Sometimes the best art is lambasted at the time of it's release, and it's not until many years later that the true impact of the work is felt. This album may not make all the magazines' "Greatest of All-Time" lists like Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie, but I believe this to be Corgan's(and the Pumpkins') creative peak thus far, and will hopefully be recognized as such in the near future.

Corgan once said, at the completion of the Mellon Collie tour, that he'd pushed rock music as far as it could go, which is why he decided to throw out the rulebook and take a much more stripped-down approach with their next album, Adore. With Machina, he combines elements of this new approach with the intensity of the patented Pumpkins sound we all know and love. This provides the album with such a unique sound, covering the whole spectrum of human emotion, all the while pushing the very notion of rock even father. The scope and magnitude of this album cannot be overstated, in my opinion.

Some consider the [over]production of this album to be it's one glaring weakness, but I disagree. Corgan told Flood during the recording process that he wanted certain songs to sound like "blood was dripping from the walls," and I think this was accomplished. There is so much going on within the white noise in the background of each song, that it takes several listens before the album totally seeps in and the true impact of the album is realized and felt. It truly is a rock and roll symphony, and the perfect example of the Pumpkins ability to be loud, quiet, happy, sad, heavy, mellow, tripped-out, devastating, face-melting, gut-wrenching.....all at the same time.

Corgan has stated that the album should be like a mirror that you hold up to yourself. It relects your emotions back to you, like any great work of art, so that it means something different to each person listening.(This is why the main character's name is Glass, I believe. He's a reflection of all of us. Also note that the disc itself appears to be a reflection of you, the person holding it). So you can interpret the album any way you like; as a rock opera, a fond farewell, or just 15 songs of love and despair that you just happen to relate to. It always changes for me. That's the beauty of the album. Depending on where one's at in life, the album takes on different meanings. The many layers of this album continue to unfold each time I listen to it. It truly is a reflection of yourself.