Rock star planet Mars is in Aries, and this summer's new music releases are charged with controversy and breaking some serious rules! A highly esteemed rock front man attempts a solo career, three amigos get serious with a side project that's taken on a life of its own, and the busiest drummer in rock gets together with his primary band for an ambitious double album in Gemini style.
Billy Corgan, once the brain behind Smashing Pumpkins, returns with his first solo album on the Summer Solstice. After a very low key period in his career, which he terms a recovery period after the demise of his original and very successful band in the year 2000, Billy presents the rock world with TheFutureEmbrace, a record that resurrects some sounds of the past. Certain tracks on the album recall Depeche Mode while the album's most anticipated song is a Bee Gees cover of "To Love Somebody" with Robert Smith of The Cure on guest vocals. With the Sun moving to Cancer on the day of the album's release, those nods to the past are well timed. However, June 21st is fueled by fire this year with a Sagittarius Moon forming trines to Neptune and Mars. Billy Corgan rides that wave of rebellion by not creating music that echoes the nineties rock he was famous for, and Smashing Pumpkins fans may be disappointed in his departure from that signature sound. The future in TheFutureEmbrace is a progressive, techno feel that goes beyond his former band's most similar album, 1998's Adore. Billy Corgan is a Pisces, and with Uranus in his sign now, it's natural for him to reestablish himself and shatter his old identity with a new sound. Uranus may also be contributing to his unpredictability. On the day of his album release, Corgan posted a mysterious newspaper announcement of plans to reunite with Smashing Pumpkins. No further details were given, and the advertisement ran only in Chicago, his home turf.
The sabian symbol for the Solstice Full Moon is "a sailor lowering an old flag and raising a new one." The Cancer Sun square to Mars and Jupiter indicate the ambition and the challenges of a well known rock star attempting to transcend his past and move forward successfully. It will not be an easy task, but Billy Corgan braves the new territory and finds out if his risk pays off. His solo album is available as of June 21st, 2005. Any future reunion of Smashing Pumpkins remains a question for now.
One band celebrating a big shift this summer is the Transplants. Created as a fun side project by Tim Armstrong of Rancid who enlisted friend Rob Aston and drummer Travis Barker of Blink 182, the Transplants are now the major focus for each of these band members. Travis is on indefinite hiatus from Blink 182, and late spring press conferences and interviews verified that Tim Armstrong of Rancid also considers the Transplants his number one gig. With this month's Full Moon representing first steps taken in a new direction, it's perfect timing for a band ready to fully commit.
The Transplants' Haunted Cities arrives in conjunction with their Warped tour kickoff. They are one of the headliners on this 11 year old summer music festival. Expect a mix of punk rock and rap on this album, which features a number of special guests including B Real and Sen Dog of Cypress Hill. In the true spirit of the Solstice's Sagittarius Moon on the Transplants are taking an adventurous approach. The album was recorded spontaneously, in bits and pieces, whenever the three were free from other band and tour obligations. On the day of its release, the Transplants had already announced plans to have the record "Chopped and Screwed" by Houston rap artist Paul Wall, who will slow it down, mess it up and make it ready for public consumption later this year. Showing no fear of the critics who will inevitably show up on both the punk and rap sides, the Transplants are following their instincts and doing what feels good. How long their professed commitment will last matters less than their willingness to explore and mix musical genres in bold fire sign fashion.
Foo Fighters, led by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl, show their split personality on their 5th studio album, In Your Honor. While the Sun moved through Gemini on June 14th, the Foos' enterprising dual record debuted with a set of standard rock tracks and a set of acoustic numbers that show their softer, more introspective side. Dave's Capricorn drive and the expansive nature of his Sagittarius Moon are contributing factors. Grohl is everyone's favorite musical guest (Queens of the Stone Age, Garbage, Nine Inch Nails), and he juggles multiple projects on a constant basis. A double cd is a logical move for a guy like Dave who says In Your Honor is really two separate albums packaged as one.
However, the standard for the double album was set with some of the best works of classic artists like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, and whether In Your Honor has the quality expected from such a magnanimous undertaking is still in question. John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin actually does make an appearance on the song "Miracle," which appears in the acoustic half of the cd, the set of songs that breaks new ground for this usually straightforward rock band. |
