When Zeitgeist arrived in 2007, I wasn't exactly ecstatic about it. Yes, I had been waiting 7 long years for what was promised to be a triumphant return from one of my all-time favourite bands. What I got was a muddled heap of towering metallic guitars, a thin and improperly-mixed Billy Corgan, and just a laboured few of the kind of transcendent Pumpkins' moments I had been craving. Needless to say I didn't play that first version of Zeitgeist all that much at all. Save for "That's The Way (My Love Is), "Neverlost", and "Tarantula", I hadn't really found a whole lot to love about the album. In a lot of ways it left me alienated, both as a fan and as someone who appreciates great music. The album sounded like a parade that had forgotten to blow up its floats before marching down the main drag. Lots of noise but very little beauty.
About 2 years ago I realized there was a deluxe version of Zeitgeist floating around. It boasted 4 bonus tracks that were inexplicably left off of the original release of the album. Knowing that Billy Corgan had a penchant not only for b-sides and rarities, but REALLY GOOD b-sides and rarities (more often than not rivalling the quality and depth of album tracks), I was curious but cautious. I knew that Zeitgeist had some great ideas floating around within it's ham-fisted walls, but just couldn't vibe with how it seemed so one-sided. I've always been a fan of how The Smashing Pumpkins are adept at provoking many feelings and moods, and their youthful exuberance usually led them to take artistic detours that, while not always successful, were at least admirable and enjoyable. I never felt like they painted too much with one single colour until the arrival of the original Zeitgeist pressing. Naturally, I assumed that the once-fertile inspirational well that Billy & Co. drew from was now close to empty. With only 2 remaining members of the group left, it seemed the magic had dwindled and the band had simply misunderstood what their audience expected of them.
I have to admit that I was wrong about Zeitgeist. That is how much of an impact those extra 4 songs have had on me and my feeling towards the record in the time since I've discovered them. You wouldn't expect 4 b-sides to completely cast the record in a whole new light, but that's exactly what they do. Why did Billy decide to exclude "Stellar", "Ma Belle", "Death from Above", and "Zeitgeist" from the original album? These are by no means among the best of the Pumpkins' considerable ouevre, but they are miles ahead of most of what made it onto Zeitgeist. "Stellar" surges with a twinkle-twilight rush of twisting guitar figures and understated emotional heft, culling to mind close aural kin "Set The Ray To Jerry" but with more umph and prescience. It has not only become one of my favorite songs on the album, but it has found its way into my heart as just a beautiful and potent Pumpkins song in general. "Ma Belle" boasts Billy's most poetic lyrical output since the glory days, paced along perfectly to a driving Jimmy Chamberlain signature backbeat. It doesn't feel rushed or ham-fisted, it just sounds honest and natural. Something the rest of Zeitgeist labours to express. The final 2-- "Death from Above" and "Zeitgeist", the former a new-wave trounce through the synthesizer-heavy colours of Billy's solo record The Future Embrace, and the latter a lilting acoustic lullaby akin to anything found on the American Gothic EP-- both add much needed shading to an album that lacked a variance in tone and intent.
By mixing these tracks into the general flow of the original album, they have managed to make me look at the entire collection differently. I can't pretend that I like the extended vocal bridge of United States (the passage in which Billy tunelessly yelps "let me be every moment I ever misunderstood" while ironically adding the tackiest of diminishing echo to the words), any more than I did before but I can now temper those obviously miscommunicated moments with the grander vision these 4 missing songs present. I wouldn't endeavour to call Zeitgeist any kind of masterpiece, but I've grown rather fond of "Bleeding The Orchid", "Doomsday Clock", "Come On (Lets Go)", and most of the other tracks originally presented precisely because balance has been restored. Zeitgeist is a more complete, well-rounded, and typically "Pumpkins" record with these tracks nestled beside the others. I wonder if Billy knew this and was just testing his audience, daring them to endure the colossal guitar attack, but promising more if they're willing to follow? I doubt this, but hey it could be true. I can't imagine any other reason why someone would leave these 4 lovely songs on the cutting room floor, especially with a record in tow that desperately needed them in order to stand up straight and tall.
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