Smashing Pumpkins is one of the most successful bands in the alt-rock world, with a string of platinum albums to its credit and near-universal name recognition. Songwriter and frontman Billy Corgan has become a full-fledged rock star, with all the benefits stardom conveys.
So when is he going to stop whining?
It's one thing to act as if you bear the weight of the world when you're a self-obsessed teenager, quite another for an alleged adult to pull the same stunt.
Nonetheless, Corgan and company seem just as poetically miserable on "Machina: The Machines of God" as they did on their 1991 debut.
And quite frankly, its getting tiresome.
"Machina" purpots to be a relitalization of sorts. It celebrates the Pumpkins' re-embrace of rock after flirting with electronica on its disappointing previous album, 1998's "Adore." Yet for all the sound and fury, the songs pack suprisingly little punch. Some of that may stem from the near-impenetrable sound on the album.