Album Review: THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - Cyr

 

01. The Colour Of Love
02. Confessions Of A Dopamine Addict
03. Cyr
04. Dulcet In E
05. Wrath
06. Ramona
07. Anno Satana
08. Birch Grove
09. Wyttch
10. Starrcraft
11. Purple Blood
12. Save Your Tears
13. Telegenix
14. Black Forest, Black Hills
15. Adrennalynne
16. Haunted
17. The Hidden Sun
18. Schaudenfreud
19. Tyger, Tyger
20. Minerva

 

When the title track dropped on YouTube a few weeks ago, fans were polarised due to CYR's Electronica and Synth-Pop vibe. Personally, I loved it and still listen to it on a fairly regular basis. What some people fail to realise is that The Smashing Pumpkins have gone in this direction before, most notably on their 1998 Adore album. The populous know them for their Indie-Grunge sound of their early and breakthrough years, but there have been many other sides to them since then. 

This Synth-Pop sound runs through most of this ambitious double album, but doesn't dominate it. There are plenty of tracks which hark back to their early days, such as the super-catchy Ramona, but there is a distinctive contemporary edge to the album too.  

It would have been easy for them to make an album that's effectively a re-write of their early material and jump on the nostalgia bandwagon, but they've opted to continue being creative and pushing the envelope, keeping them relevant and worth following.

There are some great songs on here like the aforementioned CYR and Ramona. Wyttch is great, with a riff that White Zombie fans will recognise, but repurposed into a hypnotic, danceable, and irresistible number. OK, Billy Corgan can't pronounce Samhain, but other than that, this track is 'on the money'. I also love the chilled and reflective Dulcet in E. 

There's a lot to digest here, and I'm finding some songs I wasn't initially taken with are now growing on me. Due to the nature of CYR, I think it will be considerably more appreciated by Pumpkins fans in the coming years, when it's had time to properly sink in. As usual, Billy Corgan and co haven't given the fans the album they wanted, but the album that the band wanted to give them. I think they made the right decision.