Album Review: The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania

So, this: the first result of Billy Corgan's off-kilter experiment with alternative distribution methods. Yet, it is an album. Go figure. Corgan has decided that full-length records are still the way to go after tinkering with the Teargarden By Kaleidyskope project, and it's a relief. The Pumpkins have always been best in full-album form, both on format and in live shows, and thankfully, Oceania doesn't break that mold.

It's hard to find a spot to slot Oceania in between its ancestors. It has the clean feel and power of Zeitgeist with the same personal reflection of Siamese Dream. The one thing that the media have been able to pick apart so far has been the focus on studio production, but it doesn't hamper the emotion of the record. If anything, it sharpens the message that Corgan and co. are trying to produce. It embraces the stadium-sized heroism that have been most of the charm of the Pumpkins through their long history, with tracks like The Celestials, The Chimera and Quasar picking up from where Cherub Rock and Doomsday Clock left off, but with Pale Horse and Wildflower providing the romanticism/despondancy of Zero, Adore or Daydream.

Blatant fanboyism aside, Oceania is easily a testament to the seemingly infinite ability of Corgan, and the excitement and passion of the band that makes up the rest of the “new” Smashing Pumpkins. It takes the best of their back catalogue and throws in some heady modernism, but doesn't stray from the old formula, which is either a good or bad thing depending on how you see it. Pumpkins records have always been loved and hated simultaneously, so give it a listen and decide for yourself.