If you remember Jimmy Chamberlin as the backbone of both The Smashing Pumpkins and Zwan, don’t tell him that.

On his first solo release, one of rock’s all-time greatest drummers wants us to forget his past. From the trite title track, “Life Begins Again,” which also doubles as the album’s opening lyric, to the drastic jazz undertones, he begs us to notice the new him.

Maybe Chamberlin’s apparent insecurity is the “complex” the project is named after.

The biggest problem is not the five boring instrumentals that sound like a lounge/hard-rock hybrid and fail to reach a crescendo. Nor is it shallow lyrics like “A fear held me so tight/ My soul/ Of what the future held/ And what the world was bringing to me,” which reek of desperation and exaggerated theatrics.

The album fails, oddly enough, because of a lack of Chamberlin.

Gone is the shotgun-like snare, the monstrous toms and ringing cymbals that made him a force behind the kit. Instead, he hides behind soft, mild tempos and distant beats; while smothered with fuzzy guitars and poor production.

What’s surprising is Chamberlin doesn’t sing a note on the album. Some guest vocalists include the great Pumpkin Billy Corgan, Righteous Brother Bill Medley and Catherine Wheel’s Rob Dickinson, who sings “Love Is Real,” the album’s only decent song.

Granted, Chamberlin never sang on his earlier projects, but he penned the majority of these lyrics, and grabbing the mic would have furthered the gap between his prior role as a triumphant time-keeper and the main attraction he obviously wants to be.

It’s this juxtaposition of Chamberlin begging us to notice him, while also tucking himself away, that leaves this debut sounding confused and impersonal.

But following the trend of ex-drummers with solo projects, (Tommy Lee, David Grohl) it seems fitting that Chamberlin stays conservative and disappoints.

Just watch if Def Leppard’s Richard Allen tries to play guitar.