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Billy CorganThe Future Embrace Martha's Music/Reprise/Warner Somewhere in between the brilliantly varied output of The Smashing Pumpkins and the disappointingly average Zwan lies Billy Corgan's first true solo album. In some ways, it harks back to the Pumpkins' 'Adore', relying on a sonically textured palette of synths. Along the way, Corgan refers to older influences like Joy Division and The Cure and newer ones like The Dresden Dolls. 'The Future Embrace' is decent, but too often I found the music passing me by. Songs being pushed as singles (Walking Shade, Mina Loy) just don't have enough juice to make them work. Perhaps it's the muddy percussion and thin beats. There are some saving graces. One of the best songs on the album is the Bee Gees cover, To Love Somebody. It works well, not because someone else wrote it, but because Corgan manages to vocally and musically twist it into such an intensely personal song. You can pretty much ignore the hardly-noticeable contribution of backup vocals by Robert Smith, though. Elsewhere, The Cameraeye turns the flimsy production into an asset, playing slinky minimal riffs into a twisty oblivion. For good or for ill, 'The Future Embrace' is another signal that The Smashing Pumpkins of old will never return, despite Corgan's current claims to the contrary. Other former member's solo efforts were mixed: Auf der Maur's was good, and Jimmy Chamberlin's was merely OK, considering it was mainly a drumming showcase. All three of these solo efforts are self-indulgent, which was the point, I guess. Maybe I was just hoping that what was said all along was true: that Corgan was the band. Whatever it is though, the element that made The Smashing Pumpkins so great is missing from this record.  |
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