Billy Corgan — TheFutureEmbrace

The master of melancholy (er, "Mellon Collie") is resurrected as an electro-noir star with a penchant for titles with — ohmigod! — improper spacing between words. TheFutureEmbrace continues where Smashing Pumpkins songs like "Eye" and "Ava Adore" left off. The problem is that Corgan's about eight years too late and his nasally grate of a voice ruins this otherwise worthy gasp at artistic relevancy. The percussion is processed into cool, snappy beats and gauzy guitars provide some delightfully brooding rhythms for his forgettable industrial pop. Yet, while the peppy "The CameraEye" is engaging and the deep gay house of "A100" is funny, it's definitely a bad sign when the standout song is "ToLoveSomebody," a weak Bee Gees cover that's given a gloomy makeover by Robert Smith, who mistakenly agrees to contribute backing vocals to the track. Infinite sadness indeed.

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