Shiny and Oh So Bright
| Vol.1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun
Shiny and Oh So Bright
Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (stylized in all caps) is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The album was released on November 16, 2018 through Napalm Records.-Wikipedia
Critic Reviews
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Rolling Stone
The album is full of omens, soldiers, serpents, owls, jackals, sling and arrows, a “poet’s gun,” a “shadow’s wind,” and “the thunderstuff of shorehoused sighs.” Juiced by strings, synths and choir vocals, the music rarely touches that majesty, whether the Spiritualized lite of “Knighs of Malta” or the meandering “Alienation.” Save the few fire-breathing dragon moments of Lollapalooza-era churn, it’s the Smashing Pumpkins in name only, and that ice cream truck has long left the gas station.
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Slant Magazine
As revived as the classic Pumpkins sound is on Shiny and Oh So Bright, though, the album can’t quite shake the sense of superfluity endemic to reunion projects: There isn’t anything here that the band hasn’t already done before—and better. Even harder to shake is the interpersonal drama surrounding the album’s creation. No matter how badly Corgan wants us to, it feels dishonest to celebrate the ostensible return of the original Pumpkins when bassist D’Arcy Wretzky is conspicuous absent from this project.
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NME
Rather than a '90s-rock pastiche, the reunited Pumpkins' comeback album is a showcase in artful songcraft.
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Sputnik Music
Shiny and Oh So Bright, the album endears itself with a simpler style and digestible runtime provided the ridiculous 60s synths and wee-ooh vocals don't immediately turn you off. It clearly will not go down in anyone's book as a classic release, but for a change it's a Pumpkins album that's aware of that fact, cleverly baking that unassuming simplicity into every note and half-nonsense lyric.
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Forbes
On their first album with a semi-original lineup in nearly two decades, the Smashing Pumpkins perform like a former heavyweight champion returning to the ring years later for an exhibition bout: still muscular and capable of delivering a solid thrashing, but lacking the otherworldly litheness and charisma of yesteryear. They churn out bland, dutiful alt-rock on Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol 1, but they've lost the grandeur that made Corgan's delusions tolerable in the first place.
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Gigwise
If you appreciate nothing else about the new LP from a newly/mostly reunited Smashing Pumpkins, you can at least admire its brevity. Even though it bears the cumbersome title of Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., the tenth studio album by Billy Corgan and all who ride with him is a tidy eight songs, clocking in just over a half-hour. A capitulation, maybe, to the shrinking attention spans of modern listeners, but also a welcome change for a group that, since their 1995 peak CD era opus Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, has a tendency to overstay their welcome.
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Louder
A vague sci-fi theme ties much of the album together, which adds to the muddle rather than providing a thread to follow. It’s unfair, perhaps, but inevitable that a band of Pumpkins’ heritage will be judged by their past triumphs, but here they fall just short of the mark. A little more of that original chemistry and bite could’ve made a good album great.
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Drews Reviews
The album blends hard rocking songs featuring heavy guitar and fast chords with slower paced, melody filled tracks that stay focused and keep you immersed. Smashing Pumpkins have shed their 90s roots and sound renewed and refreshed while retaining their tone. Or perhaps, recapturing the tone that endeared them to so many.
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AP News
While the album captures the nonconforming spirit of eccentric frontman Corgan — swinging between manic, obsessive and edgy tracks like “Solara” and delicate, trance-like songs such as “With Sympathy” — overall, “SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT” is no masterpiece. Songs build then fizzle, like “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts),” a catchy tune lacking the chorus to be considered vintage Smashing, despite its nostalgic and distinctive Pumpkins feel.
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Holland Sentinel
“SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT” brings hope that the band’s dark days are distant. Millions of Pumpkins fans certainly hope so. Highlights on the 8-track album include “Travels” and “With Sympathy.” The optimistic “Travels” affirms the album’s commitment to “No Past. No Future.” in a fluid reality where Corgan sings, “See love, see time/see death, see life” before unfolding into a chorus of, “It’s where I belong/but far from here or else I’m gone.” There’s an element of opacity, common to Pumpkins lyrics, but one that manages to feel pleasantly unresolved by the anthemic track. “With Sympathy” pleads, “Please stay confused/disunion has its use,” but wraps itself in a comforting, steady melody.
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National Post
Peel away the dramatics and dysfunction that marked the launch of “SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT” — and the Pumpkins’ past, for that matter — and you’re left with an album that stays true to the band’s classic sound with the help of legendary producer Rick Rubin.
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Alternative Nation
Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1 is a damn near miraculous event in and of itself though. It saved The Smashing Pumpkins as an act and relevant recording entity, so rock and grunge just might indeed have a new savior on its hands…again.
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Brooklyn Vegan
Fortunately, the actual music on Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is not as overblown as the album title is. If Billy Corgan did one thing right on Monuments to an Elegy, it was realizing that it’s easier to stomach his watered-down versions of his ’90s songs when they’re concisely packaged in a 30-minute album, and he did that once again for Shiny and Oh So Bright. And going along with this album’s reunion/comeback theme, Billy seems like he’s directly channeling his classic songs more than ever.
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Daily Herald
While the album captures the nonconforming spirit of eccentric frontman Corgan - swinging between manic, obsessive and edgy tracks like "Solara" and delicate, trance-like songs such as "With Sympathy" - overall, "SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT" is no masterpiece. Songs build then fizzle, like "Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)," a catchy tune lacking the chorus to be considered vintage Smashing, despite its nostalgic and distinctive Pumpkins feel.
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Louder Than War
Featuring a melodic sensibility and feel that makes one safely assume that Corgan favours Champagne from the Supernova region, Knights of Malta is an epic opener to this eight-song album. Featuring Harrison-meets-Hendrix-inspired backwards guitar solos, soulful female backing vocals and a recurring violin-infused riff – this is not your typical Smashing Pumpkins track. But, then again, The Smashing Pumpkins are not your typical band. And nor should they be. Although it would have benefited from being streamlined by a minute or so, Knights of Malta is a well-crafted medium tempo number with catchy multi-layered hooks.
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Duluth News Tribune
The title of their new album? Ready? "Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun." That's the snappy title Corgan thought would really pop. Makes "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" look like a pithy little utterance, don't it? Almost more than the music contained therein, the record's title is a perfect example of how Corgan just does not get it. It's nonsensical, overlong, full of unnecessary information.
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The Soundboard
Shiny And Oh So Bright was the Smashing Pumpkins becoming complacent, it would be hard to argue against; Corgan himself seems a much tamer vocalist this time around, and with so much of the classic lineup back and the draw that’s provided, the mindset of playing it safe is hard to dispute. But then again, that also means that Corgan’s madcap, frequently unworkable ideas have been mercifully pruned back, and it’s led to a much more immediate, listenable album because of it, and doing so without having to forgo a classically uncluttered production style (albeit one with a bit more modern polish). Taking the rough with the smooth in this vein is the best way to get some significant enjoyment from this album, and it does prove worth it in the end.
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NWI Times
While the album captures the nonconforming spirit of eccentric frontman Corgan — swinging between manic, obsessive and edgy tracks like "Solara" and delicate, trance-like songs such as "With Sympathy" — overall, "SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT" is no masterpiece. Songs build then fizzle, like "Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)," a catchy tune lacking the chorus to be considered vintage Smashing, despite its nostalgic and distinctive Pumpkins feel.
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Acrn
The context of Shiny and Oh So Bright makes up for a few of its shortcomings, and the guitar and bass tones are impeccable. Everything sounds the way it should be, but the songwriting needs to follow suit.
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Cult of Dan Peach
Shiny And Oh So Bright is the closest to a reunion of the classic line-up as I think we're going to get, considering how dysfunctional the original members have always been. There's been countless feuds, drugs, meltdowns, and every cliché you can think of that would tear a band apart. Finally, we have a record featuring Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin again. How long this version of The Smashing Pumpkins will last is anyone's guess.
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Stereogum
It’s got the catchy title Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun, and it’s been produced by Rick Rubin.
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Spill Magazine
An album that can be described as mellow at best and simply uninspired at worst, the eight tracks characterize a mere shadow of who Smashing Pumpkins used to be. With lyricism that would appeal to a grade schooler and instrumentals reminiscent of the “alternative pop” that does appear on the charts frequently today, the album raises more questions than answers.
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No More Workhorse
By the time we reach Alienation it’s all starting to sound a bit familiar, like we’ve heard these songs before. Those looking for a rocking blow-out won’t find it here. So a Smashing Pumpkins album that continues in the poppier direction they have pursued of late. Not their worst album, but not a standout in their catalogue.
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Daily
The good news is that “Shiny” is an economic eight songs long — an inverse of the sprawling LPs for which the Pumpkins came to be acclaimed. The bad news is that reunion has not regenerated the band’s sound, which has typified competently performed but mostly innocuous rock for the last decade or so. The album feels like 31 minutes of musicians exhibiting their well-known savvy without attempting to conquer the unexplored.
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Music Feeds
But already Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun can be awarded its first distinction. It defies expectation. It doesn’t even sound like the last six Smashing Pumpkins records that defied expectation.
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The Fire Note
The funny thing is that an 8 song “album,” feels pretty brief, especially when you consider the full title: Shiny And Oh So Bright Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. It could easily have been promoted as an EP, coming in with a total time under 32 minutes.
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The Rockpit
“Shiny And Oh So Bright” is an album that not only celebrates the bands past while still moving forward, it also embraces it all with the reunion of Billy Corgan and original members Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha and it works to their advantage very well.
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Everything Must Swing
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is a peculiar LP – strictly not to be labelled as an album in accordance to Billy Corgan’s own artistic senses – especially so for a usually dense, sophisticated, sarcastic, and layered recording act such as the Smashing Pumpkins. This thing is the band’s first release after 2014’s dull and average Monuments to an Elegy and is just eights tracks long, although sporting a little over half and hour and change of running time. This has to be the band’s shortest album (I’m sorry, Billy) in a long while if not ever, and even though the chaptered annex at the title’s end leads into thinking that there will be a companion sister release following the chunk of material present on this first volume, it’s certainly an interesting and daring choice for a group as always lyrically and sonically eloquent as the Pumpkins are.
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The Student Playlist
Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 is a continuation of almost two decades worth of experimenting with new ideas from The Pumpkins. While some come across as innovative, others could do with some fine-tuning.
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The Young Folks
The lack of stakes and hype makes the album tolerable. He may have lost his ability to reach his ambitious standards but Billy Corgan still knows how to make solid guitar rock. Lord knows whether or not there will be a Vol. 2 or if Iha and Chamberlin will stick around for this run (let alone if D’arcy Wretzky will be welcomed back), but the Smashing Pumpkins are still around. Still out of the cage with no rage to show.
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Sound Vapors
In my opinion this is the best Smashing Pumpkins album since Siamese Dream. That is no slight to any work the band has released since then and certainly no slight to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. They are great, but this album captures something I haven’t heard since Siamese Dream. Maybe it’s the benefit of being older and wiser. Maybe it’s the magic of working with people you haven’t worked with in a while. Maybe it’s a fire that sometimes goes dim on top but underneath is ready to burn hotter than ever. Or maybe, strip away the poetry and you get a band that has simply written and recorded a brilliant album.
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Roppongi Rocks
The Smashing Pumpkins are back with a great new album filled with college rock and alternative pop as well as a near-complete reunion of the original 1988 line-up.
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The Jakarta Post
The first to be recorded by the reunited, almost-original lineup of main-man Billy Corgan, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and guitarist James Iha since Machina way back in 2000, the outrageously-titled Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is a solid and compact record.
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Northern Transmissions
Smashing Pumpkins have an emotionally potent record. This said, there’s a lot of generic material between the stronger parts of the music that make it hard to come back to.
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Radio
While the 2018 album may not have been Corgan’s favorite, Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun garnered several good reviews. RADIO.COM wrote: “Solara” and “Marchin’ On” are the hardest-rocking songs on the album and come closest to the Siamese Dream sound that broke the band in 1993. But if you’re more of a Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness fan, “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)” is the best track on the album.
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Rolling Stone India
The eight-song album includes their newly released single, “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts).” The song’s guitar-driven, bright melodies and Corgan’s inflection recall early era Pumpkins with a “1979” vibe that should please longtime fans.
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Meaww
Finally, their big moment of truth arrived earlier this month with the release of their "comeback" album, the elaborately titled 'Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.' While many longtime fans were just glad to finally have new material from their idols, the album was met with mixed reviews. Rolling Stone dismissed the effort as "infinitely sad" in their 2-star review. A more scathing review came from Pitchfork, who gave the album a mere 3.4/10 and decreed "the legends of ’90s alt-rock have reunited only to bring this puzzling, indecisive husk of an album into the world."
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Dead Press
With a range of styles and dynamic methods on display, The Smashing Pumpkins takes their back-catalogue and creates their own highlight reel. With it being their shortest release thus far, ‘Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.’ shows them playing on their strengths. It may be a safe record, but it creates anticipation for what its sequel will bring.
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All Music
Billy Corgan is the alt-rock boy who cried wolf: he's threatened to return Smashing Pumpkins to their '90s salad days so often, nobody paid attention when he finally did it in 2018. A decade prior to that year's reunion tour and its accompanying album, Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. -- a typically convoluted title that makes Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness as simple a title as Gish -- Corgan reconnected with drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and revived the Smashing Pumpkins name for the metallic Zeitgeist, but the difference in 2018 is that guitarist James Iha is back in the fold (original bassist D'arcy Wretzky is estranged from the group). This is the lineup featured on Shiny and Oh So Bright, which despite its lengthy title, runs a brisk half-hour.
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BBC
There is nothing for you here. There is, in fact, almost nothing here at all. In the annals of 90s bands that have reunited to thrust a new album into the void where inspiration used to be: Shiny might contain the least imagination, the least personality, the least effort, the least love.
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Music Critic
Shiny and Oh So Bright lives up to the promise of its title: its shimmering surfaces and well-defined melodies feel welcoming, not alienating. Perhaps there are traces of angst within the lyrics to the album's seven songs, but they're overshadowed by the big, open-hearted vibe of Shiny, one that evokes the poppier elements of classic Pumpkins, but never feels nostalgic or pandering. Instead, Corgan delivers something unexpected: music that's rich but settled, music that plays to his strengths, music where he seems happy in his own skin.
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Drowned In Sound
Despite Corgan’s aforementioned all encompassing-influence, the album’s rare thrills largely stem from the unleashing of Chamberlin, and his thunderous drive gives spark to the record’s final third: stand-out track ‘Marchin’ On’, with its sizzling fills wouldn’t sound out of place on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness; while closer ‘Seek and You Shall Destroy’ sees his flair elevate Corgan and Iha’s typically buzz-saw (if a mite bone-headed) riffs somewhat.
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Pitchfork
The legends of ’90s alt-rock have reunited only to bring this puzzling, indecisive husk of an album into the world.
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COS
The tracklist boasts eight songs running, including the previously revealed “Solara” and “Silvery Sometime (Ghosts)”. Other track titles include “Knights of Malta”, “Alienation”, and “Seek and You Shall Destroy”.
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Pop Matters
Beyond the instrumentation and the overall sound of the album relative to the band's past work, Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 is, in the end, engaging with the visionary spirit of Smashing Pumpkins. The final two songs, "With Sympathy" and "Seek and You Shall Destroy", read, respectively, as a way of stating where Corgan and the band have been, and where they're going. In "With Sympathy", Corgan sings "Disunion has its breaks / Disunion has its use." "Seek and You Shall Destroy" is a type of fight song, which finds the fight worth the effort, whatever the costs. Those two songs might be the past couple decades in miniature.
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The Line Of Best Fit
As with any short album, there's no hiding place if the material isn't up to scratch, but this collection is flab free - eight slabs of classic Pumpkin with additional flourishes. "Knights of Malta", which features Corgan in belligerent form, is swaggering and confident, perhaps the finest opener to an album of theirs since "Cherub Rock" set the scene on ‘93’s Siamese Dream.
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Has It Leakded
While initially planned as two EPs, Billy Corgan and the band has announced the combination of the two, in one album. It's been a long time since we've been excited by a new SP record, but this seem to be different from the rest. Especially since James Iah once again joins the band, as well as Rick Rubin producing some of the songs. That album title is a mouth full though.
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Paste
At their best, Shiny matches the sheer majesty and emotional depth of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. At their worst, they sound like a third-tier Muse cover band (“Seek And You Shall Destroy” is a particularly low track). What’s good is brilliant, as we know Corgan can be, but for as talented as they are, Iha and Chamberlin bring nothing to show that the band has any interest in being anything but a nostalgia act for aging Gen-Xers. And that’s fine. It’s a warm and welcomed reunion, with “Silvery Sometimes” guaranteed to make the meld into a Pumpkins’ fans permanent playlist.
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Ultimate Guitar
A solid, if not completely incredible, record from the band's recently partially-reunited classic lineup.
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Blabbermouth
"Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun." is the first PUMPKINS album in over 18 years to feature Corgan, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin recording together.
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Crypticrock
In fairness with The Smashing Pumpkins, the proper albums that they have already released in the current decade—2012’s Oceania and Monuments to an Elegy—also had their shining moments. However, the forthcoming Shiny and Oh So Bright is, sonically and stylistically considering, a long cut above these immediate predecessors. It is a matrimony of The Smashing Pumpkins’ golden era and current resurgence—melodic and nostalgic as “1979” yet intense and raging like “Bullet with Butterfly Wings.” Cryptic Rock gives Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.
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Music Brainz
Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (stylized in all caps) is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The album was released on November 16, 2018 through Napalm Records.
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Last FM
Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (stylized in all caps) is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The album was released on November 16, 2018 through Napalm Records.
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DIY
The record does not suggest the the frontman had a brevity in mind and yet, this is a quickfire affair; eight tracks, with the whole thing coming in under the forty-minute mark.
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Zrockr
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is so against everything that is out right now, especially in rock and roll and alternative. Smashing Pumpkins sticks to their roots and what makes them great. Corgan has kept the formula that has worked for him for 30 years and ran with it to bring us another masterpiece with the help of producer Rick Rubin, who worked with the band on 1998's Adore.
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Genius
This project was originally intended to result in just one single song. The band presented eight demo tracks to producer Rick Rubin with the intent of throwing out seven of them. Rubin however opted for all eight tracks to be produced, which became the songs we hear on the album.
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Trackwave
It's the sound of a band making peace with their own fundamental style, without feeling the need to gild the lily.
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Alternative Nation
The new Smashing Pumpkins LP Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. disappointed on the Billboard charts in its first week on sale, debuting at number 54 in North America.
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Independent
Highlights on the 8-track album include "Travels" and "With Sympathy." The optimistic "Travels" affirms the album's commitment to "No Past. No Future." in a fluid reality where Corgan sings, "See love, see time/see death, see life" before unfolding into a chorus of, "It's where I belong/but far from here or else I'm gone." There's an element of opacity, common to Pumpkins lyrics, but one that manages to feel pleasantly unresolved by the anthemic track. "With Sympathy" pleads, "Please stay confused/disunion has its use," but wraps itself in a comforting, steady melody.
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Mxdwn
Some other notable songs off of Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. are “Travels” and “With Sympathy.” With “Travels” being the third song on the album, it really starts off with a punch. “Travels” has a reminiscent feel to it, kind of like the group is thinking back to their old days as a group through their reunion. “That’s where I belong but / Far from here or else I’m gone.” “With Sympathy” starts with a great guitar riff and drumbeat before launching into a very melodic song. Corgan showcases his vocal range perfectly in this song, which is accurately titled, showing that he can have a voice full of rock, and a voice full of beautiful melodies all on one album.
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Norman Records
The Smashing Pumpkins are so excited about the release of their brand new album that they’ve given it two or three titles! Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. (didn’t I tell you?) is the first Smashing Pumpkins album for four years, and it notably features founder members like James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin for the first time this millenium. Released by Napalm Records.
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Flood
But overall, there’s nary a bad vibe to found here, despite all the ragin’ and cagin’ promised by the angsty title. Corgan has delivered a reunion album that’s not exactly a triumph, but rather a pleasant experience worth returning to—and that’s a small triumph in itself, so let’s count it.
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Jambase
Original members Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin were joined by touring members Jack Bates, Jeff Schroeder and Katie Cole as well as a trio of backing vocalists. Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. was the first album to feature Corgan, Iha and Chamberlin since 2000.
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Metal Addicts
“Shiny and Oh So Bright» expresses the feelings of not yet young band. The band passed through total breakdown, anger, abnegation. Evolving and not just becoming better. “Silvery Sometimes ( Ghosts )” sounds catchy, truly. Corgan’s “We’re in a middle” is recognition of not-yet young musician.
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Mighty Tape
Shiny And Oh So Bright Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is due for release via Martha’s Music under license to Napalm Records. With over 30 million albums sold to date, the GRAMMY®, MTV VMA, and American Music Award winning band remains one of the most influential bands in history.
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Global
Although the classic Pumpkins lineup has reunited, they’ve shown no signs of looking back to the past. The Rick Rubin-produced ballad is a total departure from their fan-favoured grunge era sound of the 1990s. It features an ensemble of strings, violins and gospel vocals for an overall fuller sound.
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Smells Like Infinite Sadness
In other words, Shiny is compact and streamlined enough to avoid any major misfires, but it also plays it safe. It avoids major pitfalls by sacrificing ambition.
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Music and Riots
It opens with “Knights of Malta”, a gospel-inspired ballad featuring orchestral arrangements reminiscent of the hit “Tonight, Tonight”, but without sounding like a rehash of an old, used idea; in fact, that is the feeling we get throughout the entire album: even with the return of old members, what we have here is a band focused on coming up with good and fresh material instead of simply living in a past that is never coming back.
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The Skinny
The Smashing Pumpkins' latest effort forces an emotional conflict that puts you on the fence; loving one half and despising the other.
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The Spec
Peel away the dramatics and dysfunction that marked the launch of "Shiny and Oh So Bright"-and the Pumpkin's past, for that matter-and you're left with an album that stays true to the band's classic sound with the help of legendary producer Rick Rubin.
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Timeout
What better way to endure the dog days of summer than with a good dose of ’90s angst? The alt-rockers hit town behind a newie, Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun (a title that ostensibly indicates a continuing album series on the horizon), with an almost-complete original lineup. (Alas, bassist D’Arcy Wretzky will be absent because of a feud with Billy Corgan.)
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Ghost Cult
Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., which was their first in over eighteen years to feature founding members Billy Corgan, Jimmy Chamberlin, and James Iha, along with longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
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Kerrang
Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun album is going incredibly well, with the frontman telling 102.9 The Buzz in an interview that he has a great deal of material for the band’s new effort.
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Far Out
The band, who formed 32 years ago, reunited with founding members James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin in 2018 and recorded the band’s tenth studio album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., much to the delight of their huge fanbase.
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Udiscover
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun will feature ‘Solara’, the track the band released earlier this summer. The new songs were recorded with producer Rick Rubin earlier this year.
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Zumic
The LP features eight songs covering 31 minutes and was recorded at Shangri Las studio in California with famed producer Rick Rubin. The band features a reunited lineup including Billy Corgan, James Iha, Jimmy Chamberlin, and Jeff Schroeder. Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of this album is the overall tone. With a master producer like Rick Rubin at the controls, you would expect everything to sound great, but the guitars, drums, and vocals are somewhat stale compared to what we would expect. Maybe a little less compression and a little more reverb could have helped glue everything together and liven things up.
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Metro
The album subtitle — LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. — suggests a zeitgeist-grabbing urgency but here the Pumpkins sound like they’re stuck in limbo with a leader still haunted by their former glory.
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Uproxx
The album was produced by Rick Rubin, and based on the title, it appears to be just a portion of a multi-part project, perhaps a trilogy, based on the No Past. No Future. No Sun. part of the name. Whatever the case, it’s the band’s first album since 2014’s Monuments To An Elegy, and the first featuring Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin since 2000’s Machina/The Machines Of God.
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Newcastle Herald
Some of the magic has returned too. The apocalyptical guitar riffs of Solara and Marchin’ On are classic mid-90s Pumpkins, while Silvery Ghosts (Sometimes) could be the next chapter to Adore’s tender single Perfect. There are moments of typical Corgan pretension too on the bloated Travels, but overall his songwriting feels more focused and thrilling.
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Riff
While Corgan’s nasal sneering hasn’t changed, and these songs do feel carefully crafted to be heartfelt, the white-hot fire of Corgan’s passion has cooled a bit. On songs like “Knights of Malta,” it almost sounds like he wants to embrace this change, and give voice to his inner lounge singer. But on others, like “Solara,” the determination to recapture the old magic is as easy to hear as the band’s failure in the endeavor.
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The Oklahoman
While the album captures the nonconforming spirit of eccentric frontman Corgan — swinging between manic, obsessive and edgy tracks like "Solara" and delicate, trance-like songs such as "With Sympathy" — overall, "SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT" is no masterpiece. Songs build then fizzle, like "Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)," a catchy tune lacking the chorus to be considered vintage Smashing, despite its nostalgic and distinctive Pumpkins feel.
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O Canada
Highlights on the 8-track album include “Travels” and “With Sympathy.” The optimistic “Travels” affirms the album’s commitment to “No Past. No Future.” in a fluid reality where Corgan sings, “See love, see time/see death, see life” before unfolding into a chorus of, “It’s where I belong/but far from here or else I’m gone.” There’s an element of opacity, common to Pumpkins lyrics, but one that manages to feel pleasantly unresolved by the anthemic track. “With Sympathy” pleads, “Please stay confused/disunion has its use,” but wraps itself in a comforting, steady melody.
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The Day
While the album captures the nonconforming spirit of eccentric frontman Corgan — swinging between manic, obsessive and edgy tracks like "Solara" and delicate, trance-like songs such as "With Sympathy" — overall, "SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT" is no masterpiece. Songs build, then fizzle, like "Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)," a catchy tune lacking the chorus to be considered vintage Smashing, despite its nostalgic and distinctive Pumpkins feel.
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680 News
Peel away the dramatics and dysfunction that marked the launch of “SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT” — and the Pumpkins’ past, for that matter — and you’re left with an album that stays true to the band’s classic sound with the help of legendary producer Rick Rubin. Triumphant strings and distorted vocals open the album, as “Knights of Malta” crescendos to a choir singing with the guttural Corgan singing, “We’re gonna make this happen/I’m gonna fly forever.”
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Mainichi
Highlights on the 8-track album include "Travels" and "With Sympathy." The optimistic "Travels" affirms the album's commitment to "No Past. No Future." in a fluid reality where Corgan sings, "See love, see time/see death, see life" before unfolding into a chorus of, "It's where I belong/but far from here or else I'm gone." There's an element of opacity, common to Pumpkins lyrics, but one that manages to feel pleasantly unresolved by the anthemic track. "With Sympathy" pleads, "Please stay confused/disunion has its use," but wraps itself in a comforting, steady melody.
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1053 Rock
It’s no question The Smashing Pumpkins has had a tumultuous past. Multiple iterations, breakups and solo careers later, three founding members of the 90’s Chicago-rooted rockers — Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin — are back to release their first collaborative album in 18 years, “SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN.” While the album captures the nonconforming spirit of eccentric frontman Corgan — swinging between manic, obsessive and edgy tracks like “Solara” and delicate, trance-like songs such as “With Sympathy” — overall, “SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT” is no masterpiece. Songs build then fizzle, like “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts),” a catchy tune lacking the chorus to be considered vintage Smashing, despite its nostalgic and distinctive Pumpkins feel.
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The BA Blueprint
This may come to a surprise to see that The Smashing Pumpkins got together and actually released a new album after about 9 years of inactivity. The Smashing Pumpkins don’t really change their material. No surprise. They’ve stuck to their classic alternative rock genre ever since they’ve gotten together as a band.
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Recless Reviews
It’s just a bit bland. Bland in the sense that you could say to yourself “yeah okay, I could listen to it and go about my day, but it’s not going to stop me in my tracks.” And that’s what the Pumpkins albums of the past would have done. They would have made you stop and think. The albums were raw, they were unpredictable. Perhaps Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is just a bump in what could become the perfect reunion, or, perhaps the Pumpkins are finally smashed.
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White Art Collective
“Shiny” is the 10th studio album released under the Pumpkins moniker. It also marks the return of guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain. While the formers contribution may go unnoticed, Chamberlain’s creative flourishes mark a stark improvement over Tommy Lee’s mindless thumping on 2014’s “Monument To An Elegy.” Speaking of that album, this one also clocks in at an abbreviated run time of 32 minutes (Elegy was 33). This album was originally conceived as 2 EPs but packaged together as an album. What a departure from the multi-platinum double album “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness” (1995).
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News 1130
Highlights on the 8-track album include “Travels” and “With Sympathy.” The optimistic “Travels” affirms the album’s commitment to “No Past. No Future.” in a fluid reality where Corgan sings, “See love, see time/see death, see life” before unfolding into a chorus of, “It’s where I belong/but far from here or else I’m gone.” There’s an element of opacity, common to Pumpkins lyrics, but one that manages to feel pleasantly unresolved by the anthemic track. “With Sympathy” pleads, “Please stay confused/disunion has its use,” but wraps itself in a comforting, steady melody.
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Archive
Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is the tenth studio album by The Smashing Pumpkins, released November 16, 2018.
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Record Store Day
The track was the first song in over 18 years to feature founding members Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin, alongside longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder and offered the first glimpse of music from the newly reformed lineup. Their 10th studio album SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN., recorded at Shangri La Studios with legendary producer Rick Rubin, is being released on a special picture disc LP version for Record Store Day Black Friday.
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WGNTV
The album, titled "Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun," is the band's first LP in 18 years to feature founding members Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlain, who are joined by guitarist Jeff Schroeder.
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Warner Music
SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN. shares its second single “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)”. Recorded at Shangri La Studios with legendary producer Rick Rubin, LP is due for release on November 16th, 2018 via Martha’s Music under license to Napalm Records. With over 30 million albums sold to date, the GRAMMY®, MTV VMA, and American Music Award winning band remains one of the most influential bands in history.
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Drift
The track was the first song in over 18 years to feature founding members Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin, alongside longtime guitarist Jeff Schroeder and offered the first glimpse of music from the newly reformed lineup. In September of 2018, the band formally announced their forthcoming 10th studio album, 'SHINY AND OH SO BRIGHT, VOL. 1 / LP: NO PAST. NO FUTURE. NO SUN', recorded at Shangri La Studios with legendary producer Rick Rubin.
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Classicrock 995
The nearly reunited Smashing Pumpkins will release a new album called Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. on November 16. It’s the first Pumpkins record in over 18 years to feature original members Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin. Originally conceived as two EPs, Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 is a single collection of eight tracks, including the previously released single “Solara,” as well as the new track “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts),” which is available now for digital download. The album was recorded with iconic producer Rick Rubin.
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