Machina / The Machines Of God - Smashing Pumpkins

Machina/ Machines of God is the in no way pretentious title of what proved to be the Smashing Pumpkins final album, discounting of course the collection of outtakes released onto the internet by a disgruntled Billy Corgan under the title Machina II. The Pumpkins split up at the end of last year, claiming that they could no longer compete with the Britney Spears of this world. The rise of nu-metal of course has made this claim look a little po-faced, but Billy has always been one for the grand gesture. After the commercial disappointment that was ‘Adore’, this album was heralded to a return to the (ahem) ‘rock’ sound of their most ...  Read the complete review

I’ve not been a great admirer of The Smashing Pumpkins since they ventured onto the scene all those years ago. I have come across one or two tracks that I did like, but out of countless numbers of albums, that is not very good odds. The year 2000 has brought out some very good albums and surprisingly, out come MACHINA/ the machines of God. What really did it was an interview on MTV with The Smashing Pumpkins about the album and how they brought back an old member of the band. They played one of the tracks from the album, which I thought was very well written. Well, I thought I’d give them a shot; I had some vouchers to use up and I’d bought all the ...  Read the complete review

‘MACHINA | The Machines of God’ is the best album of 2000 so far. Corgan’s song writing has taken on a new level of emotion and passion, and his majestic talent is here for all to see. This is probably the most consistently great Pumpkins album ever, and that’s saying something. The production is very polished, and there are loads of truly great and inspiring moments. The best songs are ‘I of the Mourning’, ‘Glass…’ and ‘With Every Light’, but all of them are great, and it is the album as a whole that excels. Unique and unsurpassed. ...  Read the complete review

A most welcome return for Billy Corgan and co. After Adore which broke off from the Pumpkins’ rock stance into more electronically influenced music, The Smashing Pumpkins are back again with an amazing album packed with rock. The song titles are as ornate as they were before and the music sounds fantastic. The album doesn’t gently glide you in, it throws you into the frenzy straight away with the magnificent Everlasting Gaze, a powerful, surging song. Stand Inside Your Love, the first single from the album is a great track and was a good choice of release. The heavier tracks on the album are, I feel, the best, although the softer ones are very touching. The ...  Read the complete review

All of the Smashing Pumpkins ablums have a definition, the dreamy Siamese Dream album, the arty Adore, the bloody marvellous Machina. I do not own the album but have borrowed it from a housemate and it absolutely kicks. I used to be a fan but lost touch with their music when they released mellon...But this, their final album, as the band are set to split is an absolute gem. The drums are handled perfectly and the bass and guitars are so well balanced it's a surprise that they don't give you protective clothing inorder to listen to this piece of musical genius. Bye smashing P's, one day may you reunite. ...  Read the complete review