SPIN:

By Ken Micallef

First came Queens Of The Stone Age's Songs For The Deaf, then thrillcore albums by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters--now this! Rock is on a serious roll, providing the hip hop addled masses with crucial reasons to drop the bling bling and pick up a Bic lighter and let it burn, baby, burn. Zwan is Billy Corgan's triumph, an unrepentant glam-rock/prog-pop bacchanalia, an album of stadium happy singles and up-with-people wonder anthems. Zwan is a supergroup of sorts, with Billy Burke (aka Corgan), guitarist Matt Sweeney (Chavez), guitarist David Pajo (Tortoise), drummer Jimmy Chamberlin (Smashing Pumpkins), and bassist Paz Lenchantin (A Perfect Circle). Maybe it's working with musicians capable of revealing his buried gifts or his coming middle age, but who knew Billy Corgan could make music this hard rock-on majestic and magic? Opener "Lyric" slashes a perfect Who guitar chord and slamming Keith Moon drumming, melody and vocals ascending a wall of rumbling guitars. "Settle Down" does anything but, continuing with similar chord changes as "Lyric," but amped down for meat and potatoes sufficiency. Corgan sounds like a rock 'n' roll singer here, like he finally means it. "Declarations Of Faith" lifts a line from "Born To Run," but the song is no copycat but a surging, bittersweet rock epic in the lineage of Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" or Swervedriver's "Ejector Seat Reservation." Single "Honesty" is full-on glam glorification, followed by Blondie-rama groove ridings in "El Sol." Corgan goes unplugged for the sweetly sorrowful "Of A Broken Heart," sounding like he's channeling Bowie through sad-eyed shades. Zwan are so full of color and energy, the songs propel forward with all the thrust of a 747. "Ride A Black Swan" gallops like old Pumpkins only better, "Heartsong" offers sunny daydream imagery, "Endle! ss Summer" struts like a court jester, proclaiming "Let's rock" over Beatles harmonies and serene mellotron. And the title track is one of the most invigorating rock opera blitzkriegs to come down since "Won't Get Fooled Again." All thriller, no filler, that's Zwan, laying down a mighty rock message for dayglow good times. Honestly, a single word is not enough