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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Beats Per Minute52%[3]
musicOMH[4]
NME[5]
Pitchfork6.3/10[6]

Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts is the twelfth studio album by American rock band the Smashing Pumpkins. The album was released in three separate installments of 11 songs—Atum: Act One was released on November 15, 2022, Atum: Act Two was released on January 31, 2023, and Atum: Act Three was released on May 5, 2023. A physical box set consisting of all 33 songs, along with a group of 10 additional exclusive songs, was released in early May 2023. This is the band's final studio album to feature guitarist Jeff Schroeder, before his departure in October 2023.

Background

Frontman Billy Corgan first announced his plans to release a "sequel" concept album to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) and Machina/The Machines of God (2000) in October 2020, shortly prior to the release of the band's eleventh studio album Cyr in November 2020.[7] Corgan had wanted to do it as early as 2017 or 2018, but with everything going on with the band at the time, including guitarist James Iha being back in the band for the first time in 18 years, and plotting a large tour around 3/4 of the original band being together again, he instead opted on the less-ambitious 8 song album Shiny and Oh So Bright (2018).[8][9] When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out years later and cancelled much of the band's planned touring, Corgan found himself with a lot of time on his hands and decided to revisit the concept.[8] The album was recorded over a span of two years, some of it concurrently with Cyr.[9]

Concept and structure

Atum is a concept album that Corgan describes as a sequel to the band's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and Machina/The Machines of God.[10] The album tells the story of the same character followed in the prior two albums ("Zero" and "Glass") respectively, with the character now being much older than portrayed in the prior albums, and now known as "Shiny".[8] Similar to the prior albums, the story is described by Corgan as having "...one foot in reality and one foot in a made up world... It's based on a lot of autobiographical things. But there's lots of things that are things I'm just interested in exploring that don’t necessarily have anything to do with me."[8]

Atum (pronounced the same as Autumn[11][12]) was released in three main parts, called "Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3".[13] Each act consists of 11 songs, and each act was released 11 weeks after the prior.[13] Concurrent to the third act releasing, a physical box set containing all 33 songs, and an additional 10 extra songs, was also released.[13] The release schedule was designed by Corgan to help listeners pace themselves in digesting the large body of work.[9]

Sound

Contrary to Cyr's electronic and guitar-light sound, Corgan described Atum as more guitar-driven in its sound.[9] He describes the sound as going "into a million different directions", noting that around a third of the album is "heavy", a third of it sounds "kind of more similar to what [the band has] been doing recently", and a third of it sounds more "esoteric" in advancing the concept/musical aspects of the album.[9]

Release and promotion

The album's title and three part release structure was announced on September 19, 2022.[14] The album's first single, "Beguiled", was released the following day.[14] Corgan will also conduct a weekly podcast called Thirty Three, where he will play and dissect a new song each week prior to release.[13] Atum: Act One was released on November 15, 2022, Atum: Act Two was released on January 31, 2023, and Atum: Act Three was released on May 5, 2023.[11] A physical box-set, consisting of all 33 songs, along with a group of 10 additional exclusive songs, was released in early May 2023.[11] The ten additional songs, which will be spread across five 7-inch singles, were revealed in the fourth episode of Corgan's Thirty-Three podcast to be the shelved Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 3 album. In the final episode of the podcast, “Of Wings”, Billy revealed the title for volume three is Zodeon At Crystal Hall and that six of the bonus songs are from the true album, which is eleven songs total, with the other four being B-sides. The band embarked on the Spirits on Fire tour across North America with Jane's Addiction and Poppy leading up to the album's first release, with Our Lady Peace filling in on select Canadian dates for Jane's Addiction, and Meg Myers doing the same for Poppy.[15] On March 28, 2023 "Spellbinding" was released on streaming as the album's second single.[16] The song was also featured in the end credits of Murder Mystery 2 on Netflix.[17] On the same day that “Spellbinding” was released, the band also announced a summer tour entitled The World Is A Vampire tour. Consisting of amphitheaters and a couple of smaller indoor theaters, the band will continue to promote Atum while having support from Stone Temple Pilots, Interpol, and Rival Sons. This tour will come after the festivals of the same name that took place in Mexico City and in 8 Australian cities. On April 13, 2023, the music video for “Empires” was released, showing performance footage from the Spirits on Fire tour. It was directed by Kevin Kerslake who also directed the music video for “Cherub Rock”.

Track listing

Atum: Act One
No.TitleLength
1."Atum"3:32
2."Butterfly Suite"3:28
3."The Good in Goodbye"4:40
4."Embracer"3:39
5."With Ado I Do"2:52
6."Hooligan"3:05
7."Steps in Time"3:49
8."Where Rain Must Fall"4:15
9."Beyond the Vale"3:42
10."Hooray!"3:43
11."The Gold Mask"3:36
Total length:40:21
Atum: Act Two
No.TitleLength
1."Avalanche"5:42
2."Empires"3:10
3."Neophyte"4:16
4."Moss"2:59
5."Night Waves"2:53
6."Space Age"3:12
7."Every Morning"6:10
8."To the Grays"3:12
9."Beguiled"3:58
10."The Culling"4:30
11."Springtimes"4:01
Total length:44:03
Atum: Act Three
No.TitleLength
1."Sojourner"7:41
2."That Which Animates the Spirit"3:55
3."The Canary Trainer"3:57
4."Pacer"5:24
5."In Lieu of Failure"3:26
6."Cenotaph"3:04
7."Harmageddon"4:20
8."Fireflies"3:26
9."Intergalactic"8:58
10."Spellbinding"4:06
11."Of Wings"5:28
Total length:53:45
Zodeon at Crystal Hall
No.TitleLength
1."Simmatar"3:38
2."Magdalena"3:20
3."Saffron"2:56
4."Zope"2:54
5."Huzzah!"3:01
6."Automaton"3:31
7."MaryQ"3:35
8."Burr"3:36
9."Excelsior"2:18
10."Necromance"3:33
Total length:32:22 (138:09)

Personnel

The Smashing Pumpkins

Additional musicians

Charts

Chart performance for Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[18] 5
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[19] 50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[20] 64
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[21] 51
French Albums (SNEP)[22] 131
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 18
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[24] 23
Scottish Albums (OCC)[25] 5
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[26] 62
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 16
UK Albums (OCC)[28] 85
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[29] 4
US Billboard 200[30] 111
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[31] 16
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[32] 10
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[33] 15
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[34] 7
US Top Rock & Alternative Albums (Billboard)[35] 20

References

  1. ^ "Atum by The Smashing Pumpkins Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  2. ^ Collar, Matt (May 5, 2023). "Atum - The Smashing Pumpkins". AllMusic. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  3. ^ Wohlmacher, John (May 11, 2023). "Album Review: The Smashing Pumpkins – ATUM: A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  4. ^ Horton, Ross (May 5, 2023). "The Smashing Pumpkins - ATUM | Album Reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  5. ^ Jones, Damian (May 5, 2023). "The Smashing Pumpkins – 'ATUM' review: bombastic space-rock opera with anthems". NME. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  6. ^ Shoup, Brad (May 11, 2023). "The Smashing Pumpkins: Atum Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  7. ^ Childers, Chad (October 22, 2020). "Smashing Pumpkins Confirm 'Mellon Collie' + 'Machina' Sequel". Loudwire. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Skinner, Tom (September 20, 2022). "Smashing Pumpkins release new single 'Beguiled' and tell us about their three-part "rock opera", 'ATUM'". NME. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Billy Corgan on new album ATUM: "It goes in a million different…". Kerrang!. September 20, 2022. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  10. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Announce New Album Atum, a Sequel to Mellon Collie and Machina". Pitchfork. September 20, 2022. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Young, Alex (September 20, 2022). "Smashing Pumpkins announce 33-song rock opera ATUM". Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  12. ^ Grow, Kory (September 20, 2022). "Smashing Pumpkins Tease 'Mellon Collie' Sequel With New Song 'Beguiled'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d "The Smashing Pumpkins announce 33-track, three-act rock opera album, ATUM — Kerrang!". www.kerrang.com. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Smashing Pumpkins Announce New Album 'Atum', Share 'Beguiled' Single". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. September 20, 2022. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  15. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Announce Fall 2022 North American Tour". Pitchfork. May 11, 2022. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  16. ^ "Smashing Pumpkins share new song 'Spellbinding', announce US tour with Interpol". NME. March 28, 2023.
  17. ^ "Murder Mystery 2 soundtrack: All of the songs featured in the movie". March 31, 2023.
  18. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  19. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  21. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  22. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  23. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  24. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  25. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  26. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  27. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  28. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  29. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  30. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  31. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  32. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  33. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  34. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  35. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (US Top Rock & Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2023.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum:_A_Rock_Opera_in_Three_Acts