Album Review: Smashing Pumpkins

MUSIC

The Smashing Pumpkins

1991-1998 (Virgin)

Alternative music is dying. The vibrancy that marked the Nirvana of our middle-school years has turned into the recent commercial failure of bands like Bush. Alternative rock is now the domain of the hackneyed melding of hip-hop and rock. That is why Machina, the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins release, is so important: no less than these poster boys for traditional alternative rock could resurrect thoughtful angst from its midget-infested Kid Rock death spiral. In the meantime, the 1991-1998 compilation showcases the legacy the Pumpkins have left. The pretentiousness of Billy Corgan aside, songs like "Disarm" and "Tonight Tonight" demonstrate in almost perfect detail what intelligent writing and instrumentals with a sufficiently whiny voice can do towards capturing anger and sadness.

The Smashing Pumpkins

1991-1998 (Virgin)

Unfortunately, this best-of only demonstrates that the Pumpkins are past-heavy. The first single off Machina, "Stand Inside Your Love," pales in comparison to these efforts. Mere noise is what the Pumpkins seem to put out now, whereas 1991-1998 is a chaotic but ultimately ordered mix of longing and altered grunge states. While alternative music may not have truly died, the loss of the innovative past, even within the Smashing Pumpkins themselves, should still be mourned. A-