 Title - ‘Mary Star of The Sea’ (Reprise)
Artist - Zwan
The Smashing Pumpkins, arguably one of the best bands of the 90's, fizzled out after their last two ill-received albums with many fans claiming they'd lost the sound that made Siamese Dream and Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness the rock gems they are. Eventually rumors began to resurface of Billy Corgan forming a new band, and that band is Zwan. The first single, ’Honestly’ (which is surprisingly one of the weakest tracks on this album) was released a month prior to the album's release but it really didn't catch me. After listening to it several times, I have to say I don't regret asking my Editor – OK, begging my Editor – for this copy to review! Zwan is more of a throwback to the Siamese Dream-era pumpkins, but this album is very upbeat as opposed to a lot of Corgan's other work. Out of the 14 songs, none of them are particularly bad although some have their annoying parts: ’Settle Down’ and ’Baby Lets Rock!’ contain some lyrics that make me cringe every time I hear them, and ’Jesus I, Mary Star of the Sea’ seems to drag on forever as more than half of this fourteen minute song is nothing but a jam session! However, some of the greatest tracks on this album would be ’Lyric’, ‘Of A Broken Heart’, ‘Ride A Black Swan’ (a confused ‘tribute’ to the late, great Marc Bolan, perhaps?!), and ’Endless Summer’.
Stacy O’Keefe
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