With the doubters hovering round his band following the rock-is-dead pronouncement that preceded the flawed electronic dabblings of Adore, Machina finds Billy Corgan desperate to prove everyone, not least himself, wrong. On their fifth album, the Pumpkins attempt to reclaim the higher ground they dominated with the peerless Siamese Dream and the sprawling 28-track opus Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. As a result, they hit the ground running on Machina, exploding into life with "The Everlasting Gaze" and its firestorm of guitars and heavy metaphysical thunder. There are some quintessential Pumpkins moments here, notably "Stand Inside Your Love," which soars away on a spiraling guitar solo, and "Try, Try, Try," which taps into Corgan's ever-present melancholy. At 73 minutes long, Machina overstays its welcome, beginning to flag, ironically, at the self-aggrandizing "Heavy Metal Machine." No matter--the Pumpkins have made their point with brutal grace. --Mike Pattenden

uuid:	16A8486B-0B74-4B8C-8E53-75636846C640
upc:	0724384893620
tracklisting:	Everlasting Gaze Raindrops + Sunshowers Stand Inside Your Love I Of The Mourning The Sacred And Profane Try, Try, Try Heavy Metal Machine This Time The Imploding Voice Glass And The Ghost Children Wound The Crying Tree Of Mercury With Every Light Blue Skies Bring Tears Age Of Innocence
title:	Machina: The Machines of God
rating:	3
purchase date:	09-05-2005
published:	29-02-2000
price:	$17.98
net Rating:	4
last lookup time:	137384464
fullTitle:	Machina: The Machines of God
currentValue:	$2.99
created:	137384448
country:	us
aspect:	Audio CD
asin:	B000042OI4
artist:	Smashing Pumpkins