Thirty-Three Ways to Say Tomorrow's Just an Excuse
Written: Aug 17 '04
Product Rating:
Pros: Two fantastic songs...
Cons: Two rather pointless songs...
The Bottom Line: There are oodles of Smashing Pumpkins EPs, Singles, and Albums to partake in. Why not munch on something else before embarking on Thirty-Three?
lambchops's Full Review: Thirty Three [Maxi Single] by Smashing Pumpkins
There’s nothing more obvious than the statement “Smashing Pumpkins was one of the most influential rock bands of the 1990s.” I’ll save you from having to read that same statement over and over again and instead just say it is often worthwhile exploring more than the album material. Not always, mind you, but on EPs like that for Thirty-Three it is impossible to deny the power and sometimes simplicity of the rockers.
Actually, come to think of it, I tend to like Smashing Pumpkins either when they operate at one of two extremes—either loud and crazed and insanely distorted or light and oddly melodic. The songs that fall somewhere between these two poles bore me—including the strangely popular but ill advised 1979. As far as the band’s many EPs and singles go, I am both impressed and disappointed. There is clearly a reason why many of the songs included were left off of albums. They just simply are not as good as a general rule.
Billy Corgan, James Iha, D’Arcy Wretzky, and Jimmy Chamberlain released a slew of EPs in 1996 individually and as part of the massive The Aeroplane Flies High boxed set. As individual discs, they are largely hollow things with the mediocre material far outweighing the good material. The aforementioned Thirty-Three EP is half good and half forgettable (but fortunately not as vile as some of the other releases). The good precludes the bad thus making it easy to just turn off the CD before things go downhill.
Based on what I like about Smashing Pumpkins, it will come as no shock that I enjoy Thirty-Three. It is a fabulous, understated, emotional track—one of my favorite from the band ever. The simplicity works wonderfully with Corgan’s odd nasally voice. It flows wonderfully and easily, Thirty-Three is the perfect personification of why this band has already gone down in history as outstanding. Second track, The Last Song is strangely placed—not at the end of this EP but second in line. Aside from that oddity I am pleased to say that I do like the modest and sweeping piano-driven melody.
Following the first two songs, the EP takes a major nose-dive. I find it so strange that Corgan can write two excellent songs and then follow them up with this kind of crap. Then again, I’ve had similar issues with selections from all of the band’s singles and EPs. Both The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right) and Transformer are relatively unnecessary tracks. They both are of the “hard rock” variety but with their mid-tempo sensibility the fail to make any impact on me. I want to like both, and I am particularly drawn to the bit at the beginning of the former but in general they just fade into nothingness upon the end of the disc.
Smashing Pumpkins is without question a band whose name is already written in the annals of rock history. Amazing, flexible, multi-faceted, and entertaining Thirty-Three is what the band was about. The two forgettable songs is also what they were about. Like it or not, nobody is perfect.
By the way, take it from Corgan—“Tomorrow’s just an excuse.”
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Track Listing:
01. Thirty-Three
02. The Last Song
03. The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)
04. Transformer
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