This album starts out with “Zowie”, and oh now is this album gonna be long for me. Instantly I just feel like this is so over-the-top and dramatic for Corgan. Which honestly, does get him out of his comfort zone, and I’ll give him that and won’t take it away. But of course, this is Bully Corgan in 2017, so you’re damn right it’s overblown. These aren’t nearly the lyrics I was hoping I would hear, and no they certainly aren’t the worst thing he’s come up with. But why should I care about this? Corgan doesn’t once answer me that. This just comes off as over-indulgent and quite frankly boring. The problem with him for years has been that he makes his much too much about him. So hearing “Zowie” with him all along with just a piano is a little too much for me. “Processional” is up next, and to be honest this much more stripped down folk is a whole lot easier to digest than the crap Corgan was just spitting out. I still feel like this is a little overblown, but at the very least, this is much more heartfelt. Even Corgan’s vocals come off as he if he’s really singing from the heart, which is nice. Like, I certainly see the potential here, and I honestly don’t really have an issue with this. I feel like this may be a little one dimensional for some, but outside of that this is a sweet folk ballad that totally makes you feel like Billy’s in a good spot. Then we have “The Spaniards”, which almost has a Psychedelic or Space Rock feel to it. There’s almost a sort of late-career Flaming Lips vibe in this instrumental, which comes off very cosmic sounding. Instrumentally, I think it’s a great sound for Corgan. It sort of goes with what he was putting together on the last Smashing Pumpkins album. But these vocals remain suspect though and are some of the most cringe-worthy I’ve ever heard from Billy. “The Spaniards” is a very spiritual track, and this a very spiritual album. And that’s totally fine. But this performance is just so unbearably overblown, so this one ends up being quite frankly just alright. I do enjoy the instrumental still quite a bit though. “Aeronaut” on the other hand, from the first time I heard it I really couldn’t take it seriously at all. Corgan here is once again trying just so hard to make this very emotional ballad. The result is seriously cheesy, almost to a laughable extent. The instrumental gets repetitive and boring within the first 30 seconds and is just so safe and bland. If there is a silver lining on “Aeronaut”, I don’t know what it is.
At the very least, this much more Folk oriented sound continues to really sort of work for Corgan. Hell, I’ll listen to anything he has as long as he stays away from that damn piano. But “The Long Goodbye” while it is a slight improvement still comes off so half-baked. I feel like Corgan does sound better in this atmosphere, but he continues to sound so damn directionless. He used to have such purpose with whatever he was doing. But “The Long Goodbye” is just goofy, to be honest. I do think he’s onto something with the more Folk elements, but the rest of this is a prime example of why he’s fallen so hard. For example, “Half-Life of an Autodidact” with it’s much more Folk Rock feel is actually just about the best track here. The instrumental here is much more upbeat and less full of itself. It’s a snappy tune, and most importantly positive, and Billy just sounds so comfortable as well. Hell, I really wouldn’t mind listening to this track a few more times, to be honest. It’s much more soaring, and just how uplifting and beautiful it makes me actually happy to hear. “Amarinthe” also comes off seriously classy. In a weird way, this one almost comes off like a deep B-Side from “Gish”. It just has that sort of Cosmic atmosphere once again which certainly does work really well for Billy. He once again, sound’s seriously confident here. The result is, once again a very sweet and passionate ballad. It’s funny though, some of these deep album cuts are so much less egotistical and it’s really nice to hear. Maybe there is hope for a future Billy Corgan solo release to be stunning. “Antietam” on the other hand, steps away from the more Psychedelic feels of the last two tracks for a more straightforward folk tune. Honestly, though, I feel like this is a backtrack for Billy. Like, here, Billy’s overbearing personally is right back at the front of everything. Lyrically, I do like the much dark themes and the even dark imagery. But I feel like just hearing Billy this full blast does no one any favors. I do have to commend him though because a lot of these tracks are very heartfelt.
On the other hand, “Mandaryne” is one of the most seriously dramatic tunes here. A lot of the tracks here, I felt like Billy meant for these tracks to be played in some sort of Theatre or Opera House, but that’s his ego for you. On the other hand, “Mandaryne” is a very gripping, intense ballad. On this one, he sets up his vision and executes it beautifully, and for the first time here I feel like I truly understand what Billy was aiming for recording these songs. Then we have “Shiloh”, and once again these stripped down folk tracks are doing him huge favors. His vocals obviously remain hit and miss, and if you don’t like his vocals to begin with you probably aren’t going to start now. But outside of that, the instrumentals which earlier were so full of themselves are seriously tear-jerking here. Overall, I have to admit this album is certainly better than I thought it would be. But Billy still has a VERY long way to go if he wants to really make it as a solo star. Our finale here, “Archer”, follows in the same Folky suit as a lot of these tracks have. But oh God Billy, these vocals! These lyrics! What were you thinking? I just feel like he put all that effort into the last few tracks, only to have this finale be by far the cheesiest and most ridiculous track here. I can’t take a single vocal seriously, and these lyrics aren’t helping anyone. Even this very vast atmosphere doesn’t do him any favors and just makes him quite frankly sound so awkward.
Rating: 6.7/10
Give A Listen To: "Processional", "Half-Life of an Autodidact", "Amarinthe", "Mandaryne"
Genre: Folk Rock / Alternative Rock / Acoustic
Overall Thoughts: Going into this album, I was really worried about how this was going to turn out. And quite frankly I was right, there is a LOT of really messy, cringe-worthy moments that show Billy's ego is alive and well. However, there are a handful of very sweet ballads on here. Billy just needs to really stick with it, because when he ventures out into Piano-Rock territory it just gets worse.
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