Reprise / Wea
2003
Mary Star Of The Sea
About This Album
It was generally acknowledged that Billy Corgan wasn't just the heart of Smashing Pumpkins, he was their architect, their musical director, and dictator, responsible for every sonic detail of their records and sometimes creating it all on his own. So, when he ended the band in 2000, it seemed a little baffling because he could have carried on with the group forever, since it was his band, and he was responsible for not just their densely layered sound, but also for how the Pumpkins painted themselves into a dark, murky corner with their final album, MACHINA. Remarkably, by breaking up the band, Corgan revitalized himself with Zwan, a supergroup conglomerate that functions more like a band than Smashing Pumpkins, as their superb debut, Mary Star of the Sea, illustrates. Usually, a supergroup winds up as a lumbering, ad-hoc creation that never sounds as good as it reads on paper, but Zwan clicks, partially because Corgan lets his bandmates function as equal partners. As well they should -- by cherry-picking guitarist David Pajo from Slint, guitarist Matt Sweeney from Chavez, and bassist Paz Lenchantin from A Perfect Circle, while retaining Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, he's assembled a nimble, muscular, adventurous group who don't flash their virtuosity, but can take his musical ideas further than his past group.
Track List

Disc 1 (try tracks 1,3,4,5,6,8,9,11 and 12)

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Disc 2

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