I will open by saying that I love them, nay, I adore them. Similarly to TMBG (the only similarity, really) Billy Corgan has a love-it-or-hate-it nasal voice, and that effectively defines the band's appeal. Either you are with us, or against us :P

For those that know them, you know that Machina is one of the best albums made in the last 10 years. FOr those that don't, start gently, maybe with songs from Melon Collie and the infinite sadness. For people curious about the present, listen to anything by Zwan and wait for Billy's solo album to come.

To sum up SP's style, they are crunchy guitar rock for the most part, with impossibly romantic or idealistic lyrics. The best examples of their music are "Tonight" from "Melon Collie", "Adore" from Ada Adore, "Stand Inside Your Love" :wub: from Machina, and the piano version of "If there is a God" from the underground "unofficial but very much approved" Machina 2.

I remember a song by them, 'Tonight' or something it was called, not bad. Anyway, with a name like Smashing Pumpkins who could resist them?
(I was just thinking of them today cos some kids had put pumpkins on the railway line to watch the trains smash them. :D )

BILLY CORGAN IS GOD. :banana:

The biography of the Pumpkins, Zwan, and Corgan himself are rather extensive, so...
Let's just talk about them/him. Now.

I'll start by using very short and rather random sentences:
Billy's baldness is cool, but I think I preferred him with hair. He rocks out loud on the guitar. I want his silver pants. I like his poetry book "Blinking With Fists". Uh... He has a large birthmark on his hand/arm. Said birthmark is a "port-wine stain". It increases in redness when bloodflow is increased. IE: When Billy is rocking out, his hand turns bright red.

My favorite Pumpkins album is "Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness". James and D'arcy have cool hair. :rofl: Jimmy ROCKS.

Oh yeah. One of my lamer posts for the band/man that rivals my favoritism of TMBG. :lol:

Sorry, just had to merge topics there :P

Yes, I love them too, hugely. "Stand Inside Your Love" is one of the greatest songs ever made, as is "Yeah" on the Zwan album. I have made it my mission to see Billy solo when he gets here. And meet him if its possible, which has occasionally worked for me when I have decided to meet musicians :ph43r:

*listens to machina again*

Superb album, that. So is "Gish".

Oh yeah, D'Arcy. Amazing bass player, very beautiful, shame about the drugs.
James, great guitarist, superb e-bowing :P
Jimmy, kind of mixes bricklayer thump with jazz fiddly bits. Great drumming. Shame about the drugs.

Their personal relationships with each other destroyed a great band. Some say Billy was too much of a perfectionist (well, he did delete everyone else's parts from the master tape of "Adore" and rerecord them himself).
But Billy sang every love long to D'Arcy, and then her and James became a couple. S**t happens.

I expect a reformed Pumpkins tour in about 2010.

Eh. I'll just say they're decent. I remember I borrowed "Melon Collie and Infinite Sadness" years ago from my brother, but I don't really remember much from it.
I remember REALLY liking the "Tonight" video when I was little.

Uhm..and I was watching "Kids say the Darnest Things" one night and Bill Cosby asked some kid to sing him a song..and the little kid starting immediately with the lyrics: "Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage." I think he was head banging too. It's funny to see Bill Cosby look at the kid, who he probably expected to sing him a nursey rhyme, and repeat those lyrics back to him as a question.

That reminded me of that song, which I hadn't heard in years, and I went in downloaded it. I'll never forget that weird little kid..

I was going to just make a Billy Corgan topic, but then I thought "Well what if they break off and start talking about the Pumpkins again?" So I added the Pumpkins into the topic and of course, I had another thought, "What about Zwan? We can't forget them." So yeah. :lol:

Just a party of brain-children.

As aforementioned, I like Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. I love all the tracks on there but these are the ones that I skip most often:
1. Porcelina of the Vast Ocean -- It's just too long and slow. I can't get into it and it's not good for a quick listen during English or Biology.
2. Galapogos -- It's true. I just don't like it. Which is sad.
3. Thru the Eyes of Ruby -- I adore it, but again, it's too lengthy.

I love all their other albums, but I'm more prone to talk about this one. Heh. Uhm... I have the Bullet With Butterfly Wings music video as an .AVI on my desktop... I watch it almost everyday... And, eh, I'm a sad pathetic being. :P I have a lot of Corgan desktops. Just about as much as I have TMBG... That says a lot right there. :rolleyes:

:blink:

If it is within your power to meet that man, you'll be my best friend forever.

Right. I will tell you when it occurs. :rolleyes:

Good. ;)

:rofl:

Reviving this topic to state that I have rejected Ben Folds live in favour of Billy Corgan - live at the Forum on June 16th.

I bought two tickets. Fight amongst yourselves ....

w00t! No one else has turned up to fight, so I win.

And even if they do I still win, my smiley with tank beats yours with machine gun any day!

Ha what about me!???!! :machinegun: :machinegun: :machinegun: :banana:

Take me!! dang :rofl:

Grrrrrr.... thanks for the tip off, I'll keep my eyes out as I really think he should be braving "the North". I'm at Kings of Leon on the 15th and REM on the 17th, both in Manchester, so can't really get down to London on the 16th!


Oh - and reading upwards, I love Machina too. It is my fave Pumpkins CD, which I thought was pretty rare among Pumpkins fans. But I think it is beautiful. While still being very strong and musically more interesting to me, anyway.

Hmmm..... hard to see where he's going to fit anywhere else in.....

Glad you agree with Machina :D

Hmph. :angry: If he had chosen any other month, I would've come down to see him. But I just can't... :(

Just to resurrect this one, GerryW and companion (Gianthead?), please do post on what his new stuff is like. I am quite insanely curious - especially since I saw a bad review of it. I think they said it was poor and electronic. But I can't say Metro are the world authority on music.

Oh no... it's actually pretty good.

No time to post now though :rolleyes:

:whistle: OOOoooooooooooh!?! :drink:

Confused....

Thought you two were going to that gig?

No, no plans.....

I may be going with one friend or another, but no Gianthead in the equation so far ....

:mellow: :rolleyes: hopeful :)

my sources have just told me that GerryW has complex arrangements where there's no room for a giant head :(

So... whoever has heard the man's new stuff, is it any good? I wasn't a big fan of Zwan, bit too happy for me, but trying to keep an open mind.

It's a great solo album from Billy. And the show was good too, but more of that another time. The important news is thus:

Source: Nme News

(bounce)(bounce)(bounce)


:banana: