In Defense of: "Oceania" by The Smashing Pumpkins

During the Summer of 2012, almost exactly five years after the release of "Zeitgeist", Billy Corgan and his newly reformed Smashing Pumpkins released "Oceania", an epic, complex, and atmospheric rock odyssey album that laid prominently in the middle of the so-called "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope" era. It is one of two actual albums (the other being 2014's "Monuments to an Elegy") in Corgan's restructuring of how the band would release new music to the digital age of music. Corgan stated that he believed the traditional concept of an album was dead and that he would "release one song at a time, over the period of 2-3 years with it all adding up to a box set/ album of sorts" (1).

With Jimmy Chamberlin gone again and James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky now long estranged from the band, Corgan recruited 19 year-old Mike Byrne on drums and a long list of contributors including Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction fame and ex-Catherine member Kerry Brown. During this growing and changing collaborative line-up, The Smashing Pumpkins dispensed small doses of songs known eventually as the "Vol. 1: Songs for a Sailor" and "Vol. 2: The Solstice Bare" collections. They were, as a whole, an uneven collection of folk and psychedelic rock songs, but in defense of the band, they had departed from the format of a cohesive album.

The Pumpkins recruited touring guitarist Jeff Schroeder and bassist Nicole Fiorentino as they approached the recording of the third volume in the Kaleidyscope saga, but after a couple of songs the newly formed quartet decided to make an "album within an album", reworking Corgan's original idea of what "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope" would ultimately be. The Kaleidyscope recordings now represented The Smashing Pumpkins quest to rediscover themselves.

"Oceania" is a very important album in the Pumpkin's career, as it is the only other album next to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness that is a full band effort, even with Corgan being the only original member. Perhaps this is why, on a technical level, it is the fullest sounding record of the post-original lineup career. "Zeitgeist" was a half decent album, but it sounded like two guys in a studio as opposed to a full band, because that was the case.

"Oceania" is the only album of late Pumpkin's career that is extremely well-mixed. Corgan's vocals blend in with the layered upon layered guitars, as opposed to "Zeitgeist" and "Monuments" where they are dominantly in the foreground. The songs are brilliantly constructed and performed, and are reminiscent at times of the bands early records, "Gish" and "Siamese Dream". Exploding with the opening track "Quasar", listeners are reminded of the Pumpkin's signature wall-of-sound. "The Celestials" is a stripped-down melodic track that begins to set the fantastical tone of "Oceania". The rest of the album is like being lost in deep, vivid dream. "Pale Horse" has the dark, atmospheric vibe like some of the tracks on "Mellon Collie" and "Adore". The album ends with "Wildflower", a drumless, synth-orchestral closer to the adventure that is "Oceania".

So why have I considered this beautiful, majestic album my least favorite in the entire Pumpkin's discography? It is because, upon first listening, I was not fully taking the album in. This album is not an album to wash dishes to or sing along in your car to, much like a Paul Thomas Anderson film is not one that you watch while checking your Facebook. It is an experience and it's difficult to digest. While there were singles from the album, it is not album of hits. You have to listen to the album and give it your full attention. It is a complicated album. Not to get more pretentious that writing an article about "Oceania" already is, but this album is like a very good wine, to appreciate it you must understand all the elements that went into the production. "Oceania" is the only album of it's type that will ever exist in the Pumpkin's catalog. With the original line-up rumored to return and potentially continue where it left off at the end of the previous millennium, the band of "Oceania" is unlikely to ever return, leaving only with this single, grand opus in the middle of Pumpkinland.