TheFutureEmbrace
by Billy Corgan
Metascore
59

Mixed or average reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 24
  3. Negative: 3 out of 24
  1. Dot Music
    60
    Corgan is slowly swamped by the style he's adopted.
  2. AllMusic
    60
    Musically, it's closest to Adore, yet it's a distant cousin: if that album hinted at '80s synth rock and goth, this re-creates the spirit and sound of 1986, right down to the robotic pulse of the rhythms, the cold, slick surface of the production, and the brooding, self-absorbed atmosphere.
  3. Rolling Stone
    50
    Future mostly sounds like a bunch of so-so Smashing Pumpkins songs, stripped of everything except Corgan's adenoidal vocals, and then set to a chorus of synths and electronic drumbeats.
  5. Drowned In Sound
    40
    It sounds like Corgan wanted to make a classic eighties 4AD-style shoegazing record, but instead of offering us something swirling and beautiful, we end up with an experience that is simply flat and grey.
  6. Under The Radar
    50
    Only on the more solid "rock" tracks does he get it right. [#10, p.109]
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  7. Q Magazine
    60
    There's nothing as heroic as Smashing Pumpkins' Tonight Tonight, but Now (And Then) is a surprisingly successful attempt at emotion. [Jul 2005, p.113]
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  8. Uncut
    40
    Not hopeless, but hopelessly self-indulgent. [Jul 2005, p.94]
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  9. Blender
    40
    We're left with the immutable Corgan sans ambition: his narrow whine, melodies not quite predictable but dull anyway and a misty worldview with collegiate airs. [Jul 2005, p.116]
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  10. Stylus Magazine
    58
    What The Future Embrace lacks in terms of consistency, it makes up for with the feeling that Corgan has turned a corner, that his return to musical credibility is well underway, and isn’t nearly as inconceivable as it was one year ago.
  11. E! Online
    50
    For the most part, the vitality is gone.
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    42
    Flim-flammy beats, tinny guitars, and Corgan's nasal moan predominate as he mopes like it's 1984 and his mom forgot to renew his Sisters of Mercy fanclub membership. [24 Jun 2005, p.164]
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  13. Neumu.net
    55
    The gear is buffed to such a productional sheen that its every sound seems like a reflective surface, the compositional complexity leading to an album as confusing -- and, ultimately, distancing -- as a hall of mirrors.

Awards & Rankings

60
#60 Most Discussed Album of 2005

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 88 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 68 out of 88
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 88
  3. Negative: 12 out of 88
  1. Ricko
    Nov 4, 2011
    7
    Not Billy Corgans finest hour by a long stretch but this record isn't nearly as bad as people would have you believe. Half the songs on thisNot Billy Corgans finest hour by a long stretch but this record isn't nearly as bad as people would have you believe. Half the songs on this are quite dull but the half that work are very good and sound like nothing he did with the Smashing Pumpkins. SP fans might hate this because it really bears no resemblance to their sound but this is what makes parts of theord interesting. I have major problems with the production on this, a lot of the time great ideas/songs get ruined by electronic toys/bad machine drumming but as I said, overall it's better than people say it is.… Full Review »
  2. LeandroR
    Feb 1, 2007
    9
    muito bom!
  3. FernandoR
    Jul 5, 2006
    9
    Just beatiful
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