Zwan - a bit like the Smashing Pumpkins

Just got the new Zwan album - Mary star of the sea. For those of you who don't know who they are when the Smashing Pumpkins split up two years ago the lead singer Billy Corgan and the drummer Jimmy Chamberlain formed Zwan with three other guys.

Now of course Billy has got a really distinctive voice and so you think of the Pumpkins straight away but this album is different from Corgan’s earlier project. For a start it has a much happier vibe going right through the whole album and there are some really catchy rock songs on it, with my two favourites being Lyric and Ride a Black Swan. There are also a couple of good slower more melancholy songs that Corgan always sings so well. The stand out track is the title track which is 14 minutes long but what a great 14 minutes it is.

If you were a fan of the Pumpkins then you will love this album, if you never got into them then this could be a good place to start. Thoroughly recommended

8/10

Is it more like the earlier albums, Gish for example, or is it more like the later stuff.

TBH, I much prefer the old stuff before the Pumpkins got big.

Originally posted by Ian Cox
when the Smashing Pumpkins split up two years ago

Nobody told me :o. I thought they were just on a break? Still, this is great news as I thoroughly detested them .

[kevenh]

Ian, did you get the release that had the dvd included?

I'll give it a 2nd viewing - for fairness - but it ain't worth going to any trouble to track down. IMO it's just for fans who must have everything by a band.

The album is OK though. Enough in it for Pumpkin fans, but different enough for new fans.

There are (official) samples at www.zwan.com

.

Originally posted by kevenh
Ian, did you get the release that had the dvd included?

No I did not bother with the DVD version. I have got a couple of CD's recently with DVD's (Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age) and I only watched them once and will probably never look at them again. So I decided to save some money and put it towards the new Turin Brakes album, which is pretty good but not as good as their first album

[kevenh]

OK. But I quite like the Foo Fighter dvd from 'One by One', but it is quite an effort to get it out of the case, etc. just for a couple of videos

The best bit of the Foos DVD is when they're in a transit driving through London and the drummer jumps out to buy some shorts from a vendor. It's outside our workplace. The girlfriend watched that scene back several times while quietly weeping. "I could've met them", she moaned balefully.

[perrdl]

I have had the Zwan album for a couple of days now, and I quite like it!!!

Although I can't help thinking that it could have been better produced. At times the production is terrible.

Does anybody else feel the same???

[Thor]

Thanks for the info Ian, I'll probably get this as I love Smashing Pumpkins.

Originally posted by Thor
Thanks for the info Ian, I'll probably get this as I love Smashing Pumpkins

No problem, takes a couple of listens but it is a very good album.

Originally posted by perrdl
Although I can't help thinking that it could have been better produced. At times the production is terrible.

Yes sometimes the production is not the best but I think a few bands are doing this on purpose at the moment as it gives the album a more rough sound so it does not sound so perfect just as you would expect if you watched the band live. The Chilis album is also like this in places and Oasis have always produced albums in this way.

[perrdl]

Originally posted by Ian Cox
Yes sometimes the production is not the best but I think a few bands are doing this on purpose at the moment as it gives the album a more rough sound so it does not sound so perfect just as you would expect if you watched the band live. The Chilis album is also like this in places and Oasis have always produced albums in this way.

Yeah, I sort of guessed that they were trying to give the effect of a rather rough sound, although I think at times it's a little too rough.

Still a very good album though, and it is really starting to grow on me. It's quite similar to the earlier pumpkins stuff, which I also like.