True to Billy Corgan's promise, The Smashing Pumpkins have released "A Song For A Son" online for free as the first taste of their upcoming album Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, a 44-song collection that's being recorded as we speak and will be released one song at a time.
"A Song For A Son" can be downloaded for free at the new Pumpkins site, but you can listen to it right here:
The track, which Corgan calls "atmospheric, melodic, heavy, and pretty," doesn't really hearken back at all to the early days of the Pumpkins, but that's not stopping shitty music blogs everywhere calling it "epic" and a "return to form" of Siamese Dream-era Pumpkins. Let's call it what it is: a meandering set of annoying vocals plagued by meandering, aimless lyrics, way too high in the mix over what would otherwise be a pretty little piano ditty. Is it amazing? Hell to the no. Is it within reach of a sequel to "Stairway to Heaven," as Pitchfork so ridiculously proclaimed? Come on.
Pumpkins nucleus (and only remaining original member) Billy Corgan has said the following about the album: "Each song will be made available absolutely for free, to anyone anywhere. There will be no strings attached. Free will mean free, which means you won't have to sign up for anything, give an email address, or jump through a hoop. You will be able to go and take the song or songs as you wish, as many times as you wish."
Says Corgan: "The first sessions in September involved 4 songs: 'A Song For A Son', 'Astral Planes,' 'Widow Wake My Mind,' and 'A Stitch in Time.' What song would come out first really didn't cross my mind until they were all done being recorded. 'A Song For A Son' just seemed like it had the right epic quality to it that says, 'OK, here we go on this massive journey!' It sounds like the beginning of something more.
Teargarden By Kaleidyscope will be issued independently (release date TBA), and the Pumpkins are planning a world tour slated for spring 2010.
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