Without depreciating her talents as a bass player, Canadian-born Melissa Auf der Maur has made her name from the established limelight of others. It was through a chance meeting with Billy Corgan that Auf der Maur first made friendships and inroads into the network of early ’90s alt.rockers. Ditching her hometown band when she scored a five year long gig with Hole, and was later invited by Corgan to join the second incarnation of the Smashing Pumpkins.
Since the Pumpkins’ split in 2000, Auf der Maur has put her name to a Black Sabbath tribute band (Hand Of Doom) and made a few random guest appearances, including a recent stint as backing vocalist for Ryan Adams. Clearly she loves music and musicians. So why then, after more than ten years playing basslines for other people’s tunes, is her eagerly awaited solo debut so uninspired and unoriginal?
A mish-mash of different sounds and styles from goth to Pumpkins-esque alternative to moany-sleazy-girl rock, Auf Der Maur’s album is lacking anything worthy of a mere toe-tap. It features twelve forgettable tracks that leave the listener feeling nothing but confusion bordering on irritation. The opening track, ‘Lightening is my girl’, is particularly offensive, with Auf der Maur’s seediness factor reaching a climax in ‘Taste You’, with the desperate matra, “I’ve got a big mouth/I will taste you”.
Of course the biggest draw-card would seem to be the all-star line-up of credits, with Chris Goss (Queens of the Stone Age) responsible for production and guest contributions by Josh Homme, Brandt Björk (Kyuss), Eric Erlandson (Hole), James Iha (Smashing Pumpkins), Steve Durand and Jordan Zadorozny (Tinker).
In the press release Auf der Maur says, “Music to me is about collaboration”, but surely there has to be room for artistic vision and direction. While it may warm itself to indie rock trainspotters, I would expect this eagerly anticipated record to disappoint far and wide.