by Abel Horwitz
Daily Lobo
Not to prop up Billy Corgan's inflated ego more than it already is, but the Smashing Pumpkins is a damn good band.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in The Killer in You: A Tribute to the Smashing Pumpkins, an inexcusable album of obscure bands playing their best renditions of Pumpkins songs. The only positive thing that I can say about this album is that by listening to it you realize what it was that made the Pumpkins so good in the first place - Corgan's vocals.
From the first note of Roses Are Red's rendition of "Cherub Rock," you can almost hear Corgan warming up. However, when Roses Are Red's lead singer chimes in, the song becomes disappointing. The band sticks so close to the original version of the song, every drumbeat and every guitar strum played in perfect Pumpkins form, that once the non-Corgan lead singer begins, it's enough to skip to the next song.
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Not that the next song is any better, mind you. The artists on this album range from mediocre to downright terrible. Some don't change a single thing about the songs. Others take liberties with the songs and turn them into pseudometal scream fests.
Listening to the album, it is hard not to think of how bland the songs sounded without Corgan's distinctive voice holding them together. The songs on this album sound like the "new rock" that 104.7 The Edge relentlessly plays right before I switch off my radio and remember why I stopped listening to the radio in the first place.
Admittedly, though, one band gets it right. Poison The Well - in a three-way first-place tie with Murder By Death and Armor For Sleep for worst band name on the album - sings a rendition of "Soma," off Siamese Dream, which is actually half decent. The lead singer has a soft and fragile voice, which fits perfectly with the song. Not only that, but the band brings up the tempo and the volume of the song just enough to merit a repeat listen.
The album was compiled by Reignition Records, an unheard of label that in the liner notes promises an upcoming Black Flag tribute album filled with even more unknown bands. While I understand the label's desire to put the names of a few unheard bands out there, I don't believe that an album of cover songs is the proper way to do it. Let the musicians showcase their own songs. As for the Black Flag tribute, I'm predicting a lot of bands screaming into microphones and calling it music.
To top off this crap-fest of a CD, the album's title refers to a lyric from the Pumpkins' song "Disarm," which isn't covered on this album. Let that be the nail in the coffin of the reasons why you shouldn't buy this album. Save your money and listen to your old Pumpkins records instead.
