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Ben Moore | Zanesville Ohio | 02/27/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I won't be buying this even though I consider myself an Avid Pumpkins fan. the New Pumpkins are Awesome but The DVD "If all Goes Wrong" audio is where to start, I burnt them songs (from the DVD) into mp3 format and MAN! These songs from American Gothic ARE awesome and amazing....LIVE. I heard this CD and it totally disappointed me because when compared to the live renditions of these Same songs, this disc is blown out of the water...I highly recommend all these songs but just get some High Quality Live shows........For Instance, the opening song The Rose March, On the DVD 'If all Goes Wrong', It's a showstopper, on this album it's Crap..Why??? Theres plenty of reasons but the biggest problem is probably just how it was mixed....he starts the rose march chanting the most annoying crap when played Live it is a hauntingly serious song......

DONT GET THIS ALBUM, GET ALL THESE SONGS LIVE (Start with the Audio from IF ALL GOES WRONG and buy the DVD too!!)"

One of the more overlooked releases of 2008

Daniel Maltzman | Arlington, MA, USA | 01/01/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Much like Alice In Chains followed two of their albums with quieter, acoustic work, the Smashing Pumpkins do the same here with their four-song acoustic EP "American Gothic" (2008).



I'm not really sure what the title "American Gothic" refers to. Unlike its immediate predecessor, the highly underrated "Zeitgeist," (2007) there's no grand political statements, no protest songs, and no social commentaries to be found. Rather, with "American Gothic" we get much more personal, reflective work, with Corgan's more familiar themes of love and broken relationships, etc.



"The Rose March" has a sort of medieval feel, and with the opening "la-da-da-da-la-da-da," one would think something like that would sound corny, but Corgan pulls it off. With the pretty "Again, Again, Again (Crux)" Corgan sings of wanting to meet someone "again," after stating "I love you, I don't even care," as though he is confessing his love despite previous letdowns.



While the first two tracks are good, if not great, the EP really starts to pick up with the final two songs. Incredibly catchy and cynical "Pox" sees Corgan referring to "giving back the dream" several times and I'm not exactly sure what he means by this. Corgan sounds quite cynical here, yet the song still manages not to sound too bitter, as the song, paradoxically exudes a sort of strange optimism, despite lyrics like "another dumb kid shot him, another restless b#@h still f*#@s."



The EP's closing "Sunkissed" is by far the best moment on "American Gothic" and is, in this reviewers opinion, simply one of the finest songs Corgan has ever written. Incredibly pretty, lush and bittersweet, Corgan sings of, presumably, some estranged girlfriend. I'll be honest here, some of Corgan's lyrics I just don't understand and that's how I feel about this song ("Chase the bees of the death song's wings, There's no crying anymore, Crystalline, the bridges burn outside, Stitches will all come undone")? Still, I get the feeling/message here and the song is quite beautiful.



One of the more overlooked releases of 2008, with two good songs and two outstanding ones, "American Gothic" is definitely worth the time and money of any Smashing Pumpkins fan. "Sunkissed" alone is worth the 12 bucks.



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