Zwan

OK, back again, after a much deserved weekend (as previously stated) of both fucking and blackjack, I am, after all, an old, married, retired guy, so, every now and then I need to think about my dick and my wallet, and not about you hosers.....anyway, LOTS of fucking (THANKS BigCarla66), so-so effort at the tables (have had better, but have certainly had worse), and now back to share some more tunes with the minions......my silent-partner Brian is working on a KICK ASS Swans post for us, should be ready pretty soon, if you don't know about Swans, it will be some freakish shit for ya......Apantabapanta, also, is working on Part 8 of the Greek Punk series, it is winding down (probably 10 parts, an AMAZING series)......so tonight, tomorrow, whatever, yer uncle needs to find a few "short" posts to fill in the gaps between the MEGA-Boris thing (and YES, I still have some Boris scraps, collabortations and the like, to assemble) and my much beloved guest posters things.....
So, since we have Swans coming up soon, that made me think of the sole album by Zwan, Billy Corgan's first post-Smashing Pumpkins effort.....the album is "Mary Star of the Sea", and it was NOT terribly well received at the time of release.....why?, I have no clue, as I consider it nearly a great-"lost" Smashing Pumpkins album.....for one thing, it couldn't help but SOUND kind of "Punpkins-ish" what with Corgan on guitar and vocals, as well as Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain pounding the skins, I guess if James Iha and my birthday-sharing sweetheart D'arcy hadn't been in rehab or whatever, we wouldn't even know who Zwan was.......the liner notes on "mary Star of the Sea" refer to the band as "True Poets of Zwan", fine by me, because, contrary to the belief of many, I actually do think this is a quite good album, and if you don't think so, hey, that's why Baskin-Robbins has 31.......additional players on the album are bassist David Pajo and guitarist (and longtime Pumpkins hanger-on Matt Sweeney).......

Released in 2003, when the Pumpkins were in one of their frequent periods of disharmony/discontent, as the controversy swirled around Corgan and Co, what often is overlooked (and you VERY WELL MAY disagree with me) is that "Mary Star of the Sea" is a pretty decent album.......hell it's better listening than some of the more pretentious Pumpkins stuff, the track "Honestly" is a fine track and I DEFY you to discern it from a track off of, say, "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Saddness" or something, and there is a good bit more enjoyable material here, "Lyric", and stuff like "Baby Let's Rock!" and the epic "Jesus, I/Mary Star of the Sea", would fit easilly on many Pumpkins discs without standing out too negatively.

Hey, a fairly forgotten album, but one I always pretty much enjoyed, to be honest with you, and I was a HUGE fan of Smashing Pumpkins...long story, but I saw one of their final concerts (Dayton Ohio 2000), (I mean of thier original state of being), and it was one of the absolute worst shows I have ever witnessed, seriously, and I have a tape from the NEXT night's show, their "Final" concert in Chicago, and it was great.......you just never know sometimes)...anyway, I have never thought that the Zwan album really got a fair shake, so let me give you a chance to decide for yourselves....since I took the whole weekend playing cards and getting my dick wet, I'll probably come up with yet ANOTHER post in the next coupla hours or so, but don't dick me round......if you're a Pumpkins fan, or not, even, and you have not checked out the Zwan album with an open mind, puh-leeze do so, coz I think it's a fairly underappreciated effort, although the reasons for such are pretty understandable.

01 Lyric/02 Settle Down/03 Declarations of Faith/04 Honestly/05 El Sol/06 Of a Broken Heart/07 Ride a Black Swan/08 Heartsong/09 Endless Summer/10 Baby Let's Rock/11 Yeah!/12 Desire/13 Jesus, I/Mary Star of the Sea/14 Come With Me