I wasn't expecting it to be good. It was good at least, so I don't think you can call that dissapointment. It wasn't great, though.

I love all of everything I have heard simply b/c billy has always written good hard stuff and good mellow stuff. I think both have a place in his style and with the changes that have occured in band members over time.

Also, I don't know if you realize, but many ppl were very critical of the ADORE album (I think stupidly) just b/c it wasn't "hard" like previous stuff. Billy is a phenomanal (sp?) writer and a f'n awesome guitar player. ...I love him.

Maybe Zeitgeist could have been another double album, full of rockers on one disk, and another full of acoustic ballads on another. But, i think for a "comeback" album, I'd want to put out the most rockin, most original stuff i could. I'm absolutely positive that Billy is still capable of writing stuff like Annie-dog, disarm, and thirty three, I mean he wrote five completely new songs just in the time he was in Asheville.

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.

all I have to say. The album is great and if you listen a bit more carefully you'll catch all the deepness.

I wonder if I'm listening to the same songs as some of the people that are disappointed with Zeitgeist. The album rocks! It's every bit as good as Siamese Dream or MCIS, it just sounds different. If you want to hear songs like "Today" or "Disarm" or "1979", listen to those songs. Why would anyone want a band to continually churn out the same sound over and over again. The bottom line is that Zeitgeist is an excellent album. People need to grow up and move on!

I'm not dissapointed, but then again I kept my expectations low.

I haven't liked any of Billy's work since Adore.

Jimmy did well with his solo project though, that sounded good.

Ive been a pumpkins fan since the beginning and I have been waiting in huge anticipation for this album, however, Now that Ive heard it I cant but wonder and ask myself, If this wasnt the pumpkins new album, if this was a completely new band that I had just come across, would I like the album and would I buy it? On the first listen, no. But maybe it will grow on me after a few listens, but thats not what I was hoping for. No doubt they will sell millions of these but on reputation rather than good tunes. And please, you cant honestly tell me that this album compares to Gish, Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie? I couldnt get enough of those albums from the moment I put them on, now listening to Zeitgeist for the second time feels more like homework.

I was completely enamored with every Zeitgeist song that I heard.. before I heard the studio versions.. *bangs head on desk*
I don't compare it to the previous albums, that would be stupid. Billy's already said everything he needs to say, no more anger, no more pain, no more drugs, so what? Let's write songs "for" the people consisting of growing modern day issues.. screwy nations, screwy weather, screwy blewy blah blah.. just thinking about the emptiness I feel when listening to Zeitgeist blows my brain out of order, I mean, it is good music, it really is, but without comparison, it simply is NOT the Smashing Pumpkins anymore.. Jimmy doesn't do anything catchy/showy at all with his talents, Billy's singing style is neither that of 'FutureEmbrace, Zwan, or the Pumpkins for that matter, Ginger, in all honesty, needs to just get the hell out, find some poppy band and take a shopping spree at Hot Topic or something.. however I will say that Jeff is the fucking man, he has Pumpkin vibe written from head-to-toe.

The songs really weren't produced too well, I think all could agree. I think Billy wasn't being raw enough at all, and the structure of the songs are all very persistent, similar drum beats, similar riff orders, the solos all seem like they were thought of, and not from the heart, there's too much backing vocal behind Billy's every howl, VERY annoying. I don't know, I'd definitely have to agree that I'm pretty much forcing myself to like this album with every listen, and not being captivated by it.. I wonder how this will turn out in the long run for all of us..

PLEASE COME BACK TO EARTH BILLY, GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS.
:[

To all of you who don't like the album, cut them a fucking break...
In 1995 Billy Gave an interview with Jimmy and Darcy. He said hopefully the true fans can come to appreciate that the band has and will release. Overall the album is awesome. For a band that came back since 2000 rock on Pumpkins. Zeitgeist i think has a more grungy sound to it and its great. United States is now one of my favorite songs.

For me its one of those albums where the more I listen to it the more I love it. All though, I don't really like For God and Country.

Still, this CD is VERY original sounding.

A

I finally listened to the new album without cheating like most people did. I sat in my room and listened to it the same way I always did with all their albums. I'll admit I wasnt expecting anything that great. I guess I didnt want to be disappointed by putting all my eggs in one basket. Anyways, I've listened to it 3 times now and its definitely better than I expected it to be. Howeever I found that all the heavier songs were just boring. Like someone mentioned before where are all the acoustic based songs. I'm a sucker for those ones. but yeah, its definitely not better than their other albums. Not for me anyways, maybe it still needs to grow on me. All I know is that half way through the last time I listened to it I was rushing through it so I could go listen to Adore. No one liked Adore either so who knows maybe they;re on to something.

I like a some of the songs on the new album, but there is definitely something lacking with this take. The problem is not the style of the music, but the quality of its production. I'm having a hard time connecting with most of these songs like I could with songs in the previous albums. My approach to any song is that they have to provide a personal connection with me to be relevant...I have to feel somthing emotionally. It's weird to explain, but the Smashing Pumpkins always provided that and not just music to listen for entertainment.

I wish Billy would have gone back to Flood and Alan Moulder to produce this album. Butch Vig was good in Siamese Dream, but Flood helped Billy's creative sound take off in the right direction (innovation that sounded awesome). Even though his role in Pumpkin album production was reduced in the last few albums, he still played a key part in helping Billy get the "new" sound he wanted and really helped Billy push the envelope in getting a more emotional feel in his songs. I think I miss that more than anything with this album.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed to some extent... I've always believed that a true fan's responsibility to their bands is to listen to new material with an open mind and without much expectation... but I'll admit I had some expectations going into this, and I'm not sure if they've been met.

Don't get me wrong, I'm LOVING this album! Its just that I have a hard time not comparing it to Machina or Machina II... which, in all fairness to Billy & Jimmy, was a different species of Smashing Pumpkins. I saw where someone referred to this Pumpkins revival as "Smashing Pumpkins 2.0"... which really isn't a bad way to think of it. Half of the band is new, although its questionable how much (if any) input they had to the material in the studio. But with two producers (Terry Date & Roy Thomas Baker) who are new to the Pumpkins' sound, one would have to expect to hear something different from before... which is what we expect... right?? Yet, I still found myself expecting this new material to hold its own against the Machina I & II material... and so far I'm not sure if it really does, although I do like it.

Know what I mean?

EXACTLY - Yes everyone can rejoice at the fact that Billy and Jimmy did a new project together - BUT only as excited as your were about zwan. THese new songs lack any emotional expression from Billy. They might as well just said listen to Green Day's album and watch 3 episodes of the Daily SHow with Jon Stewart and that is the equivalent of zeitgeist. THere are no heartfelt songs like Cupid de Locke or To Sheila??? WHere are the Anthems that everyone knew the words to??? Where are the killer Billy Corgan one liners that scream TRUTH??? This album is a collection of Jimmy and Billy's jam seesions over the past year and thats about the extent of it. Good music but not SP Quality...(Maybe a b-sides album...maybe)

The Smashing Pumpkins haven't recorded under that name for 7 years. We all know the reasons why. Billy and Jimmy have now written an album for people living in 2007, not 1995. Sure their old material is great and truth be said, more heartfelt in a lot of places, but Billy is older, we are all older. The world has changed, and Billy's lyrics reflect that. He used to sing more about personal love and pain. But now there is such a global consciousness/awareness vibe out there in the world and he is tapping into that, being a bit more political. Several times it has been documented that there was never going to be another Smashing Pumpkins. I am sure there are plenty of fans that appreciate the 'reunion'. The new material is not as instantly powerful as some older stuff - but I've been watching YouTube and it all fits in very nicely on their set lists. Give it time. I think that if Jeff sticks around and contributes to the next album, Zeitgeist will be seen as the album that re-made the Pumpkins into a powerful force. The Pumpkins have had their 'heyday' - they dont need to impress anyone. Rock on BC and JC and keep putting out records that are different. Challenge the masses. Welcome Back!

Not one drop of dissapointment here. The Pumpkins kick ass, and have always kicked ass. Zeitgeist is no different, and it certainly is another visionary step, and musical statement to the world. I couldn't have asked for more!

For me personally I have listened to the later material (MACHINA II, Adore, etc.) more than their early stuff like Siamese Dream and Gish. I love all of it equally though.

i didnt like machina when i first bought it, now i love it. same with adore. zeitgeist was the same way, somewhat dissappointing i guess, but the only way i would have liked it off the bat would be if it was the same old shit... and i guess im kind of like transformer and sick of that shit. anwyways, the more i hear it the mor ei love it (just like machina and adore). and for all those A-HOLES who say death from above sucks, suck my ass! that song is amazing, even my 4 year old daughter requests it, and if a kid can request it then it must rock. im out