Customer Reviews

Smashing Pumpkins Tribute: The Killer in You

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you're looking for carbon copies of the originals, performed by other bands, you're going to be dissapointed as was the above reviewer. The songs are covers, and I really think that as far as covers of songs by a great band (like Smashing Pumpkins) go, these were all well done. They threw there own flare into the music.

You know what they say, forever immitated but never duplicated. This is Smashing Pumpkins we're talking about here, no one is going to be able to duplicate the music, this is a homage to a great band. Take it for what it is.

...you have to listen yourself before judging. This is slickpoetry, a smashing pumpkins fan from way back. obsessive, perhaps. and i am digging on this album, much to my surprise. I was not a fan of any of these bands (or the emo/screamo/whatever genre in general), but this CD is very listenable, apart from a couple missteps here and there. want a track-by-track review? ok here ya go:

1. Roses Are Red--Cherub Rock: A fairly faithful cover, not too many surprises. Which you may consider a good thing. The drummer and guitarist don't seem quite up to par to take on a jimmy chamberlin/billy corgan composition, but then again...who is? (the guitar solo especially sounds sloppy). the vocalist is adequate, but i think he actually gets a couple lyrics wrong! 8/10.
2. A Thorn For Every Heart--Jellybelly: Like a lot of the bands on here, I don't care much for the vocalist. The music is pretty awesome, though...the bass drum work actually makes it sound more rockin than the original...otherwise a very faithful cover 7/10
3. Poison the Well--Soma: The Pumpkins original is one of my favorites, and never seemed boring to me, but that's the word that comes to mind when hearing this cover. I think they phoned this in, honestly. 5/10.
4. Emanuel--Mayonaise: Not better than the original by any stretch of the imagination, but more rockin'. I like this quite a bit, actually. It changes the music just enough to make it a substantial difference, but you never forget for one second that its Mayonaise. the original is my favorite pumpkin track, and i would say this is a great cover of a great, great song. 10/10
5. Armor For Sleep--Today: I don't like the way the guitar intro is reproduced on a keyboard. it rubs me the wrong way. otherwise its fine. 6/10
6. Hopesfall--Eye: Just alright. I like that we can hear this song with a afull band, where everything sounds real (especially the bass guitar) as opposed to the original which sounded synthesized. 8/10.
7. A Static Lullaby--The Everlasting Gaze: Horrible, Horrible, Horrible. Screamo at its worst. 0/10.
8. Vaux--1979: This song begins terrifically. the song starts with a real acoustic feel, just the singer and a guitar. If they had kept that sound throughout the recording, I would have loved it...unfortunately they had to seque awkwardly into a "rockin" chorus which makes the whole song sound schizophrenic...a real shame. Almost a 10/10 cover, but its marked down to 3/10.
9. 32 Leaves--Zero: Pretty basic, faithful cover. Just ok. 7/10.
10. Murder By Death--We Only Come Out At Night: This song is a blessing. this song is fantastic. it was worth the 15 bucks i paid all in itself. anyone who says otherwise has no soul.

Murder By Death is a band i've never heard before. They take the pumpkins original, which is a silly sing-along piece of whimsy, and make it dark and depressing. The original's lyrics were always dark, to be sure, but the music part of the song didn't match up, so people may have thought of it as a goofy song, similar to "Lily (My One And Only)" off the same album...well, this cover is nothing like the original...it substitutes a string orchestra and melancholy guitar for electronic oompah drums and zither. terrific. i can't say enough about it. It reminds me of a cover Johnny Cash would do (RIP) where the emotion of the song is finally revealed in a truer, more raw fashion than the original artist could bring out....even if you don't buy this CD, if you are a true pumpkins fan you owe it to yourself to hear this...so download it already...10/10
11. Eighteen Visions--Quiet: a fine cover of a great song. 9/10. they should've made the murder by death track the last song...after hearing that nothing compars....eighteen visions do a fine job with quiet, though. very faithful to the original.

I downloaded this album off of iTunes because I absolutely love the Smashing Pumpkins and I had some extra credit. There are some songs that I really enjoy, there are some that I am indifferent about, and there are a couple that I absolutely hate. I don't understand why people are talking about who "got" Corgan's voice correctly and who didn't. In my opinion, a tribute album isn't really focused on trying to sound like the original, it's more of another artist's take on them. None sounded like the Smashing Pumpkins, and that's because none of the bands were the Smashing Pumpkins. Therefore, I am writing this review for the substance of the songs themselves, and not how they compare to the originals.

Best songs:
Roses Are Red - Cherub Rock
Emanuel - Mayonnaise
Armor For Sleep - Today

Worst song (ever):
A STATIC LULLABY - THE EVERLASTING GAZE

I really enjoyed hearing other bands playing the songs, and I can say that I don't regret buying it. A few of the songs get heavy rotation on my top rated playlist.

People are correct in fearing tribute albums since the songs cannot be evaluated but in the context of their original versions. This makes a Smashing Pumpkins tribute that much more difficult since the band was not only phenomenal (disclosure: I'm a huge SP fan) but also because Billy Corgan was famously (some would say infamously) over-controlling and meticulous during recording, leading to impeccable albums. Hence, if a cover is to be "good" or successful (at least), it cannot simply aim to replicate the original (impossible in this case); it must bring in something different (in most cases unique to the band covering the song) that recasts the song in a new, possibly innovative, light.

What does this mean for this collection? Exactly what most people fear: it is populated with dull renditions of great SP songs performed with some measure of competence but ultimately failing to entertain even on some level of nostalgia. The problem, of course, it that they are trying to emulate the originals which, while flattering to Corgan and Co., I'm sure, simply does not work. This is not surprising, as these are mostly forgettable bands with questionable aptitude. The songs are simply out of their league. Then there's Murder By Death.

Murder By Death avoids doing precisely what the rest of the bands do here, which is simply rehashing the original with a few screams here and a painfully cheesy voice inflection there. They instead make it their own. Surprisingly, the fist time I listened to their track I actually heard Murder By Death and not some band pretending to be the Pumpkins. The usual MBD strings complement the song well, "We Only Come Out At Night" feels right at place with their newest album, and the narrative structure of the song suits their own style perfectly. The original was fascinating because of the interplay between its bouncy, playful melody and its otherwise dark lyrics. MBD takes the song all the way to its natural conclusion by making it even darker and somber yet retaining its strange sense of hope, albeit with a sort of helpless resignation to it. The song is cool all over again. And that's what a good cover should do.

In other words, mostly disposable dreck except for Murder By Death's cover of "We Only Come Out At Night." It single-handedly takes the entire album from 1 star to 4. That is to say, the album is worth it just for this one song, it really is that good.

And one more thing, if you can't remember the original songs or are not familiar with them (as a previous reviewer graciously admitted), then your opinion of their covers is simply meretricious and, therefore, irrelevant.

wow. every single band on this album misses the entire point of the smashing pumpkins. way to go guys.

You knew it was coming eventually. Afterall, there are countless bands, amongst countless genres, inspired by the Smashing Pumpkins. If there was one band in the mid-90's that had universal appeal, it was the Smashing Pumpkins. Perhaps that's why I latched onto them at the ripe age of ten. Such great music that transcends all genres. So maybe I take it a little personally when a compilation comes out full of second rate emo acts butchering some of my favorite songs...

Now, don't get wrong, there are some good entries here. Eighteen Visions, the most recognizable name here does "Quiet" pure justice, while giving it their own touch. Likewise, newbies like Roses Are Red and 32 Leaves bring "Cherub Rock" and "Zero" to life, respectively. What I cannot forgive, however, is groups like Hopesfall and Armor For Sleep absolutely butchering their tracks, and Vaux, whose singer does a pretty bad Corgan impressio on their dreadful version of "1979." The bulk of this "Tribute" is downright insulting, not only to a Smashing Pumpkins fan, but also to anyone with the slightest bit of musical taste. I say download the few songs you feel are worthy, and leave the rest for dead.

murder by death, you're cool. the guys who did cherub rock is decent... and the chorus to 1979 was close to decent.. the rest? oh man.. such a horrible tribute to such a brilliant band.

when is there going to be a good thank you to them? because they deserve it.

I am a huge fan of The Smashing Pumpkins and I like a lot of the screamo/emo bands on this record. I thought, how could this possibly go wrong? Well it goes south very quickly. I'll give you a quick rundown of each song and the artists seeing how Amazon hasn't put the tracklist up yet.

1. Roses Are Red "Cherub Rock"-This is definitely one of the more standout tracks on the album. They cover it well, the singer actually TRIES to sing like Corgan and pulls it off well. 10/10
2. A Thorn For Every Heart "Jelly Belly"-Ehhh, I'm not too sure about this song. They got the grungy sound of it down. The singer tries WAAAAAY too hard to sound like Corgan and manages to actually annoy the listener. And what's with the emo crooning during the chorus??! 6/10
3. Poison The Well "Soma"-I'm not a real big Poison The Well fan and well they just did a crap version of this song. Nuff said. 4/10
4. Emanuel "Mayonaise"-This is one of my favorite Pumpkins songs and these guys cover it to a 'T'. They've got it down very well. Definitely one of the best songs on the CD. 10/10
5. Armor for Sleep "Today"-This is OK. I like Armor for Sleep, but the singer's voice does not fit the song. At least he didn't try singing like Corgan, I give him that. 7/10
6. Hopesfall "Eye"-This one's good. Sounds similar to the original with just a little Hopesfall built in. Doesn't suck but isn't anything to write home about. 8/10
7. A Static Lullaby "The Everlasting Gaze"-Another SP favorite of mine, butchered. Alright first off, I know these are screamo bands recording these songs, but last time I checked Corgan never screeched and growled that much. Good attempt, but fails in some areas. 7.5/10
8. Vaux "1979"-Another great song butchered to hell. 4/10
9. 32 Leaves "Zero"-Never heard of 32 Leaves but they do the song pretty well. It works. 8/10
10. Murder By Death "We Only Come Out At Night"-OH GOD! I don't remember this Pumpkins song but I can imagine that they did it better! 4/10
11. Eighteen Visions "Quiet"-Another highlight of the album. Has the song down while adding that 18V sound. He has the Corgan voice down well. 9/10

Final Score 77.5/10-C+

Until a really good tribute album comes along, this one is decent enough, just don't pay too much. Hope that helps!