The Smashing Pumpkins‘Billy Corgan has been around for forever – with a career that spawned several legendary classics, and also veered into a slew of WTF moments. With all those highs and lows, we’ve all come to ignore just how nasal his voice sounds. This isn’t a cheap jab, but some voices work with certain types of music, and some don’t. Prince is arguably the most talented individual on the planet, but I don’t think he has the growl chops to front black metal, and you don’t want Tom Waits on the next “Gangnam Style.”

On past major singles, Corgan’s either toned down this vocal quirk (“1979”), used it for angsty effect (“Bullet With Butterfly Wings”), or just blasted it away with inscrutable beauty (“Tonight Tonight”). None of this happens on Monuments to an Elegy, so the uber-synthy invitation to “Run2[Corgan]” comes off creepier than intended, and the youth-praising togetherness refrains of “One and All” are laughable now that Corgan’s fired all Pumpkins under 40.

And that’s a shame, because the latter is still a great track – it’s the second best one here, right behind the galloping prog-rock opener “Tiberius” and just barely ahead of the semi-titular “Monuments.” Even “Run2Me” could be great with [insert-singer-with-indie-pop-cred] doing vocals, and maybe a few less power chords.

Sonically, that’s a bit of a problem, too. Once upon a time (in 1996), James Iha said “The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play [conventional] rock music.” Since Iha’s departure, the return of Pumpkins music as we know it is just RAWK with too many synths. The last track on this album is a perfect example, except, without the synth. It’s a rock caricature, with some of the worst lyrics of the year to come from an artist we’ve all respected:

Never been kissed by a girl like you

Only one I wanna do/ove me baby, love me true

Ooh

Eventually, a frontman messiah complex (or holier-and–more-talented–than-thou attitude) will turn any band into a solo project. The Smashing Pumpkins released their best stuff when Iha, Wretzky, and Chamberlin had significant artistic input. No replacement set of Asian guitarists, white drummers, and female bassists could measure up to that core group. So, this album sounds like a great Corgan solo album, with solid session drumming by Tommy Lee. Corgan’s voice grates at times, and it’s far surpassed by the 90’s heyday of the group, but it might still beat Zwan.