V/A - The Killer in You: A Tribute to the Smashing Pumpkins
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RIYL
Smashing PumpkinsGeneric Emo
Label
ReIgnition RecordsTracklist
1. Cherub Rock Roses Are Red2. Jelly Belly A Thorn For Every Heart
3. Soma Poison The Well
4. Mayonaise Emanuel
5. Today Armor For Sleep
6. Eye Hopesfall
7. The Everlasting Gaze A Static Lullaby
8. 1979 Vaux
9. Zero 32 Leaves
10. We Only Come Out At Night Murder By Death
11. Quiet Eighteen Visions
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What I want to know is, who really benefits from a "tribute" album? Does the band that's being tributed gain anything from it? Because I can hardly imagine they like seeing their precious catelog being totally butchered or copied chord for chord by bands that, well, suck. It also seems that the artists contributing to the compilation gain nothing beyond possibly a little bit of gained exposure. They don't really get much in the funds department. Only the label releasing these efforts can reap the spoils. God knows, we consumers derive little to nothing in the form of musical nutrition from these things. That said, this trend is not going away, because some evil soul is making a quick buck. So here we are again disecting another stinker of a cover album giving homage to The Smashing Pumpkins. Certainly if any band from the 90's derserves such an accolade, it's the Pumpkins. However, The Killer In You: A Tribute To The Smashing Pumpkins, could hardly be called flattering.
Recently we've seen tribute albums for such greats as Guns n' Roses, Faith No More, and Sublime all with extremely nauseating results. Here Reignition Records have teamed the efforts of popular punk, hardcore, and rock acts hoping to attract the wallets of today's attention deficit youth. I really hate to break down each bands extremely drab take on The Pumpkins brilliant metallic shoe-gaze because it's unnecessary, so a simple summery will suffice. Roses Are Red, A Thorn For Every Heart, Poison The Well, Emanuel, and Armor For Sleep cover "Cherub Rock", "Jelly Belly", "Soma", "Mayonaise", and "Today" respectively. Of the five first tracks, only Poison the Well, suprisingly enough, seems to "get" it. No one seemed to want to stray from the original in any way, and their efforts pale in comparison. Roses Are Red's attempted take on Corgan's massive distortion layden intro riff to "Cherub Rock" is laughable, and a terrible way to start the album. A Thorn For Every Heart, Emanuel, and Armor For Sleep very similarly (and ever so blandly) fall short. Even the usually amazing Vaux seems unspired with their cookie cutter version of "1979". Nearly all the songs lack passion and intensity, which are the only discernable differences from the originals.
Just so you know it's not all bad, Poison the Well, Eighteen Visions (doing their best VOD impersonation), and Hopesfall all deliver interesting takes on their efforts, even if they aren't brilliant. 32 Leaves also brings the rock with a very good and head banging rendition of "Zero" that could actually bare a repeat listen. However, after it's all said and done, the biggest redeaming effort on this album came courtesy of the magnificent Murder By Death. Their breathtaking reimagination of "We Only Come Out At Night" is absolutely wonderful. They combine their chamber rock, southern gothic whisky soured vocals, and silky violins to voice a version of the song I'm sure Corgan would beam at. So do yourself a favor, buy the Murder By Death song on iTunes, stream a few others on Myspace and save the rest of your hard earned cash for the real Pumpkins cds, (may I suggest Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness or Siamese Dream). No one really wins in the end, so forget the rest of this drivel ever existed.
--Adam Roncaglione
Comments
......and I got nothing.
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