Smashing Pumpkins CD review

By Gus Bode

What constitutes an artist? Longevity? Record sales? Content? The answer is none of the above. An artist is someone who concentrates on their form. Their goal is to understand something that is in front of them, to represent something that is inside of them. If someone happens to admire it, good, but an artists main concern is not their audience.

The Smashing Pumpkins forth full-length album Adore will most likely disappoint some listeners, but they do not care. It is made abundantly clear that the music the Smashing Pumpkins make is for themselves only. People just happen to love it.

Following in the footsteps of their highly successful Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Adore is a melodic trip into one of the Pumpkins’ favorite topics:love. They keep true to their roots by applying their heavy use of guitars during some tracks but what shines through even more is a style that the Pumpkins have been developing for quite some time. Their merger of an electronic bass coupled with an acoustic feel is never more tight or clear then it is on Adore. Their initial experiment with this style on Mellon Collie may have surprised some listeners, but they really make it work on their current album.

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Over all Adore encompasses a soft sound, not too loud and not too quiet. Tracks like To Sheila, Shame and Tear are soft enough to drift of to sleep while songs like Perfect and Apples+Oranjes could almost be danced to.

Adore may not be everything fans had hoped it would be but one thing is for sure, Adore secures the Pumpkins a spot among the viable artists to emerge in the nineties, love it or hate it. (4)

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