Critic vs. Critic in the Heart of the Sun

November 19th, 2008 by jjb
tags: critic vs. critic, jim derogatis

In this edition of the intermittent HU feature, Springfield (Mass.) Republican music writer Donnie Moorhouse does battle with Chicago Sun-Times mainstay Jim DeRogatis over the Smashing Pumpkins’ controversial cover.

Moorhouse, on Sunday night’s performance in Connecticut:

The stretch of “Zero,” “Bodies,” and “Cherub Rock,” almost saved the evening, but Corgan put an exclamation point on the madness with a 25-minute encore of Pink Floyd’s “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” that included a kettle drum performance that was one bucket of paint away from being a Blue Man Group parody.

DeRogatis, regarding Tuesday night in Chicago:

On the bright side, the mid-evening acoustic interlude was lovely, and for progressive rock done right, you had to love the cover of Pink Floyd’s “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” which closed the set proper.

5 Responses to “Critic vs. Critic in the Heart of the Sun”

  1. davin Says:

    battle? sounds like they both agree to me. or is “exclamation point on the madness” a negative thing and i just don’t know it.

  2. Self-Respecting Brain Says:

    I could relate to Moorhouse until he wrote this bit:

    There was the ill-advised acoustic cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” which Corgan sang with the sugar-y seriousness of an amateur talent-show hopeful, a silly enough rendering to have warranted an introduction by Chuck Barris

    Then he lost me..

  3. Cherub Angel Says:

    You can tell how unfamiliar a critic is with the band when they seem to think the ‘Landslide’ cover is something they’ve never done before.

  4. axelease Says:

    Although there was no cd single release of landslide, i remember it being the “single” that was played frequently on the radio when pisces iscariot was released.

  5. jjb Says:

    Davin, if you’re too lazy to click through and read the guy’s review, how are you so not-lazy as to (publicly!) question whether I read it correctly?

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