i'm a big fan of those two albums so when adore came out, i was one of those who were surprised not exactly in a good way, but since there was a context on it, i looked at the beauty of that album in its own merits and i let it pass. now come machina...well jimmy's back and i guess billy's issues won't haunt him forever so i kinda expected something in the same light of siamese dream or MCIS, but no. it wasn't, unfortunately. faint traces are there but nothing will give you the impression that this is the band which came out with disarm, or mayonnaise, or spaceboy, or BWBW, or 1979. the theme is different (which is a good thing) but so was the style (a not so good thing). don't get me wrong though, i don't want a stagnant SP. but the sound is different and that turned me off. it's like walking up one day and your lover started acting like a different person. well technically she's the same person, but she's no longer the person that you adore. and that will kill things. (it's not the most brilliant analogy, i know, but i hope it served its purpose)

that said, i don't necessarily dismiss the beauty of this album. judging by its OWN merits, i'd say this is a good album. not great, just good. the everlasting gaze is a good song. it has some of those faint traces which i spoke of earlier. raindrops + sunshowers is acrually good. and even better when played at max volume in a surround sound system. stand inside your love was beautifully written. the perfect love song (well next to ava adore). i of the mourning could actually pass for a good pop song in my opinion, but not necessarily as a SP song (i mean that of the siamese dream/MCIS). the sacred and profane is okay i guess. try, try, try is the same as i of the mourning and a little cheesey if you ask me. as for heavy metal machine, i prefer the machina II version. this time, ughh...i don't know what to make of it. an introduction to zwan perhaps or a reaffirmation that the old sp is gone (the first one was the whole adore album). the imploding voice has some nice riffs. glass and the ghost children and wound are also good songs. the crying tree of mercury can be lagging in a good way and i like it. with every light kinda reminds me of lily from MCIS. sometimes i think squirrels and birds will come to me if i play it loud in the park. don't get me wrong, it's a nice song, you just have to pick the right mood to play it or else you'll just end up being pissed. for blue skies bring tears, i like its electrique version in machina II better, oh and because "electrique" is fun to say. age of innocence has a very catchy sound and the bass is just right.

all in all, i think this is a good album and not their best (that of which is reserved to siamese dream, MCIS, and gish as of yet)

So being younger I've only been into this band the past few years and believe it or not I just listened to this album all the way thrugh for the first time. I was under the impression that Zeitgeist was way better than this because I had only listened to Machina in little bits at a time. However, uon listening to this all the way through i declare his to be my second favorite Pumpkins album (just behing Mellon, now ahead of Adore). Pure beauty and art.

Also, Wound and With Every Light are so incredible I just can't even stand it.

The music on 'Machina' is probably my favorite throughout all of TSP's CDs. 'Machina B-Side', has allot of amazing songs done in acoustic. My faves would have to be, Age of Innocence, The Crying Tree Of Mercury (Piano & Vocal), The Everlasting Gaze, Stand Inside Your Love (acoustic) and Soot & Stars. The band has soooo many amazing songs, sound and lyric wise in all of their CDs.. they are just an awesome band.

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.

I'm aware enough to know that Machina has not been adored by everyone, but I actually think its an amazing record. Not in the sense of it being "rock and roll" or "heavy" but because it is probably one of the most individual and unique albums I have EVER heard.

The concept itself is incredible. I dont know how many average joe's could've thought up such a creative theme. Most impressive ^_^ I also like how Billy puts his reletionship with Yelena Yemchuck into the album's theme; its not like other albums where the composer writes one "real-life" song, puts it in the concept album, and haves it stick out like a sore thumb. I admire how "Stand Inside Your Love" flows in with the surrounding material.

Songs like "Everlasting Gaze" and "Heavy Metal Machine" offer the l;istener a taste of the heavy, pulsing rock that most of us crave, but never once did I get the impression that they didnt fit on the record.

Tracks like "Wound" and "The Sacred and Profane" have my respect in the sense that they dont sound like any particular thing I've heard from the Pumpkins. They're always trying something new.

Not once did I hear a radio-friendly pop single ^_^

I've heard claims that Machina was too "Prog-Metal" but I think the band was being progressive with thier music (as always!) and I didnt take that comment as an insult.

The only letdown to me is the superficial disappointment that Zero dies in the end (read the scripture in the liner notes if you dont know what I'm talking about).

R.I.P. Zero

Not sure if anyone else agrees but i think this album is massively underrated at time when it was easier to define who the real pumpkins fans out there were. After Mellon Collie alot of people started to dislike the change in style the pumpkins where going through. I think this album is an awesome back up to adore and should gain more recognition.

In my opinion, this is their best album. This isn't just music, it's art.

i remember being 9 or 10 and hearing a guy from my class talking about the smashing pumpkins and their new song, after that i saw "the everlasting gaze" on total request on "good old mtv" and that bass/guitar stood forever inside my brain, hidden, now after listenning to the album i cant say if its the best or the worst, but the melody, the guitars drums wow, i dont think that any band could do what they did, so [bad word removed]ing emotion and rock together in the year that music died, as james died for sp :´(

What can I say after 10 years...hmmm? After Gish, Siamese, Mellon... and the brilliant darkness of Adore came Machina...something special in my life. Songs like never heard before. Crazy sounds, beautifull melodys and nioses. Simply perfect. Songs like "The Everlasting Gaze" and "This Time" are unforgettable. Deep, heratbreaking feelings and thoughts, hurricane-power and energy everywhere. Beauty and darkness together. Sometimes when I hear this album I feel me like flying high in the blue skies and later deep in hell. This album contains everything that I loved and still love in SP. Because these guys made something that nobody before! Congratulation after all these years!!!

I know this CD is loved by all real Pumpkin' fans, I listen to it and it's a perfect explanation of where the pumpkins were and should have been with that album at that time. it's perfect in every way... I love every song. even the ones I found hard to love like The Imploding Voice, I find find myself sing the words these days just out of nowhere, it really is a catchy song 'Everywhere You Are' ( ; I JUST WISH THEY WOULD PLAY THE EVERLASTING GAZE!!!! or maybe even a song like the Imloding Voice or Wound on the upcoming tour dates, Kyle.

Sorry it’s been so long since my last album review. I’ve been out doing something many of you (Satur999 in particular) should be doing – getting a job and contributing to society.

My journey backwards through time has come to 1999 and MACHINA/The Machines of God. I am happy because I remember how excited I was at the time that a new Pumpkins album was coming out. I am also sad, because although I really like the album, it is by far the weakest Pumpkins effort to date.

The first time I heard "The Everlasting Gaze," I had one of those erections they talk about on the Viagra commercials that lasted for hours. I, however, refused to call a doctor. As I say on a nearly daily basis, “What’s better than a four hour boner? A five hour boner!” (Sometimes I substitute “Two four hour boners,” but that has the potential of sounding really really gay. Like the cover art for American Gothic.) But I digress. “The Everlasting Gaze” is everything I had been waiting for in a Pumpkins single since “Zero.” Loud guitars, booming drums (before Jimmy decided that every song was a 6 minute drum solo), and that nice classic whiny Corgan vocal. Don’t get me wrong – Adore was my favorite album and probably always will be, but it was nice to her the band return to form on the radio again.

“Raindrops + Sunshowers,” despite its highly homoerotic name, is also a pretty damn good track. I was surprised to find out how awesome this sounds in a ghetto blasting sound system. Give it a shot.

You don’t get more classic Pumpkins than “Stand Inside Your Love.” It’s got that perfect loud/soft contrast, and the guitars are layered just right. Billy said on VH1 Storytellers that he wrote the lyrics to this song in 5 minutes on a napkin. And that would be my one complaint. The lyrics are pretty stupid, even using the Corgan Scale.

(For those of you wondering, the Corgan Scale is a measure of stupidity in lyrics. It is named for Billy Corgan, who popularized the meaningless/stupid lyric in the mid to late 90’s. Lyrics are rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the least stupid, and 10 being the most stupid. For example, “Now it's that time again to take revenge / On all the debutantes and their friends / The bitter Charlemagnes so self-absorbed / The bodily remains such a bore” gets a 1, as it certainly is stupid and pretentious, but it’s just the right level of pretension for the type of music being played. “Twilight fades through blistered Avalon / The sky's cruel torch on aching Autobahn” gets around a 5 on the scale, as Corgan clearly sacrificed any meaning for the sake of a clever rhyme. Ratings of 10 are reserved for songs that took absolutely no effort whatsoever – “Spaced,” “Stand Inside Your Love,” and “I’m Ready” come to mind.)

“I of the Mourning” and “The Sacred and Profane” are both hard rocking tracks that make the beginning of this album worthy of praise. Sadly, the album is about to take a sharp turn for the suck.

“Try, Try, Try” is a bad song. It sounds gay and boring. The video is retarded. The Machina II version is not as terrible, but this one should have been the B-side for “Here’s to the Atom Bomb.” I like “Heavy Metal Machine,” but man does it drag on and on! Billy is starting to feel very self-important here, which gets pretty irritating (more on this later).

Fortunately, James Iha was around to keep Billy on track long enough to record a few good tracks as the album progresses. You can hear the Iha influence on “This Time” – Machina’s best track. Billy’s voice has never sounded as good since this recording, and the whole band sounds completely into what they are doing. I would say that this song is the “Myonnaise” of Machina. That’s a tough act to follow, but “The Imploding Voice” holds its own. It’s a nice mid-tempo rocker with some very interesting guitar effects. And that’s where the fun ends.

“Glass and the [bad word removed]ing Ghost Children.” I’m gonna come right out and say it – The Machina “mystery” was a load of bullshit, and anyone who tried to derive any meaning from it is a sad, lonely nerd. I know you are reading this, nerds, and you think that it’s cool or hip to be considered one, but it’s not. Get a life and stop inflating Billy’s ego by acting like his half assed attempt at a concept album was some deep look into the human soul. All that crap is what made me (and I’m sure the general public) stop paying attention to Billy after a while. The whole thing is summed up in this song. For the record: I do like this song, but the boring/gay interlude has to go, and some non-Glass centered lyrics would be nice.

I’m going out of order here, but these two songs go together in the fact that they never really quite grabbed me. Even seven years later, I usually give “Wound” and “With Every Light” the skip. They bore me. On the other hand, “Blue Skies Bring Tears” and “The Crying Tree of Mercury” are awesome, but they drag like “Heavy Metal Machine.” I would’ve liked to see the Machina II version of “Blue Skies Bring Tears,” or even the demo version.

So the past 5 songs all had some serious flaws. I must hand it to the Real Smashing Pumpkins though – they knew how to end it. “Age of Innocence” has a certain carefree spirit about it that takes me over whenever I hear it. I still remember driving around when I was 18, hearing these words, and just forgetting how much life sucked: “For the moment we are free / We seek to bind our release / Too young to die, too rich to care / Too [bad word removed]ed to swear that I was there.

Overall, Machina was a great album ruined by a terrible concept. Billy could have done a lot better had he not bound himself to writing a crappy fairy tale. Ha. A fairy tale. That’s rich.

The only reason people don't like this and Adore is because they aren't just boring old rock, Mellon Collie and Siamese Dream were great but the lyrics weren't great and it all relied on melody, these two albums combine the element and make wonderful records. Mellon Collie and Siamese were both very happy sunny day records while Adore and Machina are very winterly and electric. Love it or hate, you'll know right away but with all out rock songs like "The Everlasting Gaze" which kicks off the album in a quick mystery and then the album slowing down after "Glass and the Ghost Children" it is an emotion filled adventure with a small storyline related. It's a shame it wasn't released as a double album with Machina II like it was planned, but none the less it is still a fine disc.

Like everyone else have already said, underrated!
Love all the songs, but here are my special favourits:

* The Everlasting Gaze: So different from the others, and with pretty rough lyrics. Billy just makes it all golden, he is such a genious, and I think I'm not alone to say that.
* Raindrops + Sunflowers: "And I'm just trying to walk with you, between the raindrops". What can I say? I love the lyric and the melody.
* Stand Inside Your Love: "Your home is here, within my heart". Lovely.
* I of the Mourning: "Pick up where my thoughts left off". I can relate to a lot in here.
* Try, Try, Try: One of my fav songs. I especially like the piece "Try to hold on, for this heart's a little bit older". I can relate to that in many parts of my own life.
* Heavy Metal Machine: Oh isn't it a classic? I just love it so much.
* The Crying Tree Of Mercury: "These are the tears I've been crying my whole life, like an ocean of desire, I'm reaching thru the noise, across the dusk of time, within the lilting lies, I am singing out to you." This song makes me feel like everything goes in slow motion, which can be very nice of you're all stressed up. I love how Billys voice AND the guitar both have got like this whining sound to them.
* Blue Skies Bring Tears: "I am a stranger to you as you are to yourself". No need to say anything more, it's just another masterpiece.
* Age of Innocence: It's so soft to listen to. A special piece I like is "And in my prayers I dream alone. A silent speech to deaf ear. If you want love you must be love, but if you bleed love you will die loved."

The Pumpkins rocks, and this album is a big flip!

Raindrops + Sunshowers, The Sacred And Profane and This Time are 3 great pumpkins songs yet they never seem to get the respect they deserve.

taking the album as a hole i only give it 4 stars because there are one or two songs i never listen to but heres the edited version of this album i made on my itunes!
1. The Everlasting Gaze
2. Raindrops + Sunshowers
3. Stand Inside Your Love
4. The Sacred And Profane
5. Try, Try, Try
6. Age Of Innocence
7. This Time

there are other great songs onthis album like I Of The Mourning but i just really like this running order!

If anyone has all the songs please upload them. It won't take you that much effort and we all can enjoy the music.