Is this fully endorsed by the Pumpkins themselves? I'm still torn as to whether I should listen to the album now, or wait until I actually buy it. I'm buying both the special and exclusive Target versions regardless...

listening to it right now!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Zeitgeist, all the negative responses I read don't make any sense to me now, it's like if they listened to the wrong album or something.

Pumpkins 2007 I salute you.

:-)!

It's not working for me

I'm very upset

This won't work for me. But ohhhhh well.

very very good

zeitgeist is great

yeah i downloaded the active-x crap and aol still doesnt work.

I finally decided to listen to the whole thing... Holy crap, it was fantastic! The only songs I'm trying to get used to are United States (echoing vocals), and Pomp and Circumstance. Overall this album is simply fantastic. My favorites are Bleeding the Orchid, Starz, and Neverlost.

This album is pretty much middle of the road garbage, this is coming from a person who loves (loved) SP...it just doesn't live up to the promise of what it was meant to be. If you ask me it seems like a bit of a cash in, don't get me wrong it does have a few shining moments of classic Pumpkins - but I believe that Tarantula being used as the lead single was misleading as the rest of the album is pretty much leagues beneath the quality of Tarantula itself. I despise Starz and Neverlost as they could easily be TheFutureEmbrace b-sides. Bleeding The Orchid was overly hyped as well, it's a very poor attempt at a mid-tempo/soft electric song which never really hits the spot for me. (Come On) let's Go! is right off the Zwan album and United States is a throwaway of 10 minutes that so much more could have been done with. Sorry Billy but this is really disappointing, especially with all the excitement I had regarding the single. Overall a 3/10 for Doomsday Clock and Tarantula, which are coincidently the 2 tracks made available first, I can see why.

I listened to half of it and I really like it. I haven't been a fan for a long time, so I don't know if some old-school fan would have different standards.

just gave it a first listen through...i gotta say i give the album on the whole a 7/10. i think it has a few shining moments whereas most of the rest of the album is just average. i wouldn't say "pomp and circumstance" is unlike anything we've heard from them before, it is sortof in the vein of songs like "we only come out at night"...just weird stuff. definitely not the best way to end the album, "gossamer" should've been there to do that. but yeah, i've only given it one listen, so like all pumpkins albums it's bound to grow on me a bit. i must say i was not blown away by either "bleeding the orchid" or "that's the way" but "bring the light" really surprised me. overall, i'd rank it below the trio of gish, siamese, and mellon collie, but i think i like it better than adore and the two machinas...but then again everyone has their different taste with the pumpkins.

why do u compare it with the other albums?! it must be original!!! and billy is always unique... if u are true pumpkin fan so take it as it is and be happy it's different from previous albums... i don't want another gish, siamese dream..........etc.

Hum i have to say i like the album, i know most of the songs cause of the live shows but i have to admit i like the songs more with the female background vocals of ginger. To the live versions the album now sounds a bit boring to me. Dont get me wrong its a good album but songs like bleeding the orchid and starz sounded good to me mostly because of the female backround vocals.. that made them kind of special. Nevertheless they are good songs.

Palinto has a very good point. The original ideals of the Smashing Pumpkins from the very beginning were to always create something new, and not to dwell on the old. If they were to simply stagnate with their syle long passed, it would hold even less merit in my eyes for being a "true" Pumpkin album. New and fresh is what the music world needs, and that is what this is!

http://music.msn.com/music/artistofthemonth That link, then click Hear Zeitgeist. It works.

Ok, so...

I wasn't expecting to like it so much, but I actually do! The production could have been better, but I thought it was great. With the exception of Starz, United States and Pomp and Circumstances, it was pretty good throughout. I liked Doomsday Clock, 7 Shades of Black, Bleeding the Orchid,That's the Way, Tarantula, and For God and Country best.

Intravenous_Agnostic, I completely agree with you. After Tarantula, every other song on the album seems to falls under it in quality.
In addition, the melodic tuning of Billy's voice is really horrible. He sounds practically the same for like 3-4 songs straight. To the people saying that you cant compare this album to the others, or that this new album is "original", gimme a break. Sure it may be original, but the quality is seriously unimpressive and practically "sub-standard" to what they've done in the past.

I'm not listening to it until I get the actual album. The quality of this sounds worse than radio.

i totally agree with your point on originality not mattering if quality of production is substandard, imasterbiate. i believe i made the point that the album is mostly average, which is what i based my comparison to the other albums upon, quality (and general sound.) the songs on this album could've been much better had there been better production. billys vocals are placed too much int he foreground which pushes the guiatrs to the back, which has nothing to do with the quality of the music that was recorded and everything to do with the editing and production.

Listening to SD or MCIS certainly makes me feel fuzzier inside.

I hope I can warm up to Zeitgeist more...

Something seems to be missing.

Well, what about his singing? Such emotionless tones i already heard at thefutureembrace and i really disliked it and now...once again: The voice sounds completly wrong (not as horrible as the siamese dram-Butch Vig commercial downmix, but nearby!!!)
And the album...it's not bad but there are almost only hardrock songs and no single melancholic moment...Funny but simple rock songs alone are not The Smashing Pumpkins...something's really missing in here...

I wish they would have just re-recorded Melloncollie... I hate when artists try new and different things

This album is good... But when I hear that line from mayonaise it's hard not to get a tear in your eye...... But this album billy has no emotion in his singing... the same reason I don't care for most the songs of machina or machina to (except try try try, siyl, home, let me give the world to you) But then again it does show sp isnt dead... Still a decent album... comparable almost to gish... not quite tho. 7/10

I scored the leaked version and am liking it VERY much. Not as classic as SD, but a pretty good outing.

i've heard the album about 3 times completely and have maybe 4 favorites. the others i'm forcing myself to like. i figure if i'm to be any kind of fan or supporter, i've got to like smashing pumpkins, right? well this album is about as painful to listen to as hitting your hand with a hammer. it seems like a good idea at the time, but it just hurts at the end. everyone thought adore was the pumpkins failure album. (which is quite possibly my favorite with emotional attachment towards) but this album is actually better than his solo work. his solo work wasn't great either, but it was a step in a creative and different direction. this album took two steps away from that direction and found nothing worth saying.

what billy and a lot of bands that try to do is come out with some hard rocking album with a lot of great songs. when you consider what a great song is, you tend to stay on that track and follow that trend. billy, at times goes against the trend and comes out with something beautiful. i guess from a musical point of view, this album is a fluff of sounds from over produced guitar sounds and over used effects.

take for example, today. why was it a hit? it may not be your favorite song, but it's a hit because of the simplicity and it's main lead guitar. another song to give this example would be mayonaise, not a very popular song in main stream media (mtv, vh1 or whatever) but it has a certain luster. when you hear the guitars first come in, you know instantly what song it is and you can be pulled back to the first time you heard it. this simplicity or combination of guitars are a result of creative process known as jamming. billy without james iha is like john frusciante without flea. (red hot chili peppers if you don't already know)

how to remedy this? i think billy works best when he's under constraints. when he is just, that rat in a cage. he needs a producer to tell him "no" and he needs band mates to give him input. he's going off on a tangent and might lose a lot of fans this way. he needs all the support he can get and putting out an album that will flop really isn't getting us a fans any where except expecting more from the smashing pumpkins and more out of billy.

i think james might have known what was going on and made the right decision by staying out of this.

You got it, prequarius! That's the point of it!
Zeitgeist was released in Europe today and listening to it a second time was almost depressing me...maybe there was not just Billy writing those brilliant music in the past.
And, yes considering Adore: I think, it was the most important album in the career of the "Classic Pumpkins"! Not the best, but the most surprising one!
Zeitgeist has defenitly too less beautiful moments like all other Pumpkins albums had before!
Sorry Billy, but you gave away such a big chance...

Hello from Russia!!
And zeitgeist is a Good One!
Congratulations smashings !!! U did it!

Boring lyrics, muted guitars, disappearing drums, and uninspired vocals. Say it ain't so Bolly! This record is better than Machina, but that isn't saying much. There are a few pleasant moments which are quickly ruined by poor mixing (Tarantula), silly lyrics (Starz), or layered "Billy" vocals. 5/10

At least they're rockin' the older songs during the current tour.

I like it!! And I like it even more with each time listening to it.

It's growing...Pumpkins feeling returns slightly with every new listening to it!!!
I bought the European Special Edition yesterday!
Temporary i like 7 Shades Of Black and For God And Country best.
Zeitgeist is also a nice acoustic song (reminds me of the Tonight, Tonight EP )

What a brilliant album, fantastic. Freakin hell its like people expect this new album to be the second coming of Jesus Christ or something!!

Bring the light

its not working for me
oh well
I can wait until tuesday

Interesting review at allmusic.com 2/5 stars (or is that starz?)

Shite, stop sucking Corgan arse.