Smashing Pumpkins, one of the more artsy acts of the alternative rock movement of the 1990s, had gone seven years before dropping Zeitgeist last summer. Like past Pumpkins releases, it consists of singer/songwriter/guitarist/serial whiner Billy Corgan and a cast of hired guns realizing his latest take on avant-metal marked by myriad layers of processed guitars: the opener "Doomsday Clock," the disc's most satisfying number; the politically-charged, 10-minute epic "United States;" and the gauzy pop of "Pomp and Circumstances." Zeitgeist is a decent Pumpkins disc but it's doubtful that too many concertgoers will be calling out for the new stuff. If Corgan plays it smart, he'll pepper his set list with grunge-era faves like "Cherub Rock," "Today," "1979" and "Bullet with Butterfly Wings." Incidentally, kudos once again to Ruth Eckerd Hall for booking a show that clearly goes beyond the typical "performance arts center" parameters. Smashing Pumpkins might not be the monster it was in, say, '93, but it's by no means an oldies act. Smashing Pumpkins, 8 p.m. Wed., Aug. 20, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater, $39.50, $49.50
