Smashing Pumpkins return for their 11th studio album (not counting Billie's side-projects or Zwan, for example). Though the wealth of recorded material that's out there shines with the gothic charm felt from their debut 'Gish' through their lauded Golden Years all the way up to present day, there has been an equal slew of influence creeping it's way into the finished product. 

Things started to get a little electronic on 'Adore' (though there were very notable points before that, the famous drum machine on '1979' for example), but rarely was there a machinated, synthy glimmer to the proceedings until 2014's 'Monuments To An Elegy' which took that gothic template and brought it to the stadium. 

And so, we end up CYR. The woozy, hazy bliss of the early years has been replaced with a melancholic but assured voice, and a sleekly produced distillation of the minor-key grunge rock we know and love. It's yet another perfectly accomplished turn in the 'Pumpkins road, and one that brings a wealth of hummable earworms and stadium glam, alongside the synthy drive they do so well. 

STAFF COMMENTS

says: Smashing Pumpkins continue their ascension into grunge royalty with their latest, CYR. Brimming with glistening riffs and Billy's trademark vocal sound, it's a skilful collision of the old and the new, and spread over a double LP too.

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xColoured LP Info: Orchid Coloured Vinyl.

2xIndies Exclusive LP Info: Indies exclusive Baby Pink Vinyl.