Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1: No Past. No Future. No Sun

All signs pointed to Shiny and Oh So Bright (full title: Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.) as an authoritative step back on track.

Corgan delivers something unexpected: music that's rich but settled, music that plays to his strengths, music where he seems happy in his own skin.

At only eight tracks, it's the shortest Smashing Pumpkins full-length and it feels less grandiose than most of their work simply due to that brevity, which makes it harder to measure against their other LPs--although it easily blows the last album out of the water and is more immediately catchy than Zeitgeist.

There are moments of glorious burning distortion on Solara and Marchin' On, but its real riches are much more subtle. [Dec 2018, p.115]

Everything is presented with a glossy sheen which may prove too much for some, especially fans of arguably their best album, 1998’s underrated and unloved Adore, and as with every other Pumpkins album, it’s hard to see where Corgan and Chamberlin end, and the other players begin. Yet if you weren’t expecting much from this latest attempt at keeping the band alive, you'll be impressed at how revitalised they sound.

It might not be the same magic, but something magical is coursing through Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1., hinting at a future we can all embrace--especially Corgan.

The album endears itself with a simpler style and digestible runtime provided the ridiculous 60s synths and wee-ooh vocals don't immediately turn you off. It clearly will not go down in anyone's book as a classic release, but for a change it's a Pumpkins album that's aware of that fact, cleverly baking that unassuming simplicity into every note and half-nonsense lyric.

All in all, it's a welcome return and one that suggests The Smashing Pumpkins' business is far from finished.

Is this new release going to blow any minds? Doubtful. Yet 'Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol 1.' sees these alternative figureheads finding their chemistry once more, whilst opening an intriguing new chapter. They've managed to beat the haters this time, let's just hope things remain cool in the SP camp.

It's the sound of a band making peace with their own fundamental style, without feeling the need to gild the lily. [Dec 2018, p.84]

At their best, Shiny matches the sheer majesty and emotional depth of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. At their worst, they sound like a third-tier Muse cover band (“Seek And You Shall Destroy” is a particularly low track).

Overall, Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. is a pleasantly nostalgic, brief album--half of which is sensational and the other is painstakingly poor.

While what's here is good, there could have been more to get your teeth into. At eight songs in length, this collection feels a little slight. [17 Nov 2018, p.69]

There’s not much in the way of stylistic cohesion, either, and you wonder whether that’s simply because the creativity was flowing out of the almost-fully-reformed lineup or simply because Billy felt confident in following his every whim.

As revived as the classic Pumpkins sound is on Shiny and Oh So Bright, though, the album can’t quite shake the sense of superfluity endemic to reunion projects: There isn’t anything here that the band hasn’t already done before--and better.

A pretty decent record if by no means a great one. Shiny And So Bright, Vol 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. neither offers the chance to dent Corgan’s ego or inflate it in any significant way.

There is a marked contrast between the past-its-prime "Solara" and the electronic styling of "Alienation", a division that echoes the departure Smashing Pumpkins made starting with Adore. ... Beyond the instrumentation and the overall sound of the album relative to the band's past work, Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 is, in the end, engaging with the visionary spirit of Smashing Pumpkins.

Corgan's ear for pop-hooks is keen throughout, but save for Knights Of Malta, with its piano, strings and backwards lead guitars, the music on Shiny And Oh So Bright... seems a tad under-imagined for its portentous title. [Dec 2018, p.84]

The Smashing Pumpkins in 2018 are an anachronism. Whether that’s an anachronism to relish, or render them irrelevant is up for debate, but Shiny and Oh So Bright sadly offers little to further their considerable legend.

The main problem with Shiny is that half of its tracklisting is dedicated to mid-tempo rockers that are only fractionally better than 'Knights of Malta.’ ... With some more time and care, ‘Silvery Sometimes’ could have been an unimpeachable addition to the Pumpkins canon. As it stands, it suffers the fate of being packaged in what will likely go down as one of the worst albums in the band’s discography.

Save the few fire-breathing dragon moments of Lollapalooza-era churn, it’s the Smashing Pumpkins in name only, and that ice cream truck has long left the gas station.