To whomever made the "add more stuff into my room to clean it" comment. This is what I was trying to portray to you.

Because of all of the instrumentation in Machina, the sounds often create a large soundscape that (at some times) flows together and seamlessly displays the music in a non-obtrusive manner. However, the vocals are significantly different. Because of the calamity of the instruments, your focus is drawn to the sound that is different: Corgan's voice. It's like going into a museum with all black and white pictures and one colored picture. After noticing the similarity of the black and white pictures your focus is immediately drawn to the picture in color. The same is said of Machina's production. Because of how the album was layered with instrumentation and synthesizers, you cannot help but be drawn to Corgan's voice (which is at an all time high quality on Machina IMO) and the album is better for it.

What I also like about Machina is that despite the density of sounds and instruments on the songs, much of the album sustains a sublime simplicity, which few other SP songs can achieve, much less with so much instrumentation.

Anywho... yeah. If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with this album.

Oh and the Adore thing.... I agree with whoever said that the album will be seen differently in the future. Look at Sg Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles. When that LP was released, people were like "What the fuck?" Who the hell is this?" but now it is often heralded as the best album of the 20th century. Not that Adore will reach the same acclaim or status, but views do change regarding albums in time. The only problem with my theory is that the status of Sg Pepper happened quite quickly as people caught on that it was the Beatles and didn't care that it was weird as hell. So eh.

touche

One of the best things about machina is that it is a concept album. I appreciated it a lot more when I started thinking about how the songs fit into the story and what they meant. But I think that Machina will forever be a highly underrated album.

Maybe, but one person's underrated album will always be another person's least favorite album.



Meaning that saying an album is underrated means nothing more than "I like it, and other people should too"


don't get me wrong though, I feel the same way ^^

that sounded harsh :

Ruby link=topic=836.msg12687#msg12687 date=1164924651]
Adore...its my favourtie album out of everything i own...pretty scary. i never thought id be able to say that about a band let alone a cd

goddammit, ruby, i love you.

I see where you're coming from Rivers Cuomo, but Machina was slanted by the public and the critics and many thought it was Billy turning into a megelomaniac of some sort. The sales weren't very good, and it generally failed to bring back the mass popular appeal that they lost durung the Adore period. Unlike Adore, which many returned to later to realise its beauty; machina was really a case of you liked it or you didn't and so it will remain underrated to those who did, but just the final stage in the pumpkin's "demise" for those who didn't. (I kind of lost where I was going with all this, so i think ill just stop.)

A really hard decision...I'll say Siamese Dream! Followed really tight by Gish and Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness... I hope that the next album will change our minds! Smashing Pumpkins ROCK!

MCIS is my most favourite album ever. Flawless from start to finish.

Adore very very very close second.

But then again, I love every SP album, without fail. Being really into electronic music, I wasn't the biggest TFE fan though...it had its moments, but I thought, as far as that style goes, it was pretty half-assed. (Cue Murder's Half-Assed Music animation).

Peace and love and music, Gabriel

All of their albums are so good you can't really compare them. But seeing as i have to chose one i will say Pisces Iscariot because no one has voted for it yet and I really like the compositions and guitar tone on it.

#1. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
-brilliant from start to finish and reminds me of a very happy time in my life
#1b. Adore
-dark and sad yet heartwarming and sensitive: in my eyes a bittersweet album

this is so hard for me in many ways but if i had to give a number 1 album crap it would be mellon collie close second siamese dream but every other album has a special place in my herat cause all of them have help during a period in my life plus all the band members had a part of mellon collie not true with siamese dream

heres a full stop for you for next time. .

smithversusneo link=topic=28.msg317#msg317 date=1147652628]
Forever and a day it has been "Mellon Collie", but my love and adoration for "Adore" knows no bounds. I saw them during the "Adore Tour" in 1998 and it was truly the second best concert I've ever seen!



I'm pretty much the same way (however, I did vote for Adore because more recently it has become my favourite). Then again, they're all amazing and it was a really tough decision for me. I wish I could've seen they're '98 Adore Tour (but I was about 10 back then and wasn't really into the Pumpkins as much during my childhood).

adore is my favourite album ever. scary considering how many cds i own

Mine is a tie between MCIS, SD and Mach, all fantastic in their own right

...man thats hard..well i must say that s.d is mind blowing as a whole..so that must be it 4 me..but.. its realy ard 2 choose isnt it??!

I'd have to say MCIS. I've had it since I was four years old. well my cousin's played it for me and everytime I'd come over they;d play smashing pumpkins, so I was born with that album.

That's my favorite lyrically, my favorite musically is Siamese Dream, however Machina has my Favorite song 'Age of Innocence.'

my least favorite is the Adore album, i like Perfect, Ava Adore, and To Martha, but thats it. It's too soft for me, although I like all the soft songs on their other albums.

I'm surprised nobody has voted for Pisces. I've just gotten into it and it is so damn good. It's amazing how songs like Plume, Blew Away, Obscured, and Landslide among others didn't make it onto an "actual'' album. Also, Starla just may be my favorite long Pumpkins track.