Machina 2/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music
| The Smashing Pumpkins
Machina 2/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music is the sixth studio album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was released for free on the Internet on September 5, 2000. Plans for a standard physical release, bundled with the first part Machina/The Machines of God, were revealed to happen sometime in 2013, but was postponed due to legal setbacks. In an Instagram Q&A, the band's frontman, Billy Corgan, revealed that all legal issues had been resolved. The two albums are rumored to be remastered and released as one; however, no release date has been announced for the reissue.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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All Music
Friends and Enemies release -- features alternate takes of the original cassette's tracks, including "Dross," and a heavy rip through "Blue Skies Bring Tears," while "Le Deux Machina" and the loud, sparkling soar of "Real Love" remain unchanged. New songs include a fine James Iha number, "Go," the haunting "Innosense," and the official release of "Let Me Give the World to You," here given a triumphant total-band take. As a high-class artifact and a gift to a loyal fan base, Machina II is a winner.
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The Tech
Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music is one of the best in the Smashing Pumpkins’ collection of albums, a collection created in a decade when alternative music ruled. While this album will be appreciated most by seasoned listeners (the “friends of modern music”), it marks the end of the Pumpkins’ brilliant music career, and the death of alternative music.
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Sputnik
An atmospheric work of art that is right up there with the rest of Pumpkins classics; hard to digest at first, but is great once you actually feel it.
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Pitchfork
Within the first three songs, I'm immediately reminded of everything I ever loved about the Smashing Pumpkins: perfect examples of the dream-pop/arena-rock hybrid they forged back in 1993. The performances are, for the most part, raw and mostly live sounding, with some tracks actually recalling the glory days they spent in Butch Vig's basement. Basically, you get the one thing missing on MACHINA I: the sound of a band playing.
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Archive
MACHINA II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music is an album by The Smashing Pumpkins that was released for free on the Internet on September 5, 2000. A sequel to MACHINA/The Machines of God, it is the sixth album from the Pumpkins, though there are many fans who remain ignorant of its existence because it was never commercially released. It consists of three EPs full of B-Sides and alternate versions, and one LP being the actual album. Both MACHINA albums are concept albums. At the time the album was released it was to be the final Smashing Pumpkins studio album, but as of the summer of 2006 the band has reformed and is in the process of writing a new album.
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NME
Corgan had originally wanted to release the two records together but Virgin Records, the band’s label at the time, refused this idea after previous record ‘Adore’ had sold fewer copies than expected. Only 25 copies of ‘Machina II’ were made, with recipients told to share the album online for free.
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Diffuser
Perhaps one of the elements of Machina II that made it so good is the sound of anger and frustration that made the band's first three albums so relatable. Unfortunately, it was probably also that same frustration that led to the band's demise.
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Spfc
A followup to Machina, and the last album from the band before their hiatus. As a final farewell, a limited pressing album was made (3x10" + 2LP, 5 discs total) and given away to be bootlegged out among the fans.
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Av Club
Machina II is not only far more cohesive than the sprawling double-album Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness, but tighter than the initial MACHINA. The album opens with the hardcore blast of "Glass' Theme," followed by the propulsive "Cash Car Star" and the stomp of "Dross"; those three songs are more intense than most of the band's commercial releases. The My Bloody Valentine haze of "Real Love" and James Iha's characteristically subdued "Go" are even more striking. Most shocking may be "Let Me Give The World To You," which is prettier and more accessible than virtually anything the band has done, while "Home" recalls U2 at its most sweeping.
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Rate Your Music
It was all for the better that Machina II was never the 2nd disc of Machina, as it serves a lot better as its own album even if it is in the same vein lyrically and stylistically. Machina II has become a fan favorite for many reasons but mostly it’s the raw production and hard rock edge that make it sound like Adore and Siamese Dream becoming best friends. While “Glass’ Theme”, “Cash Car Star”, “Dross”, and the horrible “Whyte Spyder” will rock your face off, they don’t have the dynamics or underlying heart of Siamese Dream to make them worthwhile. It was how the Pumpkins teased us with cock rock and indie-rock heart that put them on the map and these songs are quickies in comparison.
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Metacritic
It would be extremely easy to dismiss this album as Billy simply taking out the accumulated garbage of the past couple years. It would be easy, that is, if it didn't almost redeem the Pumpkins.... This album features an abundance of tracks that throw the deficiencies of their previous record into even sharper relief.
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Last FM
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music is the sixth studio album by American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. It was released for free on the Internet on September 5, 2000. A sequel to Machina/The Machines of God, it has thus far not had a commercial release. The album itself, a double LP, was packaged with three EPs full of B-sides and alternate versions. Both Machina albums are loose concept albums telling the story of "a rock star gone mad."
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Genius
Smashing Pumpkins' sixth album and the final release until the project’s 2007 reformation. The only physical release of the record as of 2016 is 25 vinyl copies pressed in 2000, some of which were given to fans with instructions to rip the album and distribute it for free online.
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Everything2
The title of the final album of new material released by the Smashing Pumpkins. A box set consisting of 3 10" and 2 LP vinyl records, only 25 copies were pressed and released around about September 7, 2000. Most of the copies went to close personal friends of the Pumpkins. Two copies were given to Chicago radio stations, Q101 and 93XRT. Most importantly, three copies were distributed to fans who happened to be close with the band with the express purpose of having them copy and distribute the music to the rest of the world however they saw fit, so long as no money was made in the process. Officially, the box set was released by Constantinople Records, Billy Corgan's new record label.
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Album Of The Year
What was meant to be the Pumpkins final effort came out more as their fall than their glorious exit. There's not much you can say about Machina II other than once again the Pumpkins have put out an extremely bloated album with even less memorable tracks than the previous record. Billy's second double album lacks any of the charm Mellon Collie had to sustain it's length but Machina II just comes off as boring.
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Sp Freaks
“MACHINA II/the friends and enemies of modern music, the final album from The Smashing Pumpkins, has been released. The album is the companion piece to MACHINA/the machines of God. Both were recorded at the same time, and the new album completes the story of a rock star gone mad. MACHINA II/the friends and enemies of modern music allows fans to be the record company by distributing the music for free via various fan web sites. In addition to the album, there are 3 EPs which feature alternate versions of MACHINA songs, as well as outtakes. The band only pressed 25 copies each of four distinct pieces; one 12-inch LP, and three 10-inch EPs. The records are only available on vinyl, each uniquely numbered and signed by hand etching in the out groove.”
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Academic Kids
Machina II, the album proper, is a companion piece to Machina, continuing the theme of that record. The band had run a competition for fans, in which fans were asked to decipher the meaning hidden in the records, with the single hint that "June" is a woman. In part, the Machina records are a tribute to David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust persona. Machina II (the whole) contains several alternate versions of songs which originally appeared on Machina, including "Try, Try, Try", "Heavy Metal Machine", "Glass and the Ghost Children" and "Blue Skies Bring Tears".
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Pearl Jam
Smashing Pumpkins recorded a 6th studio album right after MACHINA: The Machines of God. That 6th album is called "MACHINA II: the friends and enemies of modern music". This album is almost impossible to find because there are only 25 copies of it on vinyl in existence. The entire album has been spread throughout the internet since it's original release during the fall of 2000.
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Enacademic
"Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music" is the sixth studio album by The Smashing Pumpkins. It was released for free on the Internet on September 5, 2000. A sequel to "Machina/The Machines of God", it has thus far not had a commercial release. The album itself, a double LP, was packaged with three EPs full of B-sides and alternate versions.
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Stereogum
MACHINA I & II require a little sifting to discover its best moments, which in a way each Pumpkins record does. There's just a little more murk to wade through here. Sure, there's something to be said for spending time with MACHINA II in favor of MACHINA, or for the idea that if you culled the best of each disc you could have an absolutely brilliant Smashing Pumpkins album, but in true Corgan fashion what we actually have is the big, messy expanse of it.
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Ojdo
Yes, this is a release by the Smashing Pumpkins, released by the artists partly in protest against their record label. The original release consisted of only 25 hand-pressed LPs, which found their way to radio stations and devoted fans, with instructions to duplicate and spread the record. And so it did. This version was digitized by a radio station, so hopefully this is as close as possible to the band’s intentions, and those are: rock hard.
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I Heart
During a recent Instagram Live fan Q&A session, frontman Billy Corgan broke the news that the band plans on reissuing Machina/The Machines Of God and Machina II/The Friends & Enemies Of Modern Music the way they were intended to be released from the get go: together. The two albums came out seven months apart back in 2000. The band wanted to release the records together, but their label at the time, Virgin Records, refused the idea after 1998's Adore didn't sell as well as expected. Only 25 copies of Machina II were pressed, with those in its possession encouraged to share it for free online.
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Roman Midnight Music
For a band as popular as the Smashing Pumpkins it might surprise many to know that their sixth album remains largely unknown, let alone unheard by many, though it was released free online in 2000 ... what could be better than a free Smashing Pumpkin's album? Machina II/The Friends & Enemies Of Modern Music was originally planned to be bundled with the brooding concept album Machina/The Machines Of God, but the record label was uninterested in releasing a financially questionable double CD set after low sales of the previous SP album Adore. Following disagreements with the label Machina II was released by frontman mastermind Billy Corgan's own label. Only 25 copies were made, given to friends of the band & a few select prominent fans in the online community with instructions to release it immediately on the internet at no charge.
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Spin
Weepy dual acoustics, sighing vocals, no percussion necessary.
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Splice Today
Every circulating copy of Machina II is sourced from vinyl rips, and the crispy fidelity adds to what is surely their most spontaneous recording. It’s not amazing—there’s far too much detritus and lack of direction—but you can see glimmers and reflections of what could’ve been: the Pumpkins’ new wave album, songs that rocked hard but were texturally massaged and colored beyond the titanic but dry fuzz tone of Siamese Dream.
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Planet Mellotron
An odd story surrounds the same year's Machina II: the Friends & Enemies of Modern Music: Virgin told Corgan point-blank that they wouldn't release a double CD, or an immediate follow-up to the first Machina album, due to poor sales. The band's response was to finish recording part two, have twenty-five copies pressed on vinyl and give them away, with explicit instructions to 'release it on the 'Net'.
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Pop Matters
In 2013, the 2000 albums "Machina/The Machines of God" and "Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music" will be packaged together "in the right order," Corgan says, to be followed by a greatest hits compilation.
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Guitar World
Chamberlain would return for the 2000 album, Machina/The Machines of God. Wretzky left the band before the album, and was be replaced on tour by Melissa Auf der Maur. However, the band would break up shortly after, and would self-release Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music. Corgan and Chamberlain would remain a duo in the years to come, forming the group Zwan to limited success.
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Tvtropes
The band's original lineup (Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky, drummer Jimmy Chamberlinnote ) released three albums, two of which were the results of strain due to Corgan's obsessive perfectionism and Chamberlin's drug addiction, among other issues. After the death of session keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin, and the firing and re-hiring of Chamberlin (now drug-free) alongside the quitting of Wretzky, the band produced one more album (well, technically two) before announcing they would break up at the end of 2000.
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