The Smashing Pumpkins Go Deep For Tiberius

Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan strikes me as cerebral. A memoir could be upcoming. Until then his band has unleashed "Monuments To an Elegy". Opening single "Tiberius" puts on ear-popping display the many reasons why Mr. Corrigan remains relevant two decades after grunge and alt-rock settled in as music's fashionable flavors. Gently he ushers us into his fragile piano realm. We're not fooled for a second. Billy's got reinforcements on the way. He lays out guitar in sweeping epic surges that are going to make the masses who championed "Oceania" be glad they came back for added helpings. Very few can multi-task instrumentally but Billy executes each task with phenomenal aplomb. The bass pummels both your ears begging you to offer some resistance even though you and I both know that'll be hard to come by. Jeff Schroeder, the only other constant member in this bunch knows how to drain maximum willies creepiness from keyboards. Ever been too spooked to run for your life as if your next move could be your last? Jeff's here to reinforce how powerless you really are. Often an epic needs Led Zeppelin like space to unfold, to use its hooks to compel us to visit its twisted, layered dimensions. Well, let it be said that's myth, myth, a million times myth. Three minutes and two seconds is all it takes for Billy and Jeff to take the measure of this hefty piece. At their most effective the Pumpkins don't allow you to catch a breath. No sooner have the keyboards instilled that uncertainty of footing within us than Billy rips our hearts out with guitar that knows how to eat away at the rough edged spots. Billy has lost none of the enigmatic charismatic showmanship that boosted both "1979" and "Tonight Tonight" to the upper depths of the alt-rock stratosphere. Not to mention a touch of hairs standing on the back of the neck discomfort that was responsible for making "The End Is The Beginning Is The End" one sound reason for disallowing the sentiment that "Batman and Robin" was the link in the Caped Crusader chain that royally screwed over the franchise (I, for the record, seem to be one of the teeny handful of people who didn't write off the movie as top of the line garbage with a jolt of skunk spray thrown in for bad measure). Billy knows his way around methodical sound construction. He's been around this block long enough to know if it's a war of attrition the public's after then that's what it's going to get. "Hush my love, don't bite" for all the world makes you imagine vampire man and wife trying to make each other less ill at ease in a world that doesn't welcome them with open arms. Any marriage traditionalists out there? Feel free to hold your noses in disgust at "What is love if love obeys". I assumed love, honor, and obey were the big three of the matrimonial mishmash. Don't make waves with the bald vocalist who likely won't ever have enough cranial space to fit the myriad grand ideas he has. Apparently his lover is naive to the ways of the world but he loves her anyway. Unconditional nookie thy name is Corrigan!! I'd love to know how much air space Billy's spent on reading or drawing inspiration from classic poetry. The dark corners of the human psyche come through with astounding clarity in his lyrics. Best of luck to him on getting his paramour to embrace stillness of mind and heart. Some folks never fail to fascinate. Billy comes through time and again. After visiting "Tiberius" you'll definitely say to yourself "Did I just go through that?" Whether through his sense of vision or technical proficiency Billy Corrigan refuses to slink off into the shadows of the circumstance beaten horizons he's brought to life. I dare anybody to see or hear that as a liability.