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Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts

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Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts
Studio album by
the Smashing Pumpkins
ReleasedAtum: Act One:
November 15, 2022
Atum: Act Two:
January 31, 2023
Atum: Act Three:
May 5, 2023
Recorded2020–2022
Genre
Length138:09
Label
ProducerBilly Corgan
The Smashing Pumpkins chronology
Cyr
(2020) 		Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts
(2022–2023) 		Aghori Mhori Mei
(2024)
Singles from Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts
  1. "Beguiled"
    Released: September 20, 2022
  2. "Spellbinding"
    Released: March 28, 2023
  3. "Empires"
    Released: April 13, 2023

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, under the title "Zodeon at Crystal Hall" was released in early May 2023.

Announced as a "sequel" album to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) and Machina/The Machines of God (2000), Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts is a concept album. The album continues the interconnected story from the aforementioned albums. The story follows Shiny, previously known as Zero (Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness) and Glass (Machina/The Machines of God), as he struggles with his exile and the ramifications of his legacy. The album also tells the story from the perspectives of several characters, including June, Osirah and an organisation known as The X+I. Produced by Billy Corgan the album has elements of alternative rock, electronic rock, progressive rock and synthpop.

Upon the album's release, critical reception was generally favourable. The majority of reviews praised the album's diversity in sound and how its staggered release helped listeners undertake the projects scale. Some critics were more critical with the album in comparison to the bands discography. The album had some commercial success worldwide, with the album reaching the top five in Australia and Scotland, and the top 20 in several European countries.

Three singles were issued from the album: "Beguiled", "Spellbinding" and "Empires". A podcast named Thirty-Three with William Patrick Corgan was released along side the acts of the album, detailing the concept along with specials guests and retrospectives of the band's back catalogue. During the album's release cycle the band embarked on a North American tour named "Spirits on Fire" and continued with a world tour called "The World is a Vampire". The album marked the band's final studio album to feature guitarist Jeff Schroeder, before his departure in October 2023.

Background

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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.[1] 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).[2][3] 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.[2] The album was recorded over a span of two years, some of it concurrently with Cyr.[3]

Concept and structure

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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.[4] 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".[2] 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."[2]

Atum (pronounced the same as Autumn[5][6]) was released in three main parts, called "Act 1, Act 2, and Act 3".[7] Each act consists of 11 songs, and each act was released 11 weeks after the prior.[7] Concurrent to the third act releasing, a physical box set containing all 33 songs, and an additional 10 extra songs, was also released.[7] The release schedule was designed by Corgan to help listeners pace themselves in digesting the large body of work.[3]

Composition

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The standard edition of the album consists of 33 songs, all written and produced by Billy Corgan with production assistance from Howard Willing. The album has elements of alternative rock[a], progressive rock[b], synth pop[c] and synth rock[d]. Contrary to Cyr's electronic and guitar-light sound, Corgan described Atum as more guitar-driven in its sound.[3] 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.[3]

Release and promotion

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The album's title and three part release structure was announced on September 19, 2022.[12] The album's first single, "Beguiled", was released the following day.[12] 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.[5] A physical box-set, consisting of all 33 songs, along with a group of 10 additional exclusive songs, was released in early May 2023.[5] In the Fall of 2022 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 act releasing, with Our Lady Peace filling in on select Canadian dates for Jane's Addiction, and Meg Myers doing the same for Poppy.[13]

On March 28, 2023 "Spellbinding" was released on streaming as the album's second single.[14] The song was also featured in the end credits of Murder Mystery 2 on Netflix.[15] 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. The tour occurred 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".

Zodeon at Crystal Hall

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Simmatar/Magdalena 7" single artwork by artist Liz Hirsch

In addition to the standard release of Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts, an additional 10 tracks were released exclusively with the "1st Edition" box set through Corgan's Chicago based tea room Madame ZuZu's. The 10 tracks were released on five 7" double A-side singles and recorded live to tape in monophonic sound.[5][16][10] In episode four of the Thirty-Three podcast Billy Corgan announced the tracks were part of the shelved Shiny and Oh So Bright series, being the third volume to 2018's Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun. and 2020's Cyr albums.[17] In the final episode of the podcast, he revealed the title of collection and that six of the tracks will feature on the future full release, with four being b-sides.[18]

The collective tracks are mostly acoustic guitar driven and contain elements of psychedelic rock and folk music.[10] Reception was positive towards the available tracks from Beats Per Minute's John Wohlmacher. He opined that the band had "already moved on to better things", having given Atum a mixed review.[10] The artwork of the five singles, as with the artwork for Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts, was designed and created by artist Liz Hirsch.[19]

Thirty-Three with William Patrick Corgan

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In September 2022, along with the announcement of the album, it was announced that a 33 episode weekly podcast, called Thirty-Three with William Patrick Corgan would be released. Each episode of the podcast featured, in track list order, a song from Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts and its narrative within the album's concept, special guest interviews as well as discussion of tracks from the band's back catalogue, side projects and solo works.[20] Notable guests on the podcast included singers Willow Smith[21] and Yungblud,[22] pianist Mike Garson[20] and producer and Garbage drummer Butch Vig.[23]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?6.6/10[24]
Metacritic72/100[25]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[26]
Beats Per Minute52%[10]
musicOMH[11]
NME[27]
No Ripcord8/10[28]
Pitchfork6.3/10[8]
Rolling Stone[9]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 from 7 critic scores.[25]

A number of critics praised the album for its variety in sound, despite its overall length. Rolling Stone's Dan Epstein,[9] Pitchfork's Brad Shoup[8] and NME's Damien Jones[27] all praised the diversity of the tracks and the album's ambition. Pitchfork opined the "stylistic flexes are enjoyable", continuing "in its own ponderous way, it is generous".[8] Others, including Allmusic's Matt Collar called the album "ambitiously sprawling" and summarized the record as having a "pleasing flow and emotional arc to the collection that draws you deeper in the further you go".[26] In praise of listening experience, Rolling Stone declared the album as "the kind of record that requires your full attention".[9]

Some critics were more critical of the album, comparatively to the bands back catalogue. Beats Per Minute's John Wohlmacher contrasted the album to the bands earlier studio albums, stating Atum "lacked the arcane glow of the occult Machina or romantic passion and gothic sensuality of Mellon Collie", later calling the album "the most controversial and strangest of all Smashing Pumpkins albums".[10] musicOMH's Ross Horton, despite praising some of the tracks, pointed readers to the bands earlier work, stating "Listen to their first three albums on shuffle with a few short synth-pop instrumentals and you’ll have a much improved listening experience".[11]

Dan Epstein of Rolling Stone spoke of the album's length, stating "a 33-song album totaling nearly two hours and twenty minutes would be a lot to digest". He opined that Corgan "wisely" premiered songs weekly through the Thirty-Three podcast, along with the truncated release of each act.[9]

Commercial performance

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The album was successful in Australia, reaching the top five in the ARIA Top 100 Albums Chart, the band's first top 10 since Oceania in 2012.[29] The album also reached the top five in the Scottish Albums Chart.[30] In Europe, the album had minor chart success, reaching the top 20 on the Offizielle Top 100 albums chart in Germany and the Schweizer Hitparade Albums Top 100 in Switzerland.[31] In the United States the album sold 9000 copies in its first week, with 4000 copies sold in the vinyl format.[32] The album charted at number 111 on the Billboard 200, the bands first album since Gish in 1991 to not reach the top 100.[33]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Billy Corgan

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
Audio Story
No.TitleLength
1."Act 1 of ATUM"25:05
Total length:25:05
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

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Charts

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Chart performance for Atum: A Rock Opera in Three Acts
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[35] 5
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[36] 50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[37] 64
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[38] 51
French Albums (SNEP)[39] 131
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[40] 18
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[41] 23
Scottish Albums (OCC)[42] 5
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[43] 62
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[44] 16
UK Albums (OCC)[45] 85
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[46] 4
US Billboard 200[47] 111
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[48] 16
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[49] 10
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[50] 15
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[51] 7
US Top Rock & Alternative Albums (Billboard)[52] 20

References

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Notes

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  1. ^ As discussed by Pitchfork's Brad Shoup[8] and Rolling Stone's Dan Epstein.[9]
  2. ^ As discussed by Pitchfork's Brad Shoup[8] and Beats Per Minute's John Wohlmacher.[10]
  3. ^ As discussed by Pitchfork's Brad Shoup[8] and musicOMH's Ross Horton.[11]
  4. ^ As discussed by Pitchfork's Brad Shoup[8] and Beats Per Minute's John Wohlmacher.[10]

Citations

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ a b c d 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ a b c "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.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Shoup, Brad (May 11, 2023). "The Smashing Pumpkins: Atum Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved May 11, 2023.
  9. ^ a b c d e Epstein, Dan (May 8, 2023). "The Final Act In Smashing Pumpkins' Rock Opera Is Pretty Decent — At Least As Far As Final Acts In Rock Operas Go". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Wohlmacher, John (May 11, 2023). "Album Review: The Smashing Pumpkins – ATUM: A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Beats Per Minute. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c Horton, Ross (May 5, 2023). "The Smashing Pumpkins - ATUM | Album Reviews". musicOMH. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "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.
  14. ^ "Smashing Pumpkins share new song 'Spellbinding', announce US tour with Interpol". NME. March 28, 2023.
  15. ^ "Murder Mystery 2 soundtrack: All of the songs featured in the movie". March 31, 2023.
  16. ^ "Atum Box Set". Madame ZuZu's. August 23, 2024. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  17. ^ "Embracer (with YUNGBLUD)". Podbay. October 22, 2022. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  18. ^ "Of Wings (AND listeners questions answered by Billy!)". Podbay. April 25, 2023. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  19. ^ "Liz Hirsch - Works". Liz Hirsch. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  20. ^ a b Nattress, Katrina (September 21, 2022). "Billy Corgan Launches 'Thirty-Three' Podcast On iHeartRadio: Listen Now". iHeartradio. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  21. ^ Dunworth, Liberty (October 13, 2022). "Willow Smith praises Billy Corgan for setting the precedent of "what rock star dudes can be"". Guitar. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  22. ^ Skinner, Tom (October 5, 2022). "Yungblud says he's finished a new "psychedelic rock" album". NME. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  23. ^ Giannelli, Carl (November 10, 2022). "Off the record & onto podcasts: William Patrick Corgan's "Thirty-Three"". Horseshoe Magazine. Retrieved August 23, 2024.
  24. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Atum". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Atum by The Smashing Pumpkins Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  26. ^ a b Collar, Matt (May 5, 2023). "Atum - The Smashing Pumpkins". AllMusic. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  27. ^ a b Jones, Damian (May 5, 2023). "The Smashing Pumpkins – 'ATUM' review: bombastic space-rock opera with anthems". NME. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  28. ^ Edgardo Rodriguez, Juan (May 7, 2023). "The Smashing Pumpkins ATUM". No Ripcord. Retrieved August 21, 2024.
  29. ^ Ryan, Gavin (May 13, 2023). "ARIA Chart Report 15 May 2023 #EdSheeran". Noise 11. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  30. ^ "Smashing Pumpkins - Official Charts History". Official Charts. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  31. ^ "Discografie - The Smashing Pumpkins". Ultratop. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  32. ^ Caufield, Keith (May 15, 2023). "Ed Sheeran's 'Subtract' Scores No. 1 Debut on Top Album Sales Chart". Billboard. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  33. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins - Chart History History". Billboard. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  34. ^ a b c The Smashing Pumpkins (2023). Atum (CD booklet). Martha's Music, Thirty Tigers.
  35. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  36. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  37. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  38. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  39. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  40. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  41. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  42. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  43. ^ "Spanishcharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  44. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  45. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  46. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  47. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  48. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  49. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  50. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  51. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  52. ^ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (US Top Rock & Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
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