Atum
by The Smashing Pumpkins
  • Record Label: Marthas
  • Release Date: May 5, 2023
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 22
  3. Negative: 3 out of 22
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  1. iammykeyz
    May 16, 2023
    0
    The first time I've been embarrassed listening to a Pumpkins record. Atum is Billy doing a third rate impression of Muse, M83, Crosses, The Cure, New Order, Pink Floyd, etc, and not in a good way. Amd that's the problem with Atum, it's very derivative of stuff I've already heard. I hear Billy doing his impression of other artists rather than hearing a Smashing Pumpkins record. The openingThe first time I've been embarrassed listening to a Pumpkins record. Atum is Billy doing a third rate impression of Muse, M83, Crosses, The Cure, New Order, Pink Floyd, etc, and not in a good way. Amd that's the problem with Atum, it's very derivative of stuff I've already heard. I hear Billy doing his impression of other artists rather than hearing a Smashing Pumpkins record. The opening instrumental track "Atum" sounds like a Pink Floyd wannabe, Billy goes all Muse on "Beyond The Vale," and "Fireflies" features strings straight ripped from M83's "Outro."

    The little rock we do get in this so called rock opera are some of the blandest and most uninspired. Lazy chug chug chug riffs. The tiny bit of Jimmy Chamberlin we do get is so overcompressed and processed that you may as well have used drum samples. Add Billy's pretentious poetry school dropout word salad he's known for lately along with cold and sterile production. I'm more of an electronic music fan than rock, which would make you think I'd like Atum. One of the few fans who loved Adore when it was released. But I just can't get into Billy's sounds choices here, especially the cheesy synth presets he seems to love.

    Atum is supposedly the sequel to Machina, an unfinished concept album that we never got the full version of since Virgin Records wouldn't fund a double album, and a sequel to Mellon Collie, an album Billy retconned into being a concept album because Billy knew namedropping Mellon Collie would get him more headlines If Billy really wanted to do a sequel to these albums, then Flood and Alan Moulder should've been involved, as they were integral to the previous albums' sound. I keep asking myself, did Atum really need to be 33 tracks? Especially since so many songs bleed into each other. It ain't like the lyrics really progress the concept further. With not a memorable lyric, or hook, or riff to be found.

    If I can sum up Atum in one word, it would be cringe.
    Atum, a schlock opera.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

45
#45 Most Discussed Album of 2023

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
72

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. musicOMH.com
    May 15, 2023
    60
    The album, when taken as a whole, is simply too much. When taken as individual pieces, it works much better – and there’s simply no reason for it to be this long.
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  2. Beats Per Minute
    May 11, 2023
    52
    ATUM is the most controversial and strangest of all Smashing Pumpkins albums: a record that defies expectations but often disappoints in how prosaic and calculated it is.
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  3. Pitchfork
    May 11, 2023
    63
    ATUM doesn’t necessarily suffer by comparison to past albums. Its highs are more modest. The ferocity is long gone. But in its own ponderous way, it is generous.
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