The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania
Artist: The Smashing Pumpkins
Album: Oceania
OUT NOW
Rating: 5/5
This week marks the return of The Smashing Pumpkins as the release their first album in five years, if of course you over look Teargarden by Kaleidyscope.
And Billy Corgan and the rest of the band have dropped a fantastic album that shows that they are as relevant as ever.
Quasar is a sensational opening to the record as the guitars ring out for almost fifty seconds before the vocals kick in.
This is almost a hypnotic track where the guitars take the centre stage as much as the vocals and together they are just sensational - trust me this track would sound awesome live.
Not sooner has Quasar finished and Panopticon kicks in with the same ferocity as Billy Corgan's wails over the superb guitars that is going on behind him.
Quasar and Panopticon are two of the heaviest tracks that I have heard from The Smashing Pumpkins in a long time and boy do they sound great.
There is a change of pace with The Celestials as an acoustic guitar and some strings kick in and immediately this combination gives the track a real ethereal feel to it.
It's a really stripped back track, which couldn't be more different to the two songs that have come before it, and it really shows off Corgan vocally at his best.
The electric guitars do kick in half way through and it is a fantastic contrast to the beginning of the track - but it never loses that haunting feeling despite that change of pace.
Violet Rays is another incredibly emotive track as Corgan once again shows off his incredibly raw vocals that are incredibly powerful and moving.
Oceania really is a fantastic album that shows that The Smashing Pumpkins are back and really are very close to their best.
There isn't a single weak track on this record and whether you have been a fan of the band for many years or you are coming to their music for the first time with this album then is one that you are going to really enjoy.
The Smashing Pumpkins - Oceania is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in The Smashing Pumpkins