Bands may not always be reliable when revisiting their old work, as demonstrated by the recent Smashing Pumpkins reissue collection.
Billy Corgan, the frontman of the iconic alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins, has announced a reconstituted version of the "Machina" albums, now simply called Machina. According to Corgan, the reimagined album is as powerful as any of the Pumpkins' previous work and some argue it's even more powerful.
However, the full Machina's arrival on streaming platforms remains uncertain. What is confirmed is the release of a reimagined version of the original Machina/The Machines Of God. The new box set, which collates the recordings of Machina albums into a new 48-track running order, will range in price from Β£313 to Β£431.
The original release of Machina/The Machines Of God was a fractured, disjointed process due to the band falling apart. The overarching concept of Machina II, Corgan's follow-up, was the tale of a rock star gone mad. It featured songs like the rollicking glam-metal of Cash Car Star, the yearning epic Let Me Give The World To You, and the enjoyable silly thrashing of Glass' Theme.
Corgan's ambition was to refine the Machina albums into a single album, but instead made them even bigger and more excessive. Some of the songs on Machina II were better than some of the material that made it onto Machina/The Machines Of God. When Virgin decided not to release Machina II, a disgruntled Corgan pressed up 25 copies of it on vinyl and gave them to friends and key industry allies.
The article suggests that a shorter, more focused Machina album could have been impactful and cheaper. Corgan himself hints at this, suggesting a 12-track record that includes songs like Glass's Theme, The Everlasting Gaze, Stand Inside Your Love, Here's To The Atom Bomb, Dross, Let Me Give The World To You, With Every Light, Cash Car Star, Real Love, Age Of Innocence. This shorter album could make for a fitting send-off to the Pumpkins mark 1.
In recent news, Billy Corgan spent several years navigating legal wranglings and reissuing the final record released by the original Smashing Pumpkins line-up, Machina - Aranea Alba Edition, on his own Madame ZuZu site last month. The album, a 48-track album plus 32 bonus tracks of outtakes, demos, and live recordings, is now available for fans to enjoy.
The reimagined version of Machina/The Machines Of God has been made longer, but the release date for the full Machina on streaming platforms remains unconfirmed. Fans eagerly await the arrival of this powerful new offering from The Smashing Pumpkins.
