ATUM

From SPCodex, The Smashing Pumpkins wiki
For the song, see Atum (song).
For a synopsis of the story, see ATUM (synopsis).
ATUM
Studio album by
The Smashing Pumpkins
ReleasedMay 5, 2023
Recorded2020-2022
GenreAlternative rock
Length138:09
Label
ProducerBilly Corgan
Format
  • 4×LP + 5×7"
  • 4×LP
  • 3×CD
  • Digital
The Smashing Pumpkins chronology
The Rubano Tapes Vol. 2
(2022) 		ATUM
(2023) 		Smashing Pumpkins 4/21/94
(2023)
Singles from ATUM
  1. "Beguiled"
    Released: September 20, 2022
  2. "Spellbinding"
    Released: March 28, 2023
  3. "Empires"
    Released: April 13, 2023
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic72/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4/5 stars[2]
NME4/5 stars[3]
Rolling Stone7/10 stars[4]
No Ripcord8/10 stars[5]

ATUM (pronounced like "Autumn"[6]), or ATUM: A Rock Opera in Three Acts, is the twelfth studio album and third concept album by The Smashing Pumpkins. It features 33 songs that form a three-act rock opera that is the sequel to 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000's Machina/The Machines of God. The album was announced on September 19, 2022 via Madame ZuZu's newsletter.

The album was released in three separate installments of 11 songs—ATUM: Act I was released on November 15, 2022, ATUM: Act II was released on January 31, 2023, and ATUM: Act III was released on May 5, 2023. A physical box set consisting of all 33 songs, along with a group of 10 additional exclusive songs, was also released on May 5, 2023. The 10 additional songs are what the band had originally recorded as the third volume of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series, entitled Zodeon At Crystal Hall.

Background[edit | edit source]

Billy Corgan first announced his plans to release a "sequel" concept album to Mellon Collie (1995) and Machina (2000) in October 2020, shortly prior to the release of the band's eleventh studio album CYR in November 2020.[7] 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-ambitions 8 song album Shiny and Oh So Bright (2018).[8][9] When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out years later and cancelled much of the bands planned touring, Corgan found himself with a lot of time on his hands and decided to revisit the concept.[8] The album was recorded over a span of 2 years, some of it concurrently with CYR.[9]

Concept and synopsis[edit | edit source]

Main article: ATUM (synopsis)

ATUM is a concept album that Corgan describes as a sequel to the band's albums Mellon Collie and Machina.[10] 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".[11] 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."[11]

ATUM was released in three acts,[12] each consisting of 11 songs. Each act was scheduled to be released 11 weeks after the prior with all three acts being released together on April 21,[12] though the final release was ultimately pushed back to May 5. Concurrent to the release of Act III, a physical box set containing all 33 songs, and an additional 10 extra songs, was released.[12] The release schedule was designed by Corgan to help listener pace themselves in digesting the large body of work.[13] The 10 songs exclusive to the box set were recorded prior to the album's songs, and is what Corgan described as a psychedelic rock record that was originally intended to be the third volume of the Shiny and Oh So Bright series[14] entitled Zodeon At Crystal Hall, with volume 2 being what became CYR.[15]

Sound[edit | edit source]

Contrary to CYR's electronic and guitar-light sound, Corgan described ATUM as more guitar-driven in its sound.[16] 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.[16]

Release and promotion[edit | edit source]

The album's title and three part release structure was announced on September 19, 2022.[17] The album's first single, "Beguiled", was released the following day.[17] Corgan also conducted a weekly podcast called Thirty-Three, where he played and dissected a new song from ATUM each week prior to release.[18]

Each act was scheduled to be released 11 weeks after the prior. ATUM: Act I was released on November 15, 2022, ATUM: Act II was released on January 31, 2023, and ATUM: Act III was released on May 5, 2023, pushed back from the original date of April 21.[19] A physical box-set, consisting of all 33 songs, along with a group of 10 additional exclusive songs, was also released on May 5, 2023.[19] Pre-orders for the box set went on sale on Madame Zuzu's website on September 19, 2022, with two options: the black vinyl edition, and the autographed "milky way gray" vinyl edition. Both are machine-numbered, include four LPs, five 7" records of exclusive songs, a special audio story of "Act I/Atum", and a complete lyric book and story narrative. Units started shipping in May 2023, with no online streaming of the exclusive songs until "at least winter of 2023."[20]

The ten additional songs, which will be spread across five 7-inch singles, were revealed in the fourth episode of Corgan's Thirty-Three podcast to be the shelved Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol. 3 album. In the final episode of the podcast, "Of Wings", Corgan revealed the title for volume three is Zodeon At Crystal Hall and that six of the bonus songs are from the true album, which is eleven songs total, with the other four being B-sides.

The band embarked on the Spirits On Fire tour of North America with Jane's Addiction and Poppy leading up to the album's first release, with Our Lady Peace filling in on select Canadian dates for Jane's Addiction, and Meg Myers doing the same for Poppy on two of the US dates.[21] On March 28, 2023 "Spellbinding" was released on streaming as the album's second single.[22] It was also used in the end credits for the Netflix movie Murder Mystery 2 on Netflix.[23] On the same day that "Spellbinding" was released, the band also announced a summer North American tour entitled The World Is A Vampire tour. Consisting of amphitheaters, an indoor arena, and a couple smaller indoor theaters, the band will continue to promote ATUM while having support from Stone Temple Pilots, Interpol, and Rival Sons. This comes after the festivals of the same name that took place in Mexico City and in eight 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 whom also directed the music video for "Cherub Rock". On May 6, 2023, the band released a trailer for an apparent ATUM film, also directed by Kerslake.[24]

Track listing[edit | edit source]

All tracks are written by Billy Corgan.

Act I
No.TitleCharacter(s)[25]Length
1."Atum" 3:32
2."Butterfly Suite"June3:28
3."The Good In Goodbye"The Seraphim4:41
4."Embracer"June3:40
5."With Ado I Do"Shiny2:53
6."Hooligan"Osirah3:06
7."Steps In Time"June3:49
8."Where Rain Must Fall"June4:15
9."Beyond The Vale"The X+I3:43
10."Hooray!"Ruby and The Diamonds3:44
11."The Gold Mask"Zero (by way of Ruby)3:37
Act II
No.TitleCharacter(s)Length
1."Avalanche"Osirah, Ruby5:43
2."Empires"Zero (by way of Ruby)3:10
3."Neophyte"June4:17
4."Moss"The X+I2:59
5."Night Waves"Hopus Dei2:53
6."Space Age"The Seraphim3:12
7."Every Morning"Dr. Aesh, Osirah6:10
8."To The Grays"June3:12
9."Beguiled"Dr. Aesh, The X+I3:58
10."The Culling"Dr. Aesh4:31
11."Springtimes"Ruby4:01
Act III
No.TitleCharacter(s)Length
1."Sojourner"June, Osirah, Ruby, The Seraphim7:41
2."That Which Animates The Spirit"The X+I3:56
3."The Canary Trainer"Osirah3:58
4."Pacer"June5:25
5."In Lieu Of Failure"Shiny and Los Machinas3:27
6."Cenotaph"Ruby / Zero3:04
7."Harmageddon"Hopus Dei, The X+I4:21
8."Fireflies"Shiny3:26
9."Intergalatic"Osirah8:58
10."Spellbinding"Shiny4:07
11."Of Wings"The Seraphim, Hopus Dei, The X+I5:28
Audio story
No.TitleLength
1."Act 1 of ATUM"20:00
Zodeon At Crystal Hall
No.TitleLength
1."Simmatar" 
2."Magdalena" 
3."Saffron" 
4."Zope" 
5."Huzzah!" 
6."Automaton" 
7."MaryQ" 
8."Burr" 
9."Excelsior" 
10."Necromance" 

Release history[edit | edit source]

Released Label Catalog ID Format Country External sites
November 15, 2022 Martha's Music Digital Worldwide Discogs MusicBrainz [1]
January 31, 2023 Martha's Music Digital Worldwide Discogs MusicBrainz [1][2]
May 5, 2023 Martha's Music 04471LP 4×LP Worldwide Discogs [1][2][3][4]
May 5, 2023 Martha's Music 04471CD 3×CD Worldwide Discogs MusicBrainz [1][2][3]
May 5, 2023 Martha's Music Digital Worldwide Discogs MusicBrainz [1][2][3]
May 5, 2023 Martha's Music 04471LP 4×LP + 5×7" US Discogs [1][2][3][4][5]

More releases: Discogs • MusicBrainz

Personnel[edit | edit source]

The Smashing Pumpkins[edit | edit source]

Additional musicians[edit | edit source]

Choir[edit | edit source]

  • Kimberly Fleming – choir lead
  • April Rucker – choir
  • Devonne Fowlkes – choir
  • Jovan Bender – choir
  • Kimberly Nicole Mont – choir
  • Wilmer Terrell Hunt – choir

Orchestra[edit | edit source]

  • Tim Lauer – string arrangement, piano, celeste, harpsichord, percussion
  • Kristin Wilkinson – orchestra lead
  • David Davidson – violin
  • David Angell – violin
  • Alicia Enstrom – violin
  • Kristin Wilkinson – viola
  • Monisa Angell – viola
  • Andrew Dunn – cello
  • Austin Hoke – cello
  • Craig Nelson – string bass
  • Erik Gratton – flute, alto flute, bass flute
  • Somerlie Depasquale – oboe, English horn
  • Emily Bowland – clarinet, bass clarinet
  • Jennifer Kummer – French horn
  • Steve Patrick – trumpet, flugelhorn
  • Rachel Miller – harp
  • Stephen Lamb – additional orchestration

Act I story[edit | edit source]

  • Bill Kurtis – narration
  • Grace Bahler – voice acting
  • Norm Boucher – voice acting
  • Rafer Brian – voice acting
  • Amy O'Keefer – voice acting
  • Jennifer Weigel – voice acting
  • James Zoccoli – voice acting

Production[edit | edit source]

  • Billy Corgan – production
  • Howard Willing – engineering, mixing
  • Nikola Dokic – additional recording
  • Doug Clarke – additional recording
  • Josiah Mazzaschi – additional recording
  • Matt Walker – additional programming
  • Andrew Scheps – mixing
  • Ryan Hewitt – mixing
  • Dave Schiffman – mixing
  • Ryan Smith – mastering

Artwork[edit | edit source]

  • Liz Hirsch – art direction, design
  • Michael Grasley – artwork, pod/blueprint design
  • Paul Elledge – photography

Charts[edit | edit source]

Chart (2023) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[26] 5
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27] 50
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[28] 64
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[29] 51
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[30] 16
French Albums (SNEP)[31] 131
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 18
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[33] 23
Scottish Albums (OCC)[34] 5
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[35] 62
Swiss Albums (Swiss Hitparade)[36] 16
UK Albums (OCC)[37] 85
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[38] 4
US Billboard 200[39] 111
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[40] 16
US Alternative Albums (Billboard)[41] 10
US Rock (Billboard)[42] 15
US Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[43] 7
US Top Rock & Alternative Albums (Billboard)[44] 20
US Vinyl Albums (Billboard)[45] 8

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "Atum by The Smashing Pumpkins Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  2. ↑ Collar, Matt (May 5, 2023). "Atum - The Smashing Pumpkins". AllMusic. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  3. ↑ Jones, Damian (May 5, 2023). "The Smashing Pumpkins – 'ATUM' review: bombastic space-rock opera with anthems". NME. Retrieved May 5, 2023.
  4. ↑ Epstein, Dan (May 8, 2023). Rolling Stone https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/smashing-pumpkins-atum-act-three-1234731395/. Retrieved April 9, 2024. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ No Ripcord https://www.noripcord.com/reviews/music/smashing-pumpkins/atum. Retrieved April 9, 2024. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Grow, Kory. "Smashing Pumpkins Tease 'Mellon Collie' Sequel With New Song 'Beguiled'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  7. ↑ Childers, Chad ChildersChad. "Smashing Pumpkins Confirm 'Mellon Collie' + 'Machina' Sequel". Loudwire.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Skinner, Tom (September 20, 2022). "Smashing Pumpkins release new single 'Beguiled' and tell us about their three-part "rock opera", 'ATUM'".
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Billy Corgan on new album ATUM: "It goes in a million different…". Kerrang!.
  10. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Announce New Album Atum, a Sequel to Mellon Collie and Machina". Pitchfork. September 20, 2022.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Skinner, Tom (September 20, 2022). "Smashing Pumpkins release new single 'Beguiled' and tell us about their three-part "rock opera", 'ATUM'".
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 "The Smashing Pumpkins announce 33-track, three-act rock opera album, ATUM — Kerrang!". www.kerrang.com.
  13. ↑ "Billy Corgan on new album ATUM: "It goes in a million different…". Kerrang!.
  14. ↑ Corgan, Billy. "Ebracer (with YUNGBLUD)". iHeartPodcasts. Retrieved October 13, 2022.
  15. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/SmashingPumpkins/comments/izxea1/cyr_is_in_fact_saosb_v2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Billy Corgan on new album ATUM: "It goes in a million different…". Kerrang!.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Smashing Pumpkins Announce New Album 'Atum', Share 'Beguiled' Single". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. September 20, 2022.
  18. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins announce 33-track, three-act rock opera album, ATUM — Kerrang!". www.kerrang.com.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Young, Alex (September 20, 2022). "Smashing Pumpkins announce 33-song rock opera ATUM".
  20. ↑ https://madamezuzus.com/collections/atum-box-set-preorder/products/autographed-atum-box-set
  21. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Announce Fall 2022 North American Tour". Pitchfork. May 11, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Smashing Pumpkins share new song 'Spellbinding', announce US tour with Interpol". NME. March 28, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Murder Mystery 2 soundtrack: All of the songs featured in the movie". March 31, 2023.
  24. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr6k1Xys7R6/
  25. ↑ Notes which character in the story of ATUM is singing the song
  26. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  27. ↑ "Longplay Charts vom 16. Mai 2023". Ö3 Austria Top 40. 2023-05-16. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  28. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  29. ↑ "Ultratop.be – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  30. ↑ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select {{{date}}} on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  31. ↑ "Lescharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 15, 2023.
  32. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum" (in German). w:GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  33. ↑ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  34. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  35. ↑ "Spanishcharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
  36. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – The Smashing Pumpkins – Atum - A Rock Opera in Three Acts". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
  37. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
  38. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved May 13, 2023.
  39. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  40. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  41. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  42. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  43. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  44. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (US Top Rock & Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved May 19, 2023.
  45. ↑ "The Smashing Pumpkins Chart History (Vinyl Albums)". Billboard.
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