ZEITGEIST is the band’s sixth album, and the first new material since 2000’s MACHINA/THE MACHINES OF GOD. The album was produced by Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin with Roy Thomas Baker and Terry Dale working separately on various tracks. ZEITGEIST took two years to complete and it shows. It’s a dark and ambitious heavy rock album, and certainly up there with the band’s best.

Opening track ‘Doomsday Clock’ is a doom-laden heavy rock number with the opening lyric, “Is everyone afraid?/is everyone ashamed?,” which kinda lays the foundations for an album that tackles every sort of problem arising in this turbulent age. It’s a magnificent heavy rock song with powerful drum rhythm (featuring Chamberlain in killer form), fabulous guitar riffs, glorious melody and harmonies, and that distinctive Corgan vocal that winds itself around the song and its sentiments. And like the rest of the album, it becomes better each time it’s played. The heavy rock vibe continues with an even better song, ‘7 Shades Of Black,’ with another amazing drum display and a melody that you can put your money on. It’s a glorious, desperate song where Corgan pleads for love and friendship, and very believably. Another highlight is the new single ‘Tarantula’ which has to be one of the most radio-friendly heavy rock songs I’ve heard, with extended guitar riffs straight out of hell. It’s followed by arguably the most original and distinctive songs on the album. ‘Starz’ is a slower-paced tune with fabulous choruses, superb melody and great lines: “We are stars we are/the stars that shine, stars that bleed/silver seeking destiny….” The drum passages towards the end of the song are vibrant and instinctive. ‘United States’ is a marathon humdinger of a song with predictable sentiments and glorious, epic, extended rocky instrumental passages that make the hair stand on end. ‘Neverlost’ is a slower paced, emotive pile-driver of a song with stripped down instrumental backdrop, and is drop-dead gorgeous. The next track, ‘Bring The Light,’ is Corgan’s best and most expressive vocal performance here, while ‘(Come On) Let’s Go!‘ is his best guitar display. There’s 12 brilliant songs here, diverse in pace, consistent in tone, with some of the best production I’ve heard on a rock record in 2007.

As I mentioned earlier in this piece, the more one listens to this album, the more one is enthralled and inspired by it. It’s fabulous and could just take the accolade of the best, most passionate and most literate rock album of the year. Essential.

4.5/5