It’s not that The Smashing Pumpkins ever went away; it’s that no one really cared whether they were here or not. Billy Morgan was certainly here, churning out album after after that, despite lofty ambitions (last year’s triple disc Atum) and big name producers (Rick Rubin “producing” 2018’s unwieldingly titled Shiny and Oh So Bright Vol 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun) nothing clicked. For me nothing’s really clicked since Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Still, I kept checking the albums out as Corgan rotated through various members. After almost 30 years I wasn’t optimistic when Aghori Mhori Mei showed up, but that’s why perseverance and patience pays off. This is easily the Pumpkins’ best record since Mellon Collie, a lean and mean rock album that could have been written in the heyday of the alternative rock revolution. I love it and make no apologies for it.