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ELECT
Jason Wiggins
CBA SENATE
Platform
^ Publish Teacher /Course Evaluations
J Cut the “Red Tape” in the Advising Office
JExtend Coe Lab and CBA Facility Hours
Most of all, I just want to keep it real.
ASUN Student Goevemment Elections
March 1,2000.
Pumpkins resurrect rock
By Josh Krauter
Staff writer
It’Otot easy to be a Smashing
Pumpkins fan.
In the early 1990s, the four-piece
Chicago band released two soaring
rock epics (“Gish” and “Siamese
Dream”) that proved there were still
new possibilities for guitar-based,
noisy rock.
Then things got rough. The
Pumpkins put out a double album
with an incredibly stupid name,
“Mellon Collie and the Infinite
Sadness,” that sounded half-finished.
It contained some good ideas and a
handful of great songs, but was large
ly a collection of weak, under-devel
oped tunes marred by muddy produc
tion.
Shortly after this disappointing,
but financially successful album,
singer-guitarist Billy Corgan started
making grandiose, pretentious state
ments in the press proclaiming the
death of rock. He also shaved his
head and became the owner of the sil
liest chrome dome in music, which
resembled either an albino bowling
ball or a dimwitted Nosferatu,
depending on the lighting.
The band fired drummer Jimmy
Chamberlin shortly thereafter for his
role in the heroin-related death of
touring keyboardist Jonathan
Melvoin. It was tragic, but utterly too
predictable. The heroin-in-rock story
is one that has been told too many
times.
What made this tragedy even
worse was Chamberlin’s skill as a
drummer. He was an integral part of
the band’s sound, and his rolls, fills,
crashes and booms supplied much of
the music’s charm.
The Pumpkins’ post-Chamberlin
album, “Adore,” was a subtle, melan
choly collection of pop songs that
sounded boring and slight the first
several listens, but accomplished the
near-impossible feat of growing bet
ter with time. Still, it was missing
something, and it looked like the
band was never going to get it back.
When the first track off
“MACHINA/The Machines of God,”
^ The Smashing
•^Pumpkins
TITLE: Machina/The
Machines of God
LABEL: Virgin Records
GRADE: B
FIVE WORDS: The old
sound’s almost back.
the Pumpkins’ new album, kicks in,
it’s obvious that Corgan and Co. have
been rejuvenated, thanks to its old
drummer. Chamberlin wrested him
self from the smack and is back in the
fold, giving the band a bigger, meati
er sound that has been missing of late.
The first track, “The Everlasting
Gaze,” is a fuzzed-out, drum-heavy
scorcher of a rock song that sounds
like the natural follow-up to
“Siamese Dream.” The second song,
“Raindrops + Sunshowers,” is a suc
cessful synthesis of’70s classic rock,
’80s new wave and early-’90s alter
native rock that the band has been
fudging with for a few years now, but
this time it works completely.
These two songs are the album’s
best, and the rest of “MACHINA” is
lesser. But Chamberlin’s powerful
drumming and the strongest singing
and playing from Corgan siijce
“Siamese Dream” keeps the album
from saffffine.
The record is definitely not with
out its problems, though. The band
has drifted too far out to sea since
“Siamese Dream” to ever completely
return, and Corgan still has a fond
ness for electronic noises and pro
grammed drums that he really needs
to shake, though he fortunately keeps
it to a minimum. The band is at its
best playing loud guitar rock, but
Corgan still wants to be The Prodigy
sometimes.
A few tracks have processed
drum sounds that nearly overpower
the song, which is incomprehensible
and foolish, considering the
Pumpkins have one of the best drum
mers in rock.
The Pumpkins also seem to share
the same misguided belief as the
committee that picks the Academy
Award nominations, namely, that
length equals depth. “MACHINA’s”
70-minutes-plus running time could
have been trimmed to less than an
hour without damaging the better
songs or album continuity.
And Corgan is still pretentious
and full of ego, in love with the arti
fice of rock maybe even more than
the sound. This is evident in the silly
album title, some faux-meaningful
lyrics and a telling moment on
“Heavy Metal Machine” in which
Corgan sings the words “rock and
roll.” When Corgan wraps his
strangely feline voice around the
phrase, it sounds hollow. It’s rock and
roll as performed by Las Vegas Elvis,
not Sun Studios Elvis.
But that s OK. Corgan has always
made it clear he wants to be a big rock
star, and he is one. While the rest of
his friends were at Black Flag con
certs, searching for sellouts to berate,
he was in front of his mirror, playing
air guitar to a Boston album, imagin
ing a stadium full of teen-agers hang
ing on his every word.
“MACHINA” is a big rock
album, louder and beefier than the
two albums preceding it. Corgan and
Chamberlin are rumored to have
played nearly every instrument, leav
ing bassist D’Arey (who has since
left the group) and guitarist James Iha
only a few parts to play, and the two
work well together.
It’s not a classic by any means, but
it’s a nice surprise.
Not bad for an egomaniac, a drug
casualty and a couple of non-entities.
The a-team Voters' Guide
THE A-lEilM All other parties
On the aboli
tion of
credit-card
solicitation
on campus.
The A-Team is the only party that supports
abolishing credit-card solicitation on cam
pus.
No position.
On the use
ofpicto
graphic
symbols to
communi
cate with
aliens.
tiri •□❖m. e
&lon(We love you alien brothers and sisters!)
Win Mi er£L*
(And we enthusiastically surrender to your
army of cannibalistic androids.)
Are unable to
communicate.
On the
establish
ment of
On-line
voting for
student
elections.
the A-Team is the only party that supports
the creation of an On-line voting process
for ASUN elections.
No position.
On the
environ
ment.
The A-Team is the only party with a plan to
implement ecological cost-saving measures
that will protect the environment and
lower student fees.
No position.
On Ricky
Martin's
decision to
leave
Menudo.
The A-Team is the only party that has regis
tered its disapproval of Mr. Martin's solo ca
reer. The A-Team casts a suspicious eye to
wards any entertainer that regards himself
as being «too good" for Menudo.
No position.
This is a paid advertisement of the A-Team Party. ASUN Student Government Elections March 1,2000.
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Buy 1 UHrcibroftz tan at regular price & receive
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Tanning Lotion Special Thru 3/12/00
30% off all sample sizes
1101 Arapahoe On So 10th & Arapahoe
^ In Arapahoe Center
Next to Fast Bucks
\ Design Your
Own Newspaper
• \This Summer
summer editor
Daily Nebraskan
Applicants must^|P^ have one year of newspaper experience, preferably
at the Daily Nebraskan, be enrolled in at least six credit hours at UNL this
spring, summer or fall, maintain a 2.0 minimum G.P.A., and not be or
academic probation. Applications are available at the Daily Nebraskar
office, basement of the Nebraska Union, and must be returned with up tc
five clips by noon March 8.