The Complex and Frustrating Adore

The Smashing Pumpkins did not grab me initially. It was not until I saw the "Tonight, Tonight" video that I was completely drawn in. Thus, 1998's Adore was the first Smashing Pumpkins' album that I actually "anticipated." A year earlier, the band contributed "Eye" to the Lost Highway soundtrack. To this day it remains my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song. The electronics of the song showed a dramatic shift in the band's musical direction, from the grunge meets shoegaze that had brought them to prominence. Word was they would follow this same path for Adore. I remember waiting with excitement for the album's release, feeling as though this would be one of those "groundbreaking" albums. Corgan had told MTV it would be "'arcane,' cause I think that it seems to sum up the music best. It's kind of like music from the past, but done in a futuristic way. And I think there's natural elements on the album and there are synthetic elements on the album." He added that he was trying to "make something that is indescribable."

The album is shrouded in darkness. Drummer Jimmy Chamberlain had been kicked out of the band. Furthermore, Corgan had just grown through a divorce and suffered the loss of his mother. He also seemed to be rejecting much of the fame his band's previous album had brought on, by making great steps to alter their sound and image.

Listening to it today, it's hard to believe this would be considered "groundbreaking" and it's also difficult trying to imagine what Corgan wanted to produce. The album is subdued built around drum machines and electronics that sound almost dated today. With so many styles and instruments brought in, it sounds very much scattered. The tone is dreary. The singles were great - the gothy electro "Ava Adore" and the nostalgic "Perfect." There are great moments all through the album - sometimes songs themselves ("Pug" for instance), sometimes buried in the details of songs. There seems to be a story here ... but often that story is hard to find. Trying to make it through the whole album proves to be a bit of a struggle.

But maybe this was the late nineties for a lot of people. Musical taste was shifting away from rock music. Electronic music failed to take over like some had anticipated. Corgan's attempt to mesh various genres reflects what many critics assumed would become the future of music, while the somber (almost bleak) tone reflects the disappointment coupled with the post-grunge era. It stands as a complex album, a fascinating moment in the Smashing Pumpkins history, an album very much stuck in its own time. And maybe that does make it "indescribable."

"Ava Adore"