Much more coming in the future, but I just wanted to point out a couple things. Many reviews of his music - both new and old - are nothing more than hit pieces which demonstrate the reviewer hates Billy Corgan and was excited to rip him apart, and probably barely even listened to the album. They get downright mean. Off the top of my head Pitchfork and The Quietus have some particularly mean-spirited and aggressive ones, and I know there are many more but I’m getting wound up and have to go in a few minutes.
I thought The AVClub did a very tasteful criticism of Monuments to an Elegy when it was released. While I disagree with certain things said in the review, it clearly wasn’t coming from a vitriolic place, and I actually thought the following passage from it was spot on and good writing:
Unfortunately, the album’s lyrics also skew toward New Order’s notoriously banal writing. Songs make sweeping statements and anthem-worthy proclamations, but never go beneath the surface to explain why listeners should be inspired. “Being Beige” asks, “The world’s on fire, so have you heard?” while “Monuments” revolves around the elementary-school-level couplet “I feel alright tonight / And everywhere I go is shining bright”—and then repeats the phrase, “Alright, alright, alright” throughout for added emphasis. Even the urgent “One And All”—which proclaims “One and all / We are, we are so young / We’re young, we’re young” on the choruses—never really explores this rabble-rousing insinuation with any depth. This thematic emptiness is disappointing, because Smashing Pumpkins’ complexity is part of the band’s appeal; even the overstuffed (or unsuccessful) moments are at least admirably adventurous or enigmatic. And so while Monuments To An Elegy is certainly a solid release, in the end, it’s most enjoyable when approached with managed expectations.
Compare that to Pitchfork’s review of Machina, which makes objectively ludicrous statements (saying Adore and Machina are basically the same thing, for instance - regardless of whether or not you enjoy the albums, this is a preposterous claim and demonstrates the reviewer barely listened to both) and has an overall nasty tone and even insults Billy Corgan’s appearance for no reason.
On a side note, it’s very interesting to me that Corgan’s appearance has always been and continues in 2019 to be fair game. Even in the movie thread today people are taking shots at the way he looks, whereas if the same were done to other artists there would undoubtedly be long posts about how that’s not ok and problematic or whatever.
