The Smashing Pumpkins' "Machina/the machines of God" Turns 25

If you haven't heard one of the most criminally under-rated and over-looked albums of the last 25 years, get on Spotify or YouTube and go listen to Machina as soon as possible.

Like so many Smashing Pumpkins albums, they age like fine wine. And often, they are very ahead of their own time.

Machina/the machines of God is one of those albums.

But why should it matter? Why should anyone care? How can an album be so important to listen to?

Because the spirit of Machina touches on the essence of spirituality in the collective consciousness of modern culture, and even though it was released 25 years ago, its epic message is as relevant today as ever - if not even more so.

Indeed, with Machina, the Smashing Pumpkins touched on themes still somewhat taboo in rock music - those that deal with the individual's relationship to both God (or you might say divine purpose) and society.

These themes are cast on the backdrop of one man's personal life struggles, his love, his aspirations as a musical artist, and his tragic losses.

These are themes everyone can relate to, as the album dares to ask the questions: "What is my place in the grand scheme? Is there something better than material success? What is the place of Love in the world? Can it change the world? And how can I transcend sorrows and find joy when life has so much tragedy and pain?"

The album's tone is Wagnerian in its drama. As a concept album, it has characters and story-lines that mirror the struggles of its creators. It deals with drug use, addiction, death, rebirth, love, disillusionment, divine purpose and mission, and ultimately the attainment of peace through spiritual transcendence.

As our world becomes ever more digitally-based and advances in technology bring us a fascinating new world, it also distances us, in ways, from each other and from our own sense of spiritual wellness.

Interestingly, the world in which Machina takes place is a futuristic one that is extremely technologically advanced and in which media of all kinds have taken a central, integrated role in peoples' daily lives. It is a world which we are still as yet realizing, but coming ever closer to.

Finding spiritual peace and cutting through the digital noise to touch reality (and the essence of the divine) is just one aspect of its message.

The album swings back and forth manically between highs and lows, from grief and despair to euphoria. It was released as, ultimately, an unfinished project, with many more songs on its independently released sequel, Machina II/the friends and enemies of modern music - which can be found currently online.

And with this 25th anniversary upon us, the Smashing Pumpkins are set to soon release Machina in its entirety with a new re-issue of the album - complete with a re-sequencing, new art, and bonus material.

Not only that, but song-writer and Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan is also set to tour this June as "Billy Corgan and The Machines of God," directly referencing the era and further underlining the importance of its message here and now, in 2025.

With so much going on, it's clear that the era of Machina isn't only relevant - it's still ongoing. Indeed, considered the Smashing Pumpkins "last album" at the time, it seemed to consolidate all eras and all the themes the band explored up until that time.

Even though its sound was a unique blend of electronic noise and guitar rock, it was somehow quintessential to the spirit of the band, taking the summation of its parts into one whole.

As the band has lived on and continued to create, that quintessence still echoes in this album.

It is a bundle of all the intelligence, the emotional intensity, and spiritual upliftment the band has to offer, and offers still through its new music.

So on this 25th anniversary, take time to explore this album - or even discover it again. Listen to it. Absorb it. Let it edify you, and buckle up for this summer's Billy Corgan and The Machines of God!