Billy Corgan & Co. wussed out big-time with Adore; its mopey songs and keyboard-dominated textures failed to play off the group's big-guitar assets, so key to the artistic and commercial success of Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. Evidently realizing their mistake, Chi-town's finest rebound with a roaring ripper on MACHINA.
Most of the songs here are performed with a loud ferocity that will lead Corgan's lyric "let me die for rock 'n' roll" to become one of the most-quoted psycho-artistic statements of the double-zero. Big bad killers like "The Everlasting Gaze," "Heavy Metal Machine," and "The Imploding Voice" and tuff rock balladry like "Rain Drops And Sun Showers" and "Blue Skies Bring Tears" are just the strongest moves on a 15-song, 73-minute entry that exhibits scarcely a weak second.
Moment for moment, it may be the Pumpkins' most complete and fully realized record, and it's also a compelling testament to the enduring power of a cranked-up amp.
All recordings written by B. Corgan, courtesy of Virgin Records and Faust's Haus Music.
