Smashing Pumpkins – CYR
The Smashing Pumpkins are back, with their second album, CYR, with the reformed line-up of Billy Corgan, on lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar, synthesizers, and production; James Iha, on guitar; Jeff Schroeder, on guitar; Jimmy Chamberlin, on drums; with Katie Cole and Sierra Swan, on backing vocals.
CYR is a double album full of a powerful synth-pop aesthetic, dominant in the 1980s, and finding a resurgence in contemporary music. The album was released on November 27, 2020, and I was there to pick it up immediately.
The new album, CYR, reminds me of the Pumpkins’ Oceania, in the amount and caliber of the keyboard production the album provides. The keyboard direction of this album is so accessible and, yes I agree modern. Some of my favorite Pumpkins’ songs do however, include wonderful wrenching guitar distortion, the likes of which few others than, Neil Young or Jimmy Hendrix himself, could conjure. My favorite songs from the Pumpkins, include, in order: “Zero”, “Ava Adore”, “Quasar”, “Cherub Rock”, “Disarm”, “Luna”, “Today”, “Cupid de Locke”, “The Celestials”, “Violet Rays”, “My Love is Winter”, “Tonight, Tonight”, “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” and “1979”. That is a great mix of keyboard driven and guitar driven songs. But as you can hear, the guitar-driven songs dominate the top.
That may change with CYR. Every song on this album is a keeper. But there are some awesome standouts which will definitely be added to the list above.
Billy Corgan noted: “I got sick of making music that people kept telling me didn’t sound contemporary. In my mind, I’m in a contemporary band. I’m a contemporary artist. Corgan self-produced Cyr, saying, “I was trying to bring myself into modernity. I got Logic, I got some beats going, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I started to feel like the Luddite who couldn’t evolve. But then I realized that when I first heard Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sisters of Mercy and Joy Division, they were making very modern music by using the technology that they had at hand. So, I had to get inside the choices that they made.”
Yes, CYR, follows that 1980 synth progression, but infuses powerful guitar licks at moments they are necessary.
The album opens with one of the first singles off the album, “The Colour of Love”. From the opening keyboards, the listener knows this album is not going to be anything like previous Smashing Pumpkins albums. The pace picks up with bass, drums and keyboards, as Billy Corgan sings, “And the color of your love is gray. Of ash and mud and time slipped away”. He slips in the phrase “As pieces of eight fall from grasp. Whomever asks for more than that?” Yes, a massive departure from guitar-oriented albums like the Styx classic, Pieces of Eight.
My early favorite song from CYR was “Confessions of a Dopamine Addict”. The title is awesome, but the music is so easily accessible. Sounding a little like the Cure, which Billy may not appreciate, but it is definitely a compliment. This track, “Ramona”, “CYR”, and “Wyttch”, are still my favorite songs on the album.
The title song, “CYR”, was the album’s first single. It is an excellent song that will keep pace with your heartbeat and your appreciation of this band. The lyrics are some of the best on the album, Corgan sings, with female back-up, “Say, dire warning. Stare down your masters. With the promise of one and what you are. We’re on the verge”. Then later, “Tangents vex the whorl. The void arrives, then leaves. Returning, returning a kiss. For lovers built the dream”, and of course, “Did the times, wind. Did the crowd, kind. Aping youth, wise. Ever lost, ides. ‘Midst the chaff, as meek. And those weak, as sand. Turning glass upside down. For the hours should they pass”. Dynamite.
With a title like, “Dulcet in E”, I was hoping for the kind of imagination that the band brought to “Cupid de Locke”. Especially with the keyboard dominance this album has assembled. However, that did not come. A guitar – driven song after some cosmic keyboards. But a good song, none the less.
“Wrath”, brings back the full power of the band. Corgan sings some incredible lyrics, “If there’s heaven. There’s a place for us. There’s a teenage dream. And my love’s enough. But when I break into sapphires. I’ve cost you more than myself.
I’ve no more strength than Ulysses. I’ve no more stay than the night bird’s call”. The keyboards are perfect, almost like Tears fore Fears at their height.
“Ramona”, is the album’s diamond. The best track I’ve heard from the band since “Quasar”, off Oceania. The video supporting it brings back the talent I remember from music videos of the Golden Era of MTV. A very cool Western motif, indeed. The perfect song in every way. Powerful guitar and hypnotizing keyboards. A hit from the moment you hear it. Every minute a masterpiece you don’t want to end. Place it on repeat.
“Anno Satana”, brings back the guitar to the forefront. Fast-paced and full of great keys and well-paced drums supporting. More good lyrics, “Young hearts must flame. Hell must roil. And feeling this, all ends all surrounds you. It’s I who admits here lying-in waves. Lord knows, I’ve been gunning fast, oh”.
“Birch Grove”, almost feels like it is misplaced on this album. Opening with flute like keys, and played at a much slower pace. Corgan sings, “I foresee a time without me. So not unlike the trees. I’ve stood for so long. So long My seedlings grow, and grow. And home is whatever ground they hold. Shading life inside the falling rain. All alone, in love with age and someone. Someone else. But I’ve grown stronger”. A deeply personal look and life and the future.
Well, it wouldn’t be a Smashing Pumpkins album without the mention of Halloween. And it comes full-force with “Wyttch”. This is the “Zero” or “Ava Adore”, for CYR. Coming full speed at you, like the roaring thunder of Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song”, Corgan and the band bring, “Samhain, Samhain. Through this harvest, tread nigh. All Hallows’ Eve. Come call, Autumnus. Start the wheels of Helios. Strike up the lantern. Singe forth, darkest peace. We’ll follow under”. Yeah, a real hellacious ride, indeed. If you ever wondered what Zep’s “Immigrant Song” would sound like with the cool keys of say “No Quarter”, or the strings from “Kashmir”, mixed in, this is it.
“Starcraft”, brings back the leadership of the keys. Looking upward to the beauty of the night sky. Corgan sings, “All hail the blackest nights. The blackest night I’d find. Blinding me with sight”. It almost sounds like he said the famous Thomas Dolby line, but he didn’t. Corgan continues, “I’ll rock your mind. From Milky Way to Mersey Quay. To mystic climes. Leave it all behind. Rock island lines. I’ll rock your mind”. Half-way through and I’m in. One of the best albums of the year, for sure.
“Purple Blood”, is another excellent song, opening album side two. More of those Tears for Fears level keyboards and famous lyrics from Corgan, “I’m in love with your God. I’m in love with your fear. By the touch of your hand. I’m far from here.
Oh, for sunny days. When life was flat embrace. And might love come what may”. Wonderful acoustic guitar moments amongst the surrounding keys.
“Save Your Tears”, is full of a fantastic wall of keyboard sound…and a few too many…swoons, Corgan sings, “Swoon, Swoon in spirals phased. Swoon in chorused grays. Won’t you go? Won’t you freeze? Please although. You’re asked to still. Swoon in somber haze. Swoon by haste”.
“Telegenix”, is another of the best songs on the album. Powerful Larry Fast like keys. The pace of the song is perfect. The keyboards could run on forever, they are so great. The breaks before each section are amazing. The percussion and supporting drums are excellent. The lyrics, with females supporting are wonderful, “She takes the sweet outside. The sooner I fight, the sooner I mind, the sooner I mind. A cradle to the tears”, just perfect. This song sounds would have fit well on Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.
“Black Forest, Black Hills”, is a Cure-like song which would have fit well on the motion picture The Crow soundtrack. The fact Corgan keeps singing the word crow, only makes that impression stronger.
“Adrennalynne”, injects itself, just at the right time on this side B. The lyrics beg for a return to live shows and the feeling we are all missing, during this pandemic; performer and fans. We all want live shows again. This will be a good song to play and watch live. Corgan sings, “When you’re on the stage. When you feel the eyes fall to you. Make no mistake or find. When you’re on the stage. There isn’t blood to squander. When you’re on the stage, you’ll find. When you’re on the stage, that’s life”.
When I saw the titles of the tracks of the songs on this album, I thought “Haunted” and “Wyttch”, were going to be Halloween thrillers. “Wyttch” was; “Haunted” was slower paced and more lyrically driven.
“The Hidden Sun”, is another great up-tempo song.
“Schaudenfreud”, the German word for “the enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others”, telegraphs where this track is heading. Corgan sings, “Like the lion, I will track our rulers. Into the cracks of this earth. ‘Twixt the field and the foal, unaided. Yet spun with the toil of an oath”. Not sure he is talking about the soon to be former POTUS, #45, but interesting none the less.
“Tyger, Tyger”, is the last big song on the album. The powerful drums and keys on this one will have you foot – tapping and singing to its catchy lyrics.
“Minerva”, sounds like another great song that would have fit well on, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It is a good, but not powerful closer. Corgan sings, “So kinetic, electric waterloo. In vitro, in shadow Xanadu. Perfumed papers that say that we’ll mend. Let’s dance around again”. It is a danceable song, familiar to some great eighties songs that might come to mind.
CYR, is a fantastic surprise and one of my favorite albums of the year. Full of some songs which will contribute immediately to the vast discography Corgan and the Smashing Pumpkins have created. I have already listed some of the songs which will become immediate favorites of fans of the band, but the vast amount of tracks on this album will give fans more to choose from as the years go by and they become more familiar. Thank you Smashing Pumpkins for this fantastic release and the opportunity for continued success.
Track List
- The Colour of Love – 4:24
- Confessions of a Dopamine Addict – 3:14
- Cyr – 4:03
- Dulcet in E 3:22
- Wrath – 3:46
- Ramona – 3:48
- Anno Satana – 3:50
- Birch Grove – 3:17
- Wyttch – 3:44
- Starcraft – 4:10
- Purple Blood – 3:19
- Save Your Tears – 3:31
- Telegenix – 3:23
- Black Forest, Black Hills – 4:42
- Adrennalynne – 3:42
- Haunted – 3:11
- The Hidden Sun – 3:24
- Schaudenfreud – 3:02
- Tyger, Tyger – 2:50
- Minerva – 3:33