and Corgan's voice. At the end of the day though, songs like "One and all" and "Monuments" prove that The Smashing Pumpkins simply cannot record bad songs. And if they do, well... they are just ok.

AnArtCalled... 9/10