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CRITIC REVIEWS
80
In the moment that Smashing Pumpkins currently find themselves – three-quarters reunioned, confident, dare one even say comfortable – there’s joy to be heard throughout, as they turn over rocks and see what they can find. And, truly, that’s a very traditional Smashing Pumpkins way of doing things.
80
By turns arched, ambitious, intriguing and expressive this sprawling 20 song set recalls the band’s earlier epics with melodies that boast the same elevated intensity that’s driven their signature sound from early on.
12mo
73
For the most part, it’s a Human League-like synth-pop behemoth, rich in evocative, magickal lyricism, and functions as the soundtrack to their animated YouTube series In Ashes. In short: there’s more here than meets the superficial gaze of two eyes.
70
‘Cyr’ is, of course, far too long and more pretentious than a Met Gala soiree, but the innate contradiction between the essence of The Smashing Pumpkins and the music they have decided to make does keep the listener engaged for much longer than it has any right to.
70
The mystical imagery of phoenixes, devils and ancient kings trace a through line to the Pumpkins’ roots in the sweeping and epic, while the album’s electro-pop clarity highlights Corgan’s sharpest collection of melodies in some years.
70
It's another epic statement rife with troubled beauty, presented from a slightly different angle but true to the spirit of longing and restless wonder that has defined the Smashing Pumpkins for over 30 years.
70
It probably would have been better for the listener if he had condensed this, the band’s 11th studio album, into a solid 10-song single album release.
60
Corgan has undoubtedly created the “contemporary record” he so craved; it’s far better than anything Corgan produced when he was running with the Pumpkins name on his own.
60
With such a hefty run time, it’s difficult to really tap into the heart of ‘Cyr’.
60
CYR, their 11th studio album, features original members James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin, who returned to the fold in 2018. Yet even that isn’t enough to reignite a spark that, during their Nineties heyday, earned the band four consecutive platinum albums.
60
It sticks so closely within those sonic parameters that it quickly becomes very samey, enough to test the listener’s patience at a standard running time, let alone at well over an hour.
60
CYR may be a good record, but even with its overblown 20-song length it leaves the listener wanting more, given the context of this band’s capabilities.
60
While CYR vastly improves on its stagnant predecessor, Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., the album’s 20-song tracklist is invariably bloated, a symptom of Corgan’s unchecked ambition.
58
Billy Corgan delivers a sprawling double album that's as frustrating as it is ambitious.
55
Billy Corgan reenlists the creative core of James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin for a lengthy synth-pop excursion that is clinically competent and rarely as thrilling—or thrillingly weird—as their previous work.
50
Most of the material just hovers around the same tempo, tone, lyrical style and sound dynamics, robbing the listener of any sort of emotional peaks or valleys that are so important when floating a double album.
50
While it may be unfair to compare everything to the peaks of their lengthy career, it is a good way of measuring what Corgan and co. are capable of ... CYR is a record that so obviously chasing mainstream appeal yet sabotages itself by being too long a self-indulgence.
50
The issue with CYR is that the overall album would have made a solid ten-to-twelve tracks if the song structures, melodies, and BPMs weren’t so uniform.
11mo
44
It would be unfair to call Cyr an uninspired album, but the Smashing Pumpkins’ appropriations of vanilla synth-rock are neither individually interesting nor a good fit for the band’s palette.
40
Once revered for their raw imagination, powerful drumming, and ubiquitous sound, the Pumpkins are now a shadow of their former selves, releasing music into the void just for a cheque.
40
Normally, such willingness to transcend genre boundaries would be commendable, but Cyr falls flat on so many levels. Lush textures abound, but there’s barely a memorable tune present, which makes the decision to release it as a 72-minute double album hubristic in the extreme.
38
In a mind-boggling turn of events, the Pumpkins have made a synth-pop record, and unfortunately not a very good one.
20
Flat and uninspiring tunes follow dreary and unmemorable dirges almost without pause for great swathes of the 70 minutes or so of Smashing Pumpkins’ latest effort.
i dont know what this album is but i have a new epic porfile pitcure. Comment if you like and think its epic
I've come here to say the Smashing Pumpkins need to retire and that you guys should stream The Signal by Elitimesfour.
Man... this is like Father of All all over again. Maybe somehow worse.
Look, despite how weird of a person Billy Corgan is, I still fucking love the Pumpkins. Love em to bits. Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness and Siamese Dream are still two of the rock albums ever made, and I even liked their most recent album that everyone else seemed to despise, despite it's really shitty long name that I'm not going to type out here because it's a really stupid name. But becuase that shity name ... read more
Look, despite how weird of a person Billy Corgan is, I still fucking love the Pumpkins. Love em to bits. Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness and Siamese Dream are still two of the rock albums ever made, and I even liked their most recent album that everyone else seemed to despise, despite it's really shitty long name that I'm not going to type out here because it's a really stupid name. But becuase that shity name ... read more
"CYR" wanted to seem like a standout thing and inspired it with its cover, but it practically failed on all musical fronts.
I think it's commendable that The Smashing Pumpkins have consistently released music over the last thirty years, which is a feat few bands from the 90's have been able to accomplish. At now eleven albums over the course of those thirty years the longest gap they have had in releases was a seven year stint between 2000 and 2007 when they were broken up, and otherwise albums take at most five years to follow up. That dedication and long-term commitment speaks to members like Jimmy Chamberlin and ... read more
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Track List
- The Colour of Love
- Confessions of a Dopamine Addict
- Cyr
- Dulcet in E
- Wrath
- Ramona
- Anno Satana
- Birch Grove
- Wyttch
- Starrcraft
- Purple Blood
- Save Your Tears
- Telegenix
- Black Forest, Black Hills
- Adrennalynne
- Haunted
- The Hidden Sun
- Schaudenfreud
- Tyger, Tyger
- Minerva
Year End Lists
| #44 | / | Kerrang! |
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1y
I'm going to dedicate some of my time to listening to this so it better be as terrible as you all are saying!
1y
The only thing that should be smashed is that like button. Can we EVICERATE 😫😫THAT LIKE BUTTON????!?!!?!?? 10000000000000000 LIKES FOR SMASHING PUMPKINS REVIEW
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Added on: September 18, 2020