Former Pumpkin Slows The Pace With Let It Come Down
Written: Feb 19 '03
Product Rating:
Pros: Some truly wonderful songs, most notably Sound of Love and Country Girl...
Cons: Lacks variety, may freak out some Smashing Pumpkins fans...
The Bottom Line: A shiny pop album, James Iha's Let It Come Down is impressive. Some listeners might even fall in love with the melodic, harmoic, gorgeous vocals and songs.
lambchops's Full Review: Let It Come Down by James Iha
In the late 1990’s the great American alt-rock band Smashing Pumpkins were headed toward closing up shop. Their records were receiving less critical and commercial support, probably in part because of the direction that the albums were headed. Darker, thicker, more electronic and conceptual albums like Adore and MACHINA/The Machines of God didn’t fare well in many arenas.
With that said, the members of the band embarked on other projects throughout the last few years of Smashing Pumpkins. Billy Corgan worked on various soundtrack projects like Lost Highway, Stigmata, and Ransom while also flexing his production muscles. Bassist D’Arcy Wretzky wasn’t shy about offering up her vocals on a number of other albums. After a long battle with drugs drummer Jimmy Chamberlain was ousted (temporarily) from the band and pursued his own collaborative interests.
And then there is Chicago native and guitarist James Iha. With the Pumpkins, Iha was primarily a guitarist though he was granted the opportunity to flex his vocal muscles occasionally on songs like Blew Away and Take Me Down. After a great deal of practice and refinement, Iha went solo with 1998’s Let It Come Down.
Pumpkins fans expecting something rock and roll out of Iha will be first shocked, and then pleasantly surprised at his summery pop debut from Virgin. Exploring aural atmospheres rejected by his own band, Iha could have failed miserably. He could have come off sounding like a joke, like a shadow of himself. But instead Iha managed a happy, creatively free solo effort that will certainly appeal to both Pumpkins open-minded Pumpkins fans and those interested in light singer-songwriter pop-rock.
With collaborations from his band mate D’Arcy and others including Nina Gordon (Veruca Salt), Adam Schlesinger (Ivy, Fountains of Wayne), and solo artist Neal Casal Let It Come Down is diversely quaint, shy, and acoustic. Written entirely by Iha, the album is an overlooked, under appreciated treasure. The disc contains eleven songs, the perfect length so as to not overwhelm and to offer just enough so that listeners will be left anxiously salivating for more…and quickly coming to terms with the fact that a new album has yet to arrive on shelves.
Is Let It Come Down flawless? No. Listeners will find themselves wishing on occasion that Iha would just break free from the invisible pop shackles that bind him. And there are some issues with “sameness.” While the sound is cherub-sweet, the songs lose momentum as the album continues. There is just too little variety. Since this lack of anger and lack of variety are the only two complaints, that means that the rest of Iha’s debut is great. The words, the vocals, the instruments all add up to an intimidating first outing.
Let It Come Down hits home from the first notes of Be Strong Now. Iha’s voice is sweetly understated, wonderfully unsure. The song is equally as modest with sheer, acoustic elements. The production on the song is perfectly fitting…it doesn’t overwhelm the wistful vocals or the light-hearted purpose of the song.
Continuing on, Iha blesses the world with Sound of Love. As the single best song on the album, it resonates with timeless beauty. The chorus is wonderfully catchy and the lyrics are effortlessly sung. The jangly guitars paired with soft percussion and unassuming vocal harmonies make for a truly memorable experience. And as with all great songs, the words are exceptionally important:
Your love, it takes a little faith
And I know I have to wait my own good time, yes
Your love, I know I can't escape it
And I know that we can make it all work out.
The largely entertaining album continues with Beauty, another wonderfully harmonized, marvelously arranged pop track. These songs are especially worth hearing not for fans of the Pumpkins, rather of 1960’s and 1970’s singer-songwriters like James Taylor. Iha’s voice is honest, perfectly pitched, and uniquely unrefined. These characteristics lend themselves well to this creative, expressive and surprisingly intelligent pop album.
See the Sun slows the pace slightly, but the feel is still absolutely in line with the album. Iha’s voice shimmers, his guitar sparkles. Country Girl is probably my second favorite song here. It soars above the usual variety of boring pop with glorious vocals and a stunningly distinctive melody. Nothing about this song (or the others for that matter) is uncomfortable, Iha’s songs fit as comfortably as an old pair of slippers.
With a slightly quickened speed, a slightly funkier feel, and equally perfect vocals and lyrics Jealousy fits nicely into the context of Let It Come Down. As far as radio playability goes, Jealousy is without question the most appealing. Although, no mainstream pop station would ever in a zillion years play it…a more likely outlet would definitely be student radio and particularly progressive pop stations.
While sweet and gentle, Lover, Lover is nonetheless unremarkable. Silver String is an improvement, though with the lethargic tempo and the uncharacteristically uneven vocals seem to lack the creative fervor of many other tracks. Many of these same issues also arise with Winter, although the sparsely instrumented melody works slightly better with Iha’s modern Beatles style. Considering that he is a rookie at best when it comes to vocals, this album and most of these songs are an amazing feat.
Wrapping up, One and Two and No One’s Gonna Hurt You are equally compelling. Because of the aforementioned issue of “sameness,” Let It Come Down seems to lose some spark as it comes to an end. The songs are just a good as those in the beginning, the problem rests more so in the fact that we’ve heard these musical ideas before. Taken on their own, both tracks are worth hearing. Acting in the role as capstone however, listeners will be left feeling slightly unfulfilled although elated with the joy of knowing that Iha can indeed write and sing and that if nothing else he created on vibrant, fun album.
Let It Come Down is a good, though not great album on the whole. Iha is surprisingly gifted in every sense of the word, and his debut album reflects his talent. Unfortunately fans of the Smashing Pumpkins (especially their late 1990’s) work will be unimpressed. But for the rest of the world, Iha’s first solo effort is a gift.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Be Strong Now | 02. Sound of Love | 3. Beauty | 04. See the Sun | 05. Country Girl | 06. Jealousy | 07. Lover, Lover | 08. Silver String | 09. Winter | 10. One and Two | 11. No One’s Gonna Hurt You
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