Album Review: The Smashing Pumpkins

By Aaron Davis (for JHWeekly.com)Oceania The Smashing Pumpkins **1/2Not having listened to the Pumpkins in a solid decade, I feel highly qualified to base this review on my experiences with Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) and Siamese Dream (1993) as a high school student. But this is the age of the “new” Pumpkins anyway, with Billy Corgan being the last stronghold. Oceania is reportedly the band’s ninth studio release, though there are a number of EPs, compilations, and the like that make the Pumpkins’ discography an encyclopedia of information. Many tracks on the album are rhythm monsters (“Quasar” and “Violet Rays”) hammered by crashing symbols via Mike Byrne and pile-driving distortion from Corgan, while a heavy influx of pop and electronic qualities make for both comfort and head-scratching. The nine-minute title track that, with exception to the acoustic mid-section, approaches over-treatment (compression) to make it “huge” – a digital mechanism that runs rampant in major-label pop releases – and is used liberally throughout Oceania. Not a deal breaker, though. Standout track, “The Chimera,” is cushioned by a rock-friendly cadence and elements that made “Today” such a massive hit.