The last time the world heard from egomaniac Billy Corgan, he was releasing his first poetry book titled, Blinking with Fists. While Corgan has proved his songwriting skills are superlative, intelligent, and distinguished, his poetry skills, as displayed in Blinking with Fists, are shameful, inane, and drudging. I, being a devout Smashing Pumpkins fan, was not only ashamed but also flabbergasted that a man who wrote some of the best rock songs during the 1990s also wrote Blinking With Fists - quite possibly the worst poetry book of all-time.
That being noted, when Corgan announced his debut solo album, I was less than thrilled; no, make that horrified. I could only imagine lyrical vomit layered upon some awful sounding muck for music. And why shouldn't I expect that? I recall before Zwan's debut, Mary Star of the Sea, Corgan was promoting the album as pure, ear-shattering rock. Let's just say, I, as well as many, were more than disappointed with Zwan. So after two consecutively substandard Corgan releases, a proposed solo album sounded none to appealing. Well, the time has arrived for Billy Corgan's solo debut The Future Embrace.
The Future Embrace is a tribute to Corgan's love for 80's new wave and goth-pop. Synths, drum machines, and distortion are aplenty here, but Corgan's desire to honor some of his biggest influences doesn't simply fall short, it falls flat on its face. You know those Gatorade commercials where those Ironman competitors shatter into a thousand pieces just short of the finish line because they just can't go on? Yeah, well, if Corgan's debut were entered in that race, it'd probably drown in the swimming competition - long before dry land or the finish line.
Okay, maybe that was a little harsh, but Billy is kind of just asking for it now. He got flamed for Zwan, flamed for the poetry book, and it should have been very evident that he would get flamed for this solo album. He should've noticed an emerging pattern: he is not clicking with audiences anymore - except with those who are so blinded by their obsession with the Pumpkins that they automatically love everything Corgan touches. But I better get back to the album because, hey, here at Scene Point Blank, we take our reviews seriously.
They album begins with little hope in "All Things Change." The title alone suggests Zwan-esque lyrics, with Corgan repetitiously singing, "We can change the world." Thanks Billy. Never would I have thought I could find Billy Corgan this nauseatingly boring, but the rest of The Future Embrace drones in-and-out of a Shiavo-like coma: Is Billy communicating with us? Did I just decipher a message from his mindless babble? Oh, I guess not; let's just pull the plug on this one.
The only semi-noteworthy tracks are "A100" and the single, "Walking Shade;" both of which have mediocre lyrics, but at least the music is cool. Neither Jimmy Chamerlin's guest drumming on "DIA," nor Robert Smith's guest vocals on the Bee Gee's cover "To Love Somebody," can muster enough gimmicks to entice the listener.
I said I was horrified by the sound of Corgan doing a solo album, and I was rightfully so. Corgan cannot function without a band, without strong lyrics, and let's face it, without the Smashing Pumpkins. I'm terribly worried that if this current version of Billy Corgan is successful in his reforming of the Smashing Pumpkins, a fading star will shatter one of the greatest rock legacies of the 90s. I really want this review to be over because just writing about The Future Embrace is irritating me.
