The Turning Gate

Smashing Pumpkins: The Second Coming

A past treasure and a future prophecy.

I’ve long been a Smashing Pumpkins fan, though more of a casual fan than a hardcore follower. And so it is that I’ve come late to the party. Very late, for it’s only today that I’ve discovered Machina II: The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music, first released in 2000, the band’s follow-up to their last official album, Machina: The Machines of God. Machina II was essentially the band’s final “Fuck you” to their former prison-keepers, er … record label, Virgin Records.

Luckily, the album is still available in a number of places, one being singer Billy Corgan’s website.

Machina was originally intended as a double-CD, a notion that Virgin declined on account of the Pumpkins’ previous album, Adore, selling poorly. When Machina failed to meet expectations, they canned the release of the remaining material. The Pumpkins then took it upon themselves to release the material independently.

Only 25 vinyl copies of Machina II were made; it was never pressed to CD. The actual album made up a double LP, and was accompanied by three EPs of b-sides and alternate takes from the Machina album. These copies were distributed to active members of the Pumpkins’ online community, with instructions to redistribute the songs to fans via the Internet.

For additional reading on the history of Machina II, see this Wikipedia entry. Visit Billy Corgan’s website to download the album in its entirety, including the three EPs.

In more recent news, the Pumpkins have reformed and have announced a new album, Zeitgeist, in the works, to be released in July. Corgan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain are onboard. Whether other members will be returning to the lineup is unclear. Tour dates have been announced on the band’s official website, and Corgan has been active on the band’s MySpace page.

And for what it’s worth, despite the criticism often leveled against Machina: The Machines of God and the album’s poor commercial reception, it remains one of my favorite Pumpkins albums. Machina II follows up on it quite well and is definitely worth downloading.

For more evidence of Virgin mistreating its bands, read up on one of my favorite bands, XTC.

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