The Smashing Pumpkins Are Reunited "Shiny And Oh So Bright Vol. 1"

The #SmashingPumpkins has always essentially meant #BillyCorgan and whoever was up onstage with him. 

Corgan was always the band’s undisputed creative driving force, but it was nice, for a while, to see him maintaining some semblance of a stable band around him. And it’s also been nice, in a low-key way, to see him bring most of that band back. 

Earlier this year, Corgan reunited with James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin, bringing back three-quarters of the original band, and the resulting arena shows have been, by most accounts, a whole lot of fun. 

And now those two guys are playing on a Smashing Pumpkins album for the first time in years.

Today, the Smashing Pumpkins are releasing their new album. It’s got the catchy title Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun, and it’s been produced by Rick Rubin. 

We’ve already posted the early tracks “Solara,” “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts),” and “Knights Of Malta.” And now we get to hear the whole thing.

On first listen, the new LP recaptures at least some of the grandeur of prime ’90s Pumpkins. Despite the, um, ambitious title, it’s a compact and digestible record, just eight songs in just over half an hour.

But those songs are satisfyingly sweeping alt-rock crunchers, and while they might not set your heart rushing like “Today,” they might at least remind you of how it felt to hear those old songs for the first time.

Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun is out now.

Tom Breihan @tombreihan | November 16, 2018

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