September 5, 2000 - Machina II/The Friends And Enemies Of Modern Music

Two weeks after my last release and a mere seven months since "Machina/The Machines Of God", The Smashing Pumpkins released their sixth album "Machina II/The Friends And Enemies Of Modern Music" on September 5, 2000. Billy Corgan wanted to release Machina as a double album, but after "Adore" didn't do great commercially Virgin records wanted to wait on a double album. Following more poor sales of "Machina", Virgin refused to release this album under their label, so The Smashing Pumpkins put it on the internet for free! This is a pretty crazy decision, especially during the Napster era, but Billy felt that this album was good enough to be released even though Virgin didn't. It's also the last album to feature the original line-up, which is a little sad! Let's listen to the last we'll hear for a while from the Pumpkins!

The album opens with a short song called "Glass" and Corgan starts singing quickly right away and things sound good with some pretty heavy guitars by Corgan and James Iha. Jimmy Chamberlin's drums are super fast and for a song under two minutes, it's pretty good I'd say! My head was banging the whole time and I loved the heaviness! Up next is "Cash Car Star" and Chamberlin plays some more fast and really good drums while Corgan sings a solid verse overtop. D'Arcy Wretzky plays some solid bass on this one as well and the guitars sound nice and heavy once again. They do a good job of coming in and out with the guitar on this song: the parts without sound pretty epic, and then when they come in they add a nice heavy jolt to things. Another solid song I thought! Track 3 is "Dross" and it's got a pretty catchy, rolling main guitar riff that sounds pretty cool. Corgan sings really nicely overtop and although they never really stray from this main riff, I think things sound good enough that it doesn't drag for me. Everything sounds solid so far! The next track is "Real Love" and it's got a high pitched and echo-y main riff that sounds like it may not have been produced enough. It's decent, but the quality sounds poor and everything has a bit of a scratchy feel around the edges. Corgan sings a pretty pop-y verse overtop and they also don't stray far from the main riff on this one, but it's a much less exciting riff and therefore a lesser song. Track 5 is "Go" and it's written and sung by Iha. It's got a light and dreamy main riff and Iha sings in his quiet, not very amazing voice. Things sound okay, but the lighter and sappier music coupled with Iha's lesser vocals make this another lesser song for me. Corgan singing it probably would've helped, but even still it wouldn't be been that great. Up next is "Let Me Give The World To You" and Virgin loved this song so much that they wanted it to be the hit single off the original "Machina"! Billy didn't even think it was good enough to make that album, but it makes on this basically B-side album. It's got a breezy main riff with some catchy guitars, bass and keyboards that all combine for a pretty made-for-radio sound, so I can see where Virgin was coming from. Corgan sings a solid verse and chorus overtop this catchy and breezy music and this does sound like a bonafide single. It's pretty repetitive, but it's still a solid tune. Track 7 is "Innosense" and it's got a light but solid lead guitar riff backed by some acoustic guitar as Corgan sings in a very high voice, and he nails it I think. It's obviously not a headbanger, but I think they nail the dreamy vibe on this short song. Corgan ends up playing some cool piano as well and it takes over the ending of this pretty cool tune. The next track is "Home" and it has a pretty light and easygoing main riff with some dreamy keyboards backing some very light guitars. Corgan sings a quiet verse to match the mood and things sound alright but it's definitely not one of their better songs. At four and a half minutes I think it's way too long for a song where not a whole lot is happening. Chamberlin's drums pick up a little as they close things out, but this was a pretty forgettable song honestly. Track 9 is "Blue Skies Bring Tears (Heavy)" and as the name suggests it's a heavier (and much shorter) version of the song off "Machina" earlier this year. It's about twice as fast (hence the shorter length) and I like this speedy version with the upbeat drums and some solid bass by Wretzky. The guitars sound good as well and it's not surprising that I like this heavy version better! It's way more hard rock than dreamy rock and everyone sounds pretty good on this one. It's so different from the original, it's almost like a new song! Up next is "White Spyder" and it's got a very distorted main riff that is really loud and hard on the ears; it's pretty heavy, but not in a cool headbanging way. Corgan sings in a distorted voice to match the mood and everything sounds decent, but very industrial, too much so I find. It's very repetitive as well and they never move away from this distorted feeling, making this another lesser song for me. Track 11 is "In My Body" and it's the longest in the album at almost seven minutes. It's got a slow and simple main riff that is pretty light and things sound decent, but nothing special. Corgan sings in a distant, echo-y voice that fits the mood pretty well and there's some solid slow, trippy guitar as they continue to lightly jam out this main riff for pretty much the whole song. It's a little long for sure, but it's an alright slower song, though still not really a great song. The next two tracks are short two minute ones, starting with "If There Is A God". It has a very dreamy backdrop with lots of keyboards, but Chamberlin plays some solid drums and Corgan sings a decent little verse. This is another song that is definitely a B-side, but it's a decent little in between song. Track 13 is "Le Deux Machina" and it's all Corgan on keyboards on this short song as he plays an interesting little riff on a haunting kind of keyboard. It's unusual even for the Pumpkins, but it's another decentittle interlude, just weird to have two back-to-back. The final song on the album is "Atom Bomb" and Corgan leads the way with a catchy acoustic guitar riff and a nice verse to match along with a pretty catchy beat this one makes your foot start to tap. It's pretty simple and steady, but it's a very smooth main riff and it's hard not to get into it, which is the sign of a good tune. Good, but not great.

That is the end of "Machina II/The Friends And Enemies Of Modern Music" and I thought it was an okay album, which is not a very glowing review. It had some highs and a couple good songs for sure, but there was also a lot of B-side material and lesser stuff. The fact that I don't think it surpasses "Adore" is very telling and overall I think it's their worst album yet. It's a little bit of a sad way for The Smashing Pumpkins to go out as this would be their last album.... for now.