THE SMASHING PUMPKINS: Atum (ALTERNATIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Billy Corgan had announced it. At the time of the recording of "Cyr", the megalomaniac but endearing singer of The Smashing Pumpkins had revealed his intention to record a rock opera in three parts, following the concepts developed on the classics "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness" and "Machina/The Machines Of God". While the result of the previous album had been mixed, this project was delayed by the Covid crisis and appeared to be just another whim of the Canadian performer.

However, the man is stubborn! This pharaonic project conceived during the confinement is concretized, the three discs answering to the mysterious name of "Atum" (according to its author, this title would be closer to the autumn than to the atom) having to appear at various dates (January 2023 and April 2023 for the last two parts). Here is the first part.

From the beginning of the album, the instrumental 'Atum' takes us into a melodic maelstrom in which the keyboards play a major role as on the previous album of The Smashing Pumpkins. However, we won't have to wait too long before hearing the big guitars, this alternation being found throughout the album with an advantage to the keyboards. Billy's voice, that of an eternal sulky and chagrined teenager, is intact. It enhances a collection of sophisticated pop gems with plenty of keyboards. The addition of female voices and sometimes piano bring some light on the mid-tempo ballads 'Embracer' or on 'Butterfly Suite'. We can also appreciate some strange attempts like 'Hooray!' whose rhythms sound very Nintendo but whose instrumental bridges let hover a small wind of frenzy.

If the whole is less focused on heavy rhythms, they are however heard on some tracks, allowing the Smashing Pumpkins to play like in the past but also to evolve in a kind of muscular pop. 'Steps In Time' highlights the flabbergasted hiccups of the guitar while sounding almost Heavy. On the contrary, 'Beyond The Vale' plays with the opposites, heavy and dancing. Billy Corgan announced that the other parts would be more guitar oriented, which allows to feed the suspense.

This first opus of the hydra "Atum" proves to be not only well mastered but also a small jewel chiseled by Billy Corgan. The length of 40 minutes suits perfectly to a record of The Smashing Pumpkins, unlike the previous album which suffered from filler. We are impatiently waiting for the second volume. - Official website

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

ATUM

AUTRE LABEL

ALTERNATIVE ROCK