Machina/The Machines of God

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Machina/The Machines of God
Studio album by The Smashing Pumpkins
Released	February 29, 2000 (2000-02-29)
Recorded	November 1998–October 1999 at Sadlands, Pumpkinland, Chicago Recording Company, Chicago, Illinois
Genre	Alternative rock
Length	73:13
Language	English
Label	Virgin
Producer	Billy Corgan and Flood
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (C+) link NME (6/10) link Pitchfork Media (4.2/10) link Rolling Stone link
The Smashing Pumpkins chronology
Adore (1998) Machina/The Machines of God (2000) Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (2000)
Singles from Machina/The Machines of God
"The Everlasting Gaze" Released: December 9, 1999 (1999-12-09) "Stand Inside Your Love" Released: February 21, 2000 (2000-02-21) "I of the Mourning" Released: June 2000 (2000-06) "Try, Try, Try" Released: September 11, 2000 (2000-09-11)

Machina/The Machines of God is The Smashing Pumpkins' fifth studio album, released on February 29, 2000. A concept album,^[1] it marked the return of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin and was intended to be the band's final official LP release prior to their first breakup in 2000. A sequel album—Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music—was later released independently via the Internet.

As with Adore, Machina represented a drastic image and sound change for the band. Nonetheless, Machina, like its predecessor, failed to reconnect The Smashing Pumpkins with chart-topping success. However, the band's tours in support of Machina, entitled Resume the Pose and The Sacred + Profane, were far more successful than the Adore tour, as fans responded to the return of Chamberlin and setlists that included far more of the Pumpkins' back catalog.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Composition and recording 2 Marketing and release 3 Machina as a concept album 3.1 Glass and The Machines of God: The animated web series 4 Artwork 5 Response 6 Track listing 7 Chart positions 8 Personnel 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Composition and recording

The recording of Machina was unusually secretive, in contrast to the sessions for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Adore, both of which were partially filmed.^{[citation needed]} Much like Mellon Collie, the songs were first tracked acoustically at Sadlands in late 1998 before the band set to work on them at Pumpkinland and the Chicago Recording Company with Howard Willing, Bjorn Thorsrud and Flood. Corgan described the recording process for Machina:

“

This record was a lot of fun to do, and the writing was incredibly easy. We spent most of the time trying to take the songs as far as they could be taken down a particular avenue. So if it was gonna be proto cyber metal, we tried to make it very proto and very cyber. If it was acoustic, then we tried to not fall into the (typical) ballad-y kind of aspects. That's where we spent most of our time. The songs were probably written in about a day.[2]

”

The band took a break from recording in April 1999 to embark on the Arising! tour, which took the band to eight small clubs. At the tour's conclusion, D'arcy Wretzky left the band. Flood remembers,

“

Billy and I thought, 'How are we going to do this?' We decided that we were going to have to make a very different kind of record. They saw out their time on the tour, and after that we pretty much went back to the drawing board. Certain songs on the record are survivors from that first period, but it meant a shift in the ways songs had to be formed.

”

^{[citation needed]}

Interviews at the time claimed that Wretzky had "completed her work" on the album, but the extent of her contributions on the final album are unknown.^[2] Corgan later downplayed her role in all Smashing Pumpkins recordings.^[3]

A number of songs were recorded in some form or another during the Machina sessions but did not make either Machina/The Machines of God or Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music:^[4]

• "Autumn" (instrumental, not to be confused with the 1994 demo "Autumn Nocturne")
• "Death Boogie"^[5]
• "Drain"
• "Here I Am"
• "Laugh"
• "Lover"
• "Soot and Stars" (later released on Judas Ø)
• "Winterlong" (later released on Judas Ø)

[edit] Marketing and release

Corgan has asserted that Machina was always intended to be the band's final album - this being the reason for recruiting Chamberlin back into the band.^[1] Corgan has also said it was meant to be a double album (with Machina II being the second disc) but that idea was not approved by Virgin Records as they didn't want to release a risky double album after the disappointing sales of Adore.^[6] After Machina proved even less successful than Adore, the band released Machina II on their own.

Many of the songs on the album refer to love and relationships (both romantic and otherwise) ending, most of them obvious references to the band themselves. According to Corgan, the album was structured so that the first eight tracks would be "more poppy," and the last five "more arty."^[7] Generally, Corgan appraised the sound of the album as "a rock 'n' roll approach with pop sensibility".^[8] After the demure Adore, Machina represented a return to the distorted guitar sound of prior albums, though synthesizers and acoustic guitars were still heavily used.

"Stand Inside Your Love" was released on January 21, 2000 as a commercially available single. "The Everlasting Gaze", however, was released at the last minute as the album's first promotional radio single in December 1999. Director Jonas Åkerlund shot videos for "The Everlasting Gaze" and album's last single "Try, Try, Try" which was released on September 11, 2000. The video for the latter single was not widely played, in part because of its explicit violence and drug use.^{[citation needed]} "I of the Mourning" was also released as a promotional single and received limited airplay. "Heavy Metal Machine" was issued as a promotional cassette but was not distributed to radio stations.

[edit] Machina as a concept album

Although Machina is much more story-based than previous releases, which have sometimes hinted at concepts, it is not a story album in the vein of Tommy or The Wall, but is much more open to interpretation. Corgan stated that many of the songs are written from the perspective of the band as the press and public viewed them, rather than Corgan himself.^[9] In this vein, songs such as "Heavy Metal Machine" are seen as parodies and homage to their influences and public perception. Nonetheless, it is a concept album, with a story about a rock star named Zero hearing the voice of God, renaming himself Glass, and renaming his band The Machines of God.^{[citation needed]} Fans of the band were referred to as the "Ghost Children," which has now become a term for Pumpkins fans.^{[citation needed]} This story, while planned thoroughly by Corgan (see image), was only implied in the album's lyrics, and was greatly expanded via the liner notes in both Machina albums, additional writings posted to a weblog entitled "Chards of Glass", and, later, an animated web series.^{[citation needed]}

According to Billy Corgan, the original plan was to stay in character as The Machines of God throughout the record's promotion.^{[citation needed]} He explained, "When the re-formed band agreed to the concept in October of 1998 as a way to bring the band to a close, everyone agreed to 'play their part' all the way down the line. I never envisioned that D'arcy would leave in April of '99, and that subsequently the 3 of us would try to finish. This put a stress obviously on the full integrity of the project. Because it was connected to the band not only bringing the music to fruition fully, but also the public component of being in character. I ended up in a broken band with a half-ass enthusiasm towards finishing a project already started."^[10]

[edit] Glass and The Machines of God: The animated web series

This section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve it by citing reliable sources. Tagged since January 2009. It may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail which may only interest a specific audience. Tagged since March 2009.

In June 2001, a few members of the Smashing Pumpkins Message Board were sent mysterious video clips that pointed to a website called Black Wings Over the World, initiating a game called the "June Mystery". The first website held clues to find two other websites, also hiding the username/password for one site - The Paracell Corporation. Black Wings also hid another site's address, Smash the System. Over the next two months more clues were dropped on the message board and more sites were found and codes cracked. Finally, all this frenzy of mystery and excitement climaxed with the announcement that Glass and The Machines of God was being made as a web based animated series. This was an early example of an internet-based alternate reality game, a form of viral marketing. The series would be interactive, to a degree, and everyone would have the chance, via Sony's Screenblast, to create their own characters and remixes for the series. The campaign was written and directed by Jim Evans and Ben Allgood of Division 13.

The animated series has since been "put on the shelf" indefinitely. Various rumors attribute the end of the project as lack of interest from Corgan and/or fans. Three episodes were leaked onto the internet in 2003. There has been debate over whether these were early "drafts" or final cuts.^{[citation needed]} The first two episodes contain no credits, where the third episode shows credits at the beginning.

In the first episode, Zero hears the Voice in the Radio and contacts his old friend and manager, Ruby. Their conversation is intercepted and patched through to the head of the Paracell Corp, Mr. Valentine - who has had a history with Zero.

Episode two shows Zero's transformation into Glass while visiting Ruby and the subsequent negotiations to get The Machines of God their first gig.

In the third episode we see how Glass affects the audience with his message of revolution.

There was also debate about whether or not background characters were in fact the Ghost Children created by the fans. However, one character - Maya, the Paracell psychic - is known to be a character created by a fan.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Artwork

The booklet artwork loosely tells the album's story through a series of plates featuring medieval-style paintings and text presented in a printing press font created by Vasily Kafanov.^{[citation needed]} The heavily symbolic artwork references the subjects of alchemy, chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism, and art.^{[citation needed]} "I of the Mourning" is the only release from the album that did not include cover art by Vasily Kafanov.^{[citation needed]} The album was nominated for a 2001 Grammy for Best Recording Package.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Response

Machina is generally considered to be among The Smashing Pumpkins' least successful releases.^{[citation needed]} Although it entered the U.S. charts at #3 selling 165,000 copies in its first week,^[11] sales declined sixty percent the second week,^[12] and continued to slide. With U.S. sales of 583,000 units as of 2005,^[13] Machina was the lowest-selling commercially released Pumpkins album to date. Regarding the disappointing sales, Jimmy Chamberlin commented, "It was like watching your kid flunking out of school after getting straight A's for ten years."^[14] Billy Corgan, in 2008, summarized the failures of the album:

“

I think the combination of the band breaking up during that record, D'arcy leaving the band... Korn was huge at the time, Limp Bizkit was huge at the time, so the album wasn't heavy enough. It wasn't alternative enough, it was sort of caught between the cracks. And it was a concept record, which nobody understood. So the combination of those elements, and it was a career-killer... Adore didn't alienate the audience, they were just sort of like, 'Oh, it's not the record I want.' This record alienated people.[15]

”

The album received mixed reviews - Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork Media heavily criticized the album's length, "Wall of Sound" production style, and Chamberlin's drumming.^[16] Others contend that Machina brought together the rock sensibilities of Smashing Pumpkins' early albums with the atmospherics and lyrical maturity of 1998's Adore - Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times called Machina "an exceedingly impressive and hard-driving record."^[17]

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Billy Corgan.

1. "The Everlasting Gaze" – 4:00
2. "Raindrops + Sunshowers" – 4:39
3. "Stand Inside Your Love" – 4:14
4. "I of the Mourning" – 4:37
5. "The Sacred and Profane" – 4:22
6. "Try, Try, Try" – 5:09
7. "Heavy Metal Machine" – 5:52
8. "This Time" – 4:43
9. "The Imploding Voice" – 4:24
10. "Glass and the Ghost Children" – 9:56
11. "Wound" – 3:58
12. "The Crying Tree of Mercury" – 3:43
13. "With Every Light" – 3:56
14. "Blue Skies Bring Tears" – 5:45
15. "Age of Innocence" – 3:55

Bonus track

16. "Speed Kills"

Some releases—namely, European and Asian Hut Records versions, and all vinyl editions—have an added track, "Speed Kills". This version of "Speed Kills" is not the Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music version, but the version that appears on the "Stand Inside Your Love" single. On the international CDs, the song is edited to a cut nearly two minutes shorter than the original, and the last four tracks are resequenced. A Japanese promo version of the album has an extended version of "The Sacred and Profane" with two bars of electronic drum beat at the beginning of the song, and a slightly different mix of "Age of Innocence".

[edit] Chart positions

Album

Year	Chart	Position
2000	Australian Album Chart[18]	2
2000	Top Canadian Albums	2[citation needed]
2000	The Billboard 200	3[citation needed]
2000	Top Internet Albums	3[citation needed]
2000	New Zealand Album Chart[19]	4
2000	UK Albums	7[citation needed]
2000	Danish Album Chart	16[citation needed]

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1999	"The Everlasting Gaze"	Modern Rock Tracks	4[citation needed]
1999	"The Everlasting Gaze"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	14[citation needed]
2000	"Stand Inside Your Love"	Modern Rock Tracks	2[citation needed]
2000	"Stand Inside Your Love"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	11[citation needed]
2000	"Stand Inside Your Love"	UK Singles Chart	23[citation needed]
2000	"Stand Inside Your Love"	Australian Singles Chart	32[citation needed]
2000	"Try, Try, Try"	UK Singles Chart	73[citation needed]

[edit] Personnel

The Smashing Pumpkins

• Jimmy Chamberlin – Drums
• Billy Corgan – Vocals, guitar, bass guitar on "Age of Innocence", producer, art direction, mixing
• James Iha – Guitar
• D'arcy Wretzky – Bass

Additional musicians

• Mike Garson – Piano on "Glass and the Ghost Children"

Production

• Bill Douglass – Mixing assistant
• Flood – Producer, mixing
• Vasily Kafanov – Paintings, etchings
• Tommy Lipnick – Technical assistance
• Tim "Gooch" Lougee – Technical assistance
• Jef Moll – Mixing assistant
• Alan Moulder – Mixing
• Andrew Nicholls – Mixing assistant
• Erin Piepergerdes – Mixing assistant
• Scott Schimpff – Technical assistance
• Greg Sylvester – Art direction
• Bjorn Thorsrud – Recording, mixing, digital editing, compilation, additional programming
• Howie Weinberg – Mastering
• Howard C. Willing – Recorder, mixing
• Thomas Wolfe – Art direction
• Yelena Yemchuk – Art direction
• Mike Zainer – Mixing assistant

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Shattering Fast Alchemical Glass: Art & The Occult of The Smashing Pumpkins' Machina Mystery
• spfc.org : discography : Machina/the machines of God
• Machina: The Writings
• Chards of Glass: The Machina Blogs

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