Earphoria

Seems like bands just can’t split up anymore. They may have left us a year or so ago, but already there has been a Smashing Pumpkins Best Of and now comes this pitiful excuse for a live album. Essentially an audio companion to a new DVD release, if you wanted an example of pure contractual obligation than this is surely it.

Recorded over a two year period in the early to mid-’90s, Earphoria is a hotchpotch collection of tracks taken from various gigs and TV shows, their only unifying factor being that they are uniformly awful. The sound quality is woeful, much of the material is self-indulgent (the last two tracks alone run for nearly half and hour) and, when a decent song does surface – ‘Disarm’, ‘I Am One’ – the band’s performances manage to finish them off. Coupled with a half-arsed attempt at packaging, ex-?? behind this kind of operation should be ashamed of themselves – particularly if they’ve got anything to do with the band themselves. They want your money and they don’t give a damn how they get it. Don’t give them the satisfaction, please.