Zeitgeist (Smashing Pumpkins album) Totally Explained

Everything about Zeitgeist Smashing Pumpkins Album totally explained

Zeitgeist is the seventh studio album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. Zeitgeist was released on July 6, 2007 in certain countries and on July 10, 2007 in the United States and Canada. It is the first studio album The Smashing Pumpkins have released since their 2000 disbandment and 2005 reunion. The album was produced by Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, Terry Date, and Roy Thomas Baker, and was recorded entirely by Corgan and Chamberlin.
Corgan indicated that, with Zeitgeist, he wanted to make a mainstream rock record, comment on the political climate of the United States, and explore the nature of the band and his friendship with Chamberlin. The album was met with mixed reviews and a strong debut, but it quickly slid down the charts. It was certified Gold in the United States on February 1 2008.

Background

After the Smashing Pumpkins disbanded in 2000, Corgan and Chamberlin reunited for the short lived supergroup Zwan, also featuring members of Slint, Chavez, and A Perfect Circle. The group released one album, Mary Star of the Sea, before dissolving in 2003. Chamberlin then formed The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex, while Corgan would focus on a solo album. On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he'd "made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins." Chamberlin soon announced that he'd be rejoining the band, and the two began living together in north Scottsdale, Arizona in November 2005, writing and rehearsing new songs. Within three weeks of practicing, the pair decided they'd recaptured the sound of the band and prepared to record a new album.
On April 20, 2006, the band's website confirmed that the band had reunited and started work on a new album. The website later announced that the new album would be produced by Roy Thomas Baker. Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate. In April 2007, Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion.

Recording

With the other two band members absent, Corgan and Chamberlin decided to record the album alone, which Corgan claims isn't a serious departure from previous Pumpkins albums. After the songs were finalized, Chamberlin laid down all of the drum tracks. Notably, the drums for the ten-minute track "United States" were recorded in one take. After the drums were complete, Chamberlin began the process of interviewing prospective touring band members, while Corgan went about recording the guitar, bass, keyboard, and vocal parts.
The band's insistence on recording live to tape, without click tracks or editing, was met with distaste by most producers they spoke to. One executive at Reprise suggested using American Idiot producer Rob Cavallo, in the name of commercial success. As with the other Pumpkins albums, Zeitgeist was recorded in twelve-hour days, six or seven days a week, until it was finished. Zeitgeist stands as the most overtly political work ever released by the band or Corgan himself, which Chamberlin attributes to the band's interest in the music and life of Fela Kuti. Regarding the aggressive drumming on the album, Chamberlin observes that "the world is ready for something with some balls behind it."
On April 20, 2007, the official track listing was announced. "Tarantula" was announced and released as the album's first single on May 23, 2007. The track "Doomsday Clock" appeared on the of the film Transformers. On June 19, 2007, the track was released to iTunes. On July 2, 2007, the entire album was posted on Muchmusic for free streaming.

Tour

Prior to the album's release, the reunited Smashing Pumpkins made their debut performing live for the first time on May 22, 2007 in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new members Jeff Schroeder and Ginger Reyes, who took over rhythm guitarist and bassist duties, respectively. Lisa Harriton completed the line-up on keyboards and vocals.
Finishing their debut leg in Europe in June 2007, the band would continue touring, repeatedly jump between Europe and North America. The band returned stateside for an American leg of their tour kicked off with a sold-out, nine-day residency at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, on June 23, 2007. It would also include an appearance at Al Gore's Live Earth festival on July 7, 2007, three days before the North American release of the album. Europe would see the Pumpkins return on another European leg on August 12, 2007, in Stockholm, Sweden. The Pumpkins returned in September 2007 to play shows in the U.S. and Canada, and continued until mid-November. Apart from Europe, the band has announced that'll co-headline the 2008 V Festival in Australia, and play 3 gigs in New Zealand.

Release and reception

Zeitgeist debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, selling 145,000 copies in its first week. It also reached the top spots on Billboard's Internet Albums and Rock Albums charts in its first week, and hit the top 10 in Canada (#1), New Zealand (#1), the U.K. (#4), Germany (#7), Australia (#7), and other countries. The album also topped the United World Chart for one week. The album was certified gold by the RIAA with 500,000 copies shipped as of February 1, 2008, Zeitgeist has received mixed reviews, indicated by a score of 59/100 on Metacritic. Some negative criticism of the album has stemmed from the absence of half of the original lineup, with Pitchfork Media's Rob Mitchum suggesting the name was revived for "cash or attention or both." Q's Paul Rees commented that "at least half of Zeitgeist is made up of grinding songs that amount to riffs, pummelling and little else," and that Zeitgeist's emotional range is "limited and wearing", but praised Chamberlin's drumming, stating that he "remains one of the most powerful drummers in rock." In addition, Modern Drummer proclaimed that the album contains "Chamberlin's greatest drumming ever put to CD." This album was #43 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.

Artwork

On May 6 2007, four photographs of the album booklet artwork were leaked on Netphoria, a Smashing Pumpkins fan message board. The band management soon released a statement to the media stating the photos are "stolen goods" that shouldn't be posted on the Internet. Later in the week, the alleged thieves were identified as Joshua Kuhl and Simon Brown, both 21. The Chicago Police announced that 39 photographs and three guitar picks were stolen, although only 4-6 of those photographs were leaked online. The two were held on $100,000 bond. Asked about the band's predicament, a Chicago Police officer commented, "They were pissed."
On May 16, 2007 the band's official website published an official album cover made by Obey Giant graphic designer and illustrator Shepard Fairey: a red, black and white illustration of a drowning Statue of Liberty, positioned in front of the sun that's setting/rising. Fairey, whose credits include creating anti-war posters and the poster art for the feature film Walk the Line, commented on the album cover:

I think global warming is an issue that's currently relevant, time sensitive, and a symptom of the shortsightedness of the U.S. As a broader metaphor, the drowning Statue of Liberty, a revered icon of the U.S., symbolizes the eminent demise of many of the ideals upon which the nation was founded. Civil liberties, freedom of speech, privacy, etc. have been decreasing since 9/11. The sun in the image could either be setting or rising and this ambiguity shows that there's still hope to turn things around... The U.S. is the dominant global force. When things are going wrong in the U.S. they're probably going wrong around the world. I think this image conveys both the U.S. situation and its larger global implications.

Billy Corgan commented, "Like a great artist can do, Shepard had summed up very simply a lot of complex themes. He also used the type font from our very first single, and I asked him about it and he'd no idea. He was just on point." The red color of the artwork was changed for most of the special edition releases.

Track listing

"Doomsday Clock" – 3:44

"7 Shades of Black" – 3:17

"Bleeding the Orchid" – 4:03

"That's the Way (My Love Is)" – 3:48

"Tarantula" – 3:51

"Starz" – 3:43

"United States" – 9:53

"Neverlost" – 4:20

"Bring the Light" – 3:40

"(Come On) Let's Go!" – 3:19

"For God and Country" – 4:24

"Pomp and Circumstances" – 4:21

Bonus tracks:

"Death from Above" – 4:06

"Stellar" – 6:22

"Zeitgeist" – 2:49

Best Buy reissue:

"Death from Above" – 4:06

"Neverlost" – 4:20

"Stellar" – 6:22

"Ma Belle" – 4:08

"For God and Country" – 4:24

"Pomp and Circumstances" – 4:21

Alternate versions

Zeitgeist was released in multiple special editions. Three American versions had unique bonus track each, but were exclusive to iTunes, Best Buy, and Target. This move was criticized by Pitchfork Media and Rolling Stone. In October 2007, less than four months after the album's release, Best Buy released an exclusive reissue of Zeitgeist that included three bonus tracks (one exclusive) and a DVD. Finally, in January 2008, iTunes released a "Deluxe Edition" that included the American Gothic EP. Best Buy version

Includes "Death from Above" (at track 9 or 13)

Target version

Includes "Zeitgeist" (at track 13)

HMV version

Standard track listing

iTunes version

Includes "Stellar" (at track 11), 5 MySpace covers (for U.S. pre-order),

iTunes Deluxe edition (January 2008)

Includes American Gothic EP, as well as videos of "Tarantula" and "That's the Way"

Best Buy reissue (October 2007)

Deluxe edition

Includes 76-page book

Outtakes

The following songs were written for Zeitgeist but didn't make any version of the released album.

"Gossamer" - played on the summer leg of the Zeitgeist tour. Its debut at the first Paris show indicates that it was written during the Zeitgeist sessions, but this isn't confirmed. Ranging from 15 to 35 minutes, it's the longest song currently played regularly by the Pumpkins. Billy and Jimmy confirmed in an August 2007 interview that this song was recorded live at the Fillmore and will be released at some point.

"Signal to Noise" - covered by Matt Walker's new band, The Most Dangerous Race, for the Myspace cover album project. This cover also appears on a compilation tribute CD to the band by the German magazine Visions. A version of this song by the Smashing Pumpkins has yet to be revealed.

Chart positions

Album

Year	Chart	Peak position
2007	US Billboard 200	2
2007	New Zealand RIANZ Album Charts	1
2007	Canadian Album Charts	1
2007	UK Album Charts	4
2007	Irish Album Charts	5
2007	Switzerland album charts	5
2007	Italy album charts	7
2007	Holland album charts	7
2007	Australia album charts	7
2007	Portugal album charts	7
2007	Danish album charts	14
2007	Brazilian Top 30 Albums	21

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2007	"Tarantula"	US Billboard Hot 100	54
2007	"Tarantula"	Modern Rock Tracks	13
2007	"Tarantula"	Danish Single Chart	14
2007	"Tarantula"	Hot Digital Songs	44
2007	"Tarantula"	Mainstream Pop 100	59
2007	"Doomsday Clock"	US Billboard Hot 100	97
2007	"Doomsday Clock"	Mainstream Pop 100	81
2007	"That's the Way (My Love Is)"	Modern Rock Tracks	23
2007	"That's the Way (My Love Is)"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	32
2007	"That's the Way (My Love Is)"	UK Singles Chart	94

Personnel

The Smashing Pumpkins

Billy Corgan – vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, piano, producer, mixer, photography
Jimmy Chamberlin – drums, producer, mixer

Terry Date – producer (tracks 4,8,10,11), recording (except tracks 6,9)

Roy Thomas Baker – producer and recording (tracks 6,9,12), additional production (tracks 5,12), mixer

Bjorn Thorsrud – recording (tracks 1,2,3,5,7,12), mix assistant

Vanessa Parr, Noel Zancanella – mix assistants and assistant engineers

Chris Owens, Kevin Mills, Alex Pavlides, Zephyrus Sowers, Bo Joe, Davey Rieley – assistant engineers

Stephen Marcussen – mastering

Bruce Dickson, Justin Corrigan – photo shoot art supervision

Christina Wagner – photo shoot producer

Matt Taylor – package art direction and design

Shepard Fairey – cover art, back cover design

Cynthia Obsenares – photo shoot costume design

Amber Griffin – photo shoot hair and makeup

Reissue personnel:

Kristin Burns – "in studio" photos

Linda Strawberry – "in studio" photo-illustrations

Inside the Zeitgeist personnel:

Will Knapp – editing

Jared Paul, Devin Sarno, Rob Gordon – executive producers

Janelle Lopez – associate producer

Bruce Dickson – studio footage

On the Scene Productions, Inc.; Vision Istanbul Prod. Services; Speedway Films – interview footage

P.R. Brown – director, "Tarantula" and "That's the Way (My Love Is)" videos

Kristin Burns, Lisa Johnson – still photographers

Touring personnel:

Ginger Reyes – bass, vocals

Jeff Schroeder – guitar, vocals

Lisa Harriton – keyboards, vocalsFurther Information

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