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Zeitgeist (The Smashing Pumpkins album)

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Zeitgeist ((audio)ⓘ) is The Smashing Pumpkins' official sixth album, (excluding Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, freely distributed via the Internet). German for "The Spirit of the Age," Zeitgeist is set to be released on July 10, 2007[1], although the album was originally slated to be released on July 7 (i.e. 07/07/07). It will be the first official album to be released under the Smashing Pumpkins name since 2000, and the first new material to be released since two of its original members, vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, reunited in 2005.

Development and promotion

Initially it was reported that the new album would be produced by Roy Thomas Baker, and that the band would also be working with producer Terry Date. However, in March of 2007 it was reported that Zeitgeist was produced by Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin, with Roy Thomas Baker and Terry Date working separately on various tracks.[2] It will be the band's first release on Reprise Records.[3]

In early December, four alleged demos from the sessions were released on file-sharing networks, though these were revealed to be a hoax. Spin later reported that they were recordings by British band Amy Blue, where the band's frontman, Simon Chatterman, said that his band had been "toying with the idea of pissing off a few file sharers" and "thought it would be funny to upload [their] EP as the Smashing Pumpkins and [with titles] from Corgan's poetry book, Blinking with Fists."[4] However, Billy Corgan did later reveal four new songs during a Los Angeles club show that may end up on the album.[2]

On April 20, 2007, the official track listing was announced.[5] "Tarantula" was announced as first single available for airplay between 21/22 of May.[6] However, KROQ broadcast the world premiere on May 18. On May 21, 2007 the single was released on iTunes for the United States, followed by the United Kingdom and Canada the next day.

The track "Doomsday Clock" will appear on the soundtrack of the movie Transformers. On June 19, 2007, the track was released to iTunes.[7]

Tour

The Smashing Pumpkins on May 24, 2007, at "den Atelier," Luxembourg. Left to right: Ginger Reyes, Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin (back), Jeff Schroeder

The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007 in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new members Jeff Schroeder and Ginger Reyes, who took over second guitarist and bassist duties, respectively.[8] Lisa Harriton completed line-up on keyboards and vocals. The first leg of the tour visited music festivals throughout Europe, including Pinkpop and Rock am Ring, and included several solo appearances as well. The band debuted nine songs off of Zeitgeist at these appearances in sets that blended old and new.

The American leg kicked off with a sold-out, nine-day residency at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, on June 23, 2007. These performances continue the balance of new songs with some of the more familiar works from the back catalog, with a few obscure songs thrown in. In July, the Pumpkins will perform at Al Gore's Live Earth festival, before beginning a scheduled eleven-day residency at The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA.

After a return to Europe for the Reading Festival, the Pumpkins will return to the United States for a more conventional fall tour.

Artwork

Leak of potential album artwork

On May 6 2007, four photographs of album art 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 should not be posted on the Internet.[9] 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 are currently being held on $100,000 bond.[10] Asked about the band's predicament, a Chicago Police officer commented, "They were pissed."[11]

In late May 2007, a promotional video was released by Warner Bros. Records, containing several of the images leaked earlier and confirming beyond any doubt the legitimacy of the pictures. It is still unclear what the images are intended for, however they may be from the "Tarantula" music video.[12]

Album cover

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 is 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 is 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 is still hope to turn things around... The U.S. is the dominant global force. When things are going wrong in the U.S. they are probably going wrong around the world. I think this image conveys both the U.S. situation and its larger global implications.

Billy Corgan also 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 had no idea. He was just on point."[13]

It is likely he was referring to the font from the "Tristessa" single, actually the band's second.

Banksy was considered as an early choice, but was dropped shortly.[14]

Track listing

File:Billy Zeitgeist promo shot.JPG
Billy Corgan with his "born to lose" Fender Stratocaster, a promotional photo, 2007.
  1. "Doomsday Clock" – 3:41
  2. "7 Shades of Black" – 3:15
  3. "Bleeding the Orchid" – 3:58
  4. "That's The Way (My Love Is)" – 3:44
  5. "Tarantula" – 3:47
  6. "Starz" – 3:41
  7. "United States" – 9:50
  8. "Neverlost" – 4:13
  9. "Bring the Light" – 3:35
  10. "(Come On) Let's Go!" – 3:15
  11. "For God and Country" – 4:51
  12. "Pomp and Circumstances" – 4:18

The track listing was first posted by Billboard.Com.[5] Track times were first posted by Filter Magazine.[15] Tracks 3, 4, 8 and 12 were originally reported as having slightly different titles - this list reflects updates reported by MTV[16] and Amazon.com. iTunes currently lists "Pomp and Circumstances" as "Pomp and Circumstance".

Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 produced by Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin. Tracks 4, 8, 10, 11 produced by Corgan, Chamberlin and Terry Date. Tracks 6, 9, 12 produced by Corgan, Chamberlin and Roy Thomas Baker.

The promo video released by Warner Bros. also revealed 20 seconds of the album's opening track "Doomsday Clock".[12] The song was later fully released with the pre-order of Zeitgeist from iTunes.

Alternate Versions

Zeitgeist will be released in multiple special editions. Three American versions will have a unique bonus track each, but will be exclusive to iTunes, Best Buy, and Target. This move has been harshly criticized by Pitchfork Media[17] and Rolling Stone.[18]. It is unclear whether the band or the record label chose to release the album in this manner.

Outtakes

The following songs were written and recorded for Zeitgeist but did not make any version of the released album.

  • "Gossamer" - currently being played on tour. At around 20 minutes, it's the longest song currently played regularly by the Pumpkins.
  • "Signal to Noise" - covered by Matt Walker's new band, The Most Dangerous Race, for the Myspace cover album project.[25]
  • "Ma Belle" and "F# Stomp" - Listed on leaked image of studio tracklist[26]

Chart positions

Album

Year Album Chart Position

Singles

Year Single Chart Position
2007 Tarantula Billboard Hot 100 No. 54
2007 Tarantula Modern Rock Tracks No. 2
2007 Tarantula Mainstream Rock Tracks No. 7
2007 Tarantula Hot Digital Songs No. 44
2007 Tarantula Mainstream Pop 100 No. 50

Recording Personnel

Touring Personnel

References

  1. ^ a b "SMASHING PUMPKINS". Retrieved 2007-05-16.
  2. ^ a b "SMASHING PUMPKINS' BILLY CORGAN Unveils New Tunes During Solo Set". Blabbermouth.net. 2006-11-06. Retrieved 2007-02-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2006-02-07). "Smashing Pumpkins Name New Album, Add Dates" (http). Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-02-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Goodman, William (2006-12-11). "Exclusive: Smashing Pumpkins Imposters Unmasked?" (http). Spin.com. Retrieved 2007-02-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b Cohen, Jonathon (2007-04-20). "Smashing Pumpkins Settle On 'Zeitgeist' Track List". Billboard. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) Cite error: The named reference "BillbTrack" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ "FMQB: Available for Airplay". FMQB.com. Retrieved 2007-05-05.
  7. ^ IGN Music (2007-06-07). "Transformers Soundtrack Hits July 3rd" (http). IGN.com. Retrieved 2007-06-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2007-04-22). "Smashing Pumpkins Return To The Stage In Paris". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-07-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Phillips, Amy (2007-05-08). "Smashing Pumpkins Robbed, Thieves Jailed". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Kaufman, Gil (2007-05-09). "Smashing Pumpkins Robbed — Plus, Has New Lineup Already Been Revealed?". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Smashing Pumpkins Thieves Charged". Contact Music. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ a b "Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist - The New Album - 7.10.07". Warner Bros. Records. 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2007-05-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins team with Shepard Fairey for Zeitgeist cover". The Gauntlet. 2007-05-16. Retrieved 2007-05-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "http://forums.netphoria.org/showthread.php?t=131458 date = [[2006-12-10]]". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help); Missing pipe in: |title= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  15. ^ "First Impressions: Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist". Filter. 2007-04-23. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "MTV - Albums - Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist". MTV. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  17. ^ a b c "Smashing Pumpkins to Fans, Indie Stores: Fuck You". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  18. ^ "Former Beatles Storm The Charts, Lauryn Hill Possibly Eventually Releasing A New Album, And More". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  19. ^ "Zeitgeist (Limited) (7/10) - CD". Best Buy. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  20. ^ "'Zeitgeist' Erscheint In Vier Versionen". Intro.de. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
  21. ^ "Zeitgeist [IMPORT] [EXTRA TRACKS]". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  22. ^ "Zeitgeist: Hmv Exclusive Sleeve". HMV. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  23. ^ "Zeitgeist (CD+DVD)". Amazon.de. Retrieved 2007-06-22.
  24. ^ "Zeitgeist (Amazon Exklusiv-Edition incl. Bonus Track Death From Above)". Amazon.de. Retrieved 2007-06-20.
  25. ^ "MySpace Music - The Most Dangerous Race". MySpace. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
  26. ^ "Netphoria Forums: Zeitgeist Song Names". Netphoria.org (user:Davin). Retrieved 2007-06-23.
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