The Official Smashing Pumpkins/Billy Corgan Thread

[Zer0]

Originally Posted by clementine

I really like SP and last week I finally got to see Billy Corgan and the new band he's got (cause it's not Smashing Pumpkins even though the ticket said that!!) and I was a bit dissapointed. The band sounds great (the drummer is excellent) and the "old" songs were amazing, but the new songs just don't seem to convince me (nor most of us there). Have you heard them? He's uploaded them in his website.

I'm still very indifferent about Jimmy not being in the band anymore. The new drummer is good but he just sounds like another regular drummer, his style doesn't have any character compared to what Jimmy could do. I was lucky to see them over 2 years ago with Jimmy on drums and he was incredible, he really made the show for me.

As regards the new songs (i've only downloaded 4 so far, have any more been released?) they are ok, not bad but not great either. If Billy has released the songs under his own name people would take them more seriously i think.

[duga]

Originally Posted by James

I have the first 4 albums now. Siamese Dream is my favourite but Adore is a close second. I think Mellon Collie is a bit overrated tbh.

I agree, but it is definitely still good though. One of the best double albums of all time as far as double albums go. Adore is criminally underrated.

[TheBig3]

From the Boston Phoenix's article: The Bug Hurt: Corgan vs. Malkmus: 15 year Grudge. by David Thrope

As a child of the '90s, I sure find it heartwarming to see a classic feud of my youth re-form for a big festival appearance.

It seems old man Corgan is still mighty sore about being quasi-dissed by Pavement 15 years ago. After hearing that his Smashing Pumpkins would be sharing a concert bill with Pavement in São Paulo, he launched a flurry of pugnacious tweets. "Just found out SP is playing with Pavement in Brazil," twoth Billy. "It's gonna be 1 of those New Orleans type funerals. I say that because they represent the death of the alternative dream, and we follow with the affirmation of life part."

Then he got a little more specific: "funny how those who pointed the big finger of 'sell out' are the biggest offenders now . . . yawn. they have no love." And: "by the way, we'll be the band up there playing NEW songs because we have the love xx."

I can't defend the nobility of Pavement's intentions in re-forming, but one thing's for sure: of all the people in the world to complain about the death of the alternative dream, doesn't Billy "Target Exclusive Edition" Corgan seem among the very least qualified? Sure, his "re-formed" Pumpkins are still writing new tracks, but I'm not sure that makes him the exemplar of alt-rock virtue. Pavement may be playing old songs, but at least they're the real Pavement, and playing the songs people paid to hear. Corgan is the sole original member of his band left, and I'm sure he's not selling many festival tickets on the strength of new material. And as for selling out, he might be wise to avoid pointing any fingers, big or otherwise — it certainly wasn't a Pavement song we heard in that Visa commercial last year.

In case you're not up on your Pavement/Smashing Pumpkins feud history, here's how it went down. In "Range Life," Pavement name-dropped the Pumpkins in a way that could, if one were really sensitive, be construed as unflattering: "Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins/Nature kids, I (they) don't have no function/I don't understand what they mean/And I could really give a ****." A tough one to decipher, but it's probably not a compliment, right? Pavement lyricist Stephen Malkmus later clarified that it was a lighthearted dig at the Pumpkins' rock-star status, not at the music itself. He said he dug a lot of their songs, in fact.

Corgan, however, isn't the type of guy to take a lighthearted dig in stride. He got really, really peeved, and he retaliated by being a huge, silly baby about it. A longstanding rumor has it that he got Pavement canned from the 1994 Lollapalooza line-up by threatening to drop out of his headliner slot.

Lord only knows what got him so riled up. Maybe he was jealous that Pavement referred to the Stone Temple Pilots as "elegant bachelors" and not him. Or maybe he was just tired of being picked on by snobby indie dudes and had to take it out on someone. In a 1993 letter to the Chicago Reader, indie hero Steve Albini famously compared the Pumpkins to REO Speedwagon: "stylistically appropriate for the current college party scene, but ultimately insignificant."

Albini wasn't too keen on Corgan's alt-rock principles, either: he wrote that watching the Pumpkins "prostrate themselves before the altar of publicity these last 12 months has been a source of unrivaled hilarity . . . and seeing them sink into the obscurity they have earned by blowing their promo wads will be equally satisfying." For Corgan, I suppose it was the smart move to pick on Pavement; if he'd started a feud with Albini, there wouldn't have been any retractions or clarifications. Just bloodshed. Albini can write prose that'll singe your eyebrows off, and God knows Corgan couldn't afford to lose those.

I'll give Billy credit for one thing: even if the quality of his music isn't up to 1994 standards, his colicky little crybaby grudges are rocking as hard as ever. It takes real guts — the courage to be totally unafraid of making a tremendous tit of yourself — to carry on a one-way slapfight for 15 years.

[clementine]

Originally Posted by Zero1986

If Billy has released the songs under his own name people would take them more seriously i think.

I hadn't thought it that way, but I guess that I might have liked them hahaha. Maybe I'm being a bit extrict wanting them to sound as good as Siamese Dream

[Violent & Funky]

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

From the Boston Phoenix's article: The Bug Hurt: Corgan vs. Malkmus: 15 year Grudge. by David Thrope

Great read. Thanks for the link!

[mr dave]

David Thorpe was a better read when he was a weekly feature on SomethingAwful.com

i also still think the best start to finish SP album is 'Pisces Iscariot'.

[SGR]

Happy Birthday BC!

The new SP song "Lightning Strikes" actually aint half bad. I still think Tom Tom and Freak are the best TBK tunes so far.

[psytrancelove]

Old news but worth posting.

Smashing Pumpkins announced a 12 city US tour in August, 2011. The tour kick-starts on Oct 5, 2011 in Los Angeles, & ends on Oct 22nd in Philadelphia.

Oct 05 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theatre
Oct 07 Oakland, CA The Fox Theatre
Oct 08 Las Vegas, NV Cosmopolitan
Oct 10 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
Oct 13 Milwaukee, WI Riverside Theatre
Oct 14 Chicago, IL The Riviera Theatre
Oct 15 Detroit, MI The Fillmore
Oct 17 Washington, DC 930 Club
Oct 18 New York, NY Terminal 5
Oct 19 Providence, RI Lupo's
Oct 21 Boston, MA Orpheum Theatre
Oct 22 Philadelphia, PA Tower Theatre

[Zer0]

And European dates, because we're not all American...

Nov 02 Stockholm Annexet
Nov 04 Oslo Spectrum
Nov 05 Copenhagen The Grey Hall
Nov 07 Brussels Forrest National
Nov 08 Amsterdam HMH
Nov 09 Paris Zenith
Nov 11 Manchester Apollo
Nov 13 Glasgow O2 Academy
Nov 14 Newcastle O2 Academy
Nov 15 London Brixton
Nov 16 London Brixton
Nov 18 Sheffield O2 Academy
Nov 19 Birmingham O2 Academy
Nov 21 Bremen Pier 2
Nov 23 Berlin Tempodrom
Nov 24 Cologne Palladium
Nov 25 Offenbach Stadhalle
Nov 27 Munich Zenith
Nov 28 Milan Forum
Nov 29 Padova PalaFabris
Dec 01 Vienna Gasometer
Dec 02 Zurich Komplex
Dec 03 Luxembourg Rockhal
Dec 06 Barcelona Razzmatazz
Dec 07 Madrid La Riviera
Dec 08 Lisbon Campo Pequeno

They're not coming to Dublin this time, booo

[duga]

I would love to see them at the Riviera...but I just don't know if I should. Anyone got any opinions on whether or not they are still worth seeing despite Jimmy's absence? I just don't know...I have this image in my head of when I got to see them with Jimmy on the kits and it was magical...I just don't know if I can process this...