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For those of us who spent the nineties honing in on and fine-tuning through trial and error what would eventually evolve into our current musical taste, there’s no arguing the importance of the role played by Billy Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins. Remember the first time you heard the opening to “Today”? Remember going back to check out Gish after Siamese Dream blew your mind? Remember “1979″ and comparing Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness to the White Album? Okay, maybe that last one was just me.

The point here is that I can’t remember a more highly anticipated album from a band whose history goes back to before I smoked my first joint. Billy Corgan was among the small group of dudes that made me pick up a guitar and buy a huge stereo for my bedroom. The Pumpkins were the ones that made my first band’s songs all sound the same, cause as long as you had a soft pretty verse that was suddenly disrupted by a loud droning chorus, you had yourself a hit.

And that’s why Billy’s latest release, Zeitgeist, might be the biggest let down since Milli Vanilli. I’m not going to go in-depth here, but after listening to the record a few times, there’s not much to say but bleh. I even listened to the record for the fist time the way one is supposed to listen to a record for the first time (in my opinion, of course): headphones on, eyes closed, all the way through, no interruptions. Then I tried it in the car. Then at work. Unfortunately, no matter where I heard it, it was just bad.

Frazer said a few days ago that the record might have been good if it came out in 1990, but I actually think that’s being a little harsh at that decade. I really, really wanted to call Pitchfork out for another review more influenced by their conceit than by the actual merit of the record, but in this case I think their 4.9 rating might have been a bit generous. Outside of the last song, “Pomp and Circumstances,” I was unable to find a single saving grace on the album. And remember, this is coming from someone who thought Zwan’s Mary Star of the Sea was near genius (still one of the better Metro shows I’ve ever been to).

So chalk it up to lack of D’arcy if you want, but I personally think Billy may have lost a few of his marbles along with his hair. It’s just too bad.

Here’s to hoping that when STP (another 90s gem) finally reunites the same thing doesn’t go down, but judging from Velvet Revolver’s sophomore offering, things aren’t looking too good (yes, that was a review within a review).

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