Shiny and Oh So Bright - Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.

'Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun.' (stylized in all caps ) is the tenth studio album by the American alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The album was released on November 16, 2018 through Napalm Records.

Background and recording
In early February 2018 it was announced that original members Jimmy Chamberlin and James Iha had rejoined the band, marking the first time since Machina II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music and Zeitgeist that Iha and Chamberlin has worked with the band, respectively. The reunited band started production on new material in February 2018 with Rick Rubin producing, the first time he had worked with the band since the Adore album cycle. Recording took place at Shangri La recording studio, Malibu, California. The group originally presented eight song demos to Rubin with the intention of releasing one as a comeback single. After Rubin approved of all eight, the group planned two four-song EPs, the first of which was originally scheduled to be released in May 2018. In September 2018 it was announced that the EPs would take the form of a full-length album, the first and last in the Shiny and Oh So Bright album series. Former bassist D'arcy Wretzky claims Iha and Rubin's involvement in the album was limited, saying "He [Iha] was only involved in the one Rick Rubin song. Billy’s got a lot of nerve going out there saying Rick recorded the whole album. He only had a week to record one song."

Release and promotion
The album's first single, "Solara", was released on June 8, 2018. The second single "Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)" was released on September 13, 2018. The opening track "Knights of Malta" was secretly released as a private YouTube video on November 7, 2018.

Lead single "Solara" was performed live on national television on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Monday, June 11, 2018.

Reception
The album received generally positive reviews.

Consequence of Sound gave the album a B and named it album of the week. AllMusic claimed "Corgan delivers something unexpected: music that's rich but settled, music that plays to his strengths, music where he seems happy in his own skin." NME remarked "The heavier moments refuse to act as a sledegehammer of alt-rock pastiche, which this record could so easily have been. Instead, it’s a showcase of songcraft that’s allowed to breathe and reveal itself. Bring on volume two. The dream lives on." Spin Magazine noted "All signs pointed to Shiny and Oh So Bright ... as an authoritative step back on track."

Exclaim! was mixed on the album, stating "At only eight tracks, it's the shortest Smashing Pumpkins full-length and it feels less grandiose than most of their work simply due to that brevity, which makes it harder to measure against their other LPs--although it easily blows the last album out of the water and is more immediately catchy than Zeitgeist." DIY Magazine reported "There’s not much in the way of stylistic cohesion, either, and you wonder whether that’s simply because the creativity was flowing out of the almost-fully-reformed lineup or simply because Billy felt confident in following his every whim."

Rolling Stone published a more negative review, giving the album 2 out of 5 stars. Christopher R. Weingarten, writing for Rolling Stone, states that "no amount of Adore-ation can excuse the absolute maelstrom of inconsequential material that Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin have made in the 18 years since they’ve played on a Smashing Pumpkins record together." Weingarten concludes his review, stating "[s]ave the few fire-breathing dragon moments of Lollapalooza-era churn, it’s the Smashing Pumpkins in name only, and that ice cream truck has long left the gas station."

The Smashing Pumpkins

 * Billy Corgan – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
 * James Iha – guitar, bass guitar
 * Jeff Schroeder – guitar
 * Jimmy Chamberlin – drums

Additional musicians

 * The Section Quartet – strings on "Knights of Malta" and "Alienation"
 * Daphne Chen – violin
 * Richard Dodd – cello
 * Eric Forman – violin
 * Leah Katz – viola
 * Charissa Nielsen, Briana Lee, Missi Hale – additional background vocals on "Knights of Malta"

Production

 * Rick Rubin – production
 * Dana Nielsen – recording, mixing
 * Jason Lader – additional recordings, strings recording
 * Davis Spreng – additional recordings
 * Vlado Meller – mastering