And so the Smashing Pumpkins are back. Except, they're not really. Billy Corgan may have reclaimed the name and got back together with drummer James Chamberlain, but James Iha and D'Arcy Wretzky, who were so essential to the classic Pumpkins sound of the early '90s are nowhere to be seen.
Tarantula is the first single to be taken from the eagerly awaited Zeitgeist album, and first impressions aren't too good. All the elements are in place to make this a classic - powerful, driving rhythm, distorted guitars etc, but it seems as if Corgan's spent too long debating how the song should sound, rather than write any sort of memorable tune.
Lyrically too it's pretty woeful - "I wanna be there when you're happy, I wanna love you when you're sad" - and as yet another squiggly guitar solo comes flying in and then out again, you begin to wish for the subtle textures that made Siamese Dream such a superb listen. If this was just another rock band, it would be perfectly acceptable, but it's not, it's the Smashing Pumpkins and should therefore be earth-shattering. Disappointing.
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