Smashing Pumpkins yay or nay?

nyarlothothep

Good songs, not your usual rock band in that they tried to be original. However one thing that could actually be used as a form of torture in Guantanamo is Billy Corgan's vocals. He sounds like a lethal case of constipation. Also something about the mixes in some of the songs means everything sounds very claustrophobic, like theres no room for any of the tracks.

Chaosangel

what the ****?!
great band,end of story.
always thought they were timeless.
Gish,Siamese Dream,Mellon Collie are all classics and I quite enjoyed Zeitgeist

bigbadcon

They have some great songs but I never liked Billy Corgans vocals either...

chin_grin

Great music, whiny-nasal vocals..

Sephiroth_dude

gish is a great album as is siamese dream,I did'nt anything after that,there new album has some good tunes on it though,some great drumming too,corgans voice can sound whiney though at times.

h8red

Nay f****n way. Is all I have to say. Wahey!

That whiney bastard f**ks it all up.

paddyb125

Baaaaaaaaaaaad vocals!

Acacia

YAY!!!


I know Corgan's vocals are a bit whiney- okay, quite whiney- but still, they're still a great band. Besides, I think his vocals complement the music. Not every band needs an amazing vocalist to be successful- Sex Pistols, anyone?

It's the passion and intensity that counts. I'd pick Bob Dylan or Tom Waits over the latest X-factor winner every day, for example, and they certainly don't have the best singing voices.

Anyway, best SP albums- Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie. Thinking of getting this as a tattoo, in fact-

Royale with Cheese

Definitely yay. Although if I didn't love them I'm sure Corgan's vocals would ruin most of their songs for me. However Jimmy Chamberlain's drumming would make up for it.

Vic Vinegar

Royale with Cheese wrote: »

However Jimmy Chamberlain's drumming would make up for it.

Yay for that! what a drummer! (when he isn't injecting drugs into his foot! )

I like the Pumpkins music a lot, Billy's vocals do grate after a while though imo too.

Malice

I don't know how any rock/metal fan could dislike Smashing Pumpkins! I can see how people could dislike Corgan's vocal style but I think he has quite an extensive vocal range and when it comes to songs that mix quiet and loud parts his voice suits perfectly I think.

Their best album in my opinion is Siamese Dream. Today, Cherub Rock, Mayonaise and Soma are genius! I think the only below-average quality tracks on it are Luna and Sweet Sweet.

Here's Soma being played live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYkXjsNGgIM

Gish (I Am One, Triestessa) and Pisces Iscariot (Hello Kitty Cat, Starla, Frail And Bedazzled) are well worth checking out to see how their sound evolved from it's early days. Mellon Collie would have made one excellent album I think rather than two bloated ones but I think there would be a lot of argument over what tracks to omit .

I was quite disappointed in Adore when I got it first but the electronica aspect has grown on me over the years.

Machina, Machina II and Zeitgeist I haven't really listened to enough to comment. They didn't appeal to me when I heard them first though.

adox

Nay all the way!

Karl Hungus

Definitely a terrific band.

byte

I liked all their older stuff, but must confess to not having listened much to their newer material.

Chaosangel

that video of Soma that Malice posted is very good,that and Cherub Rock are probably my favourite tunes by them,although Quiet when it kicks in that opening riff is excellent,Siamese Dream is just epic.

Karl Hungus

byte wrote: »

I liked all their older stuff, but must confess to not having listened much to their newer material.

You know, I loved their later stuff. So many people at the time hated Adore, but I rank it very highly indeed. Machina also, really enjoyed that album.

Sephiroth_dude

I 've only listened to one song off of machina,and that heavy metal or somthing,I cant remember the song name,but a good song all the same .chamberlin rocks whooooooooo .

anonymous_joe

Bestest band ever!

I love the Pumpkins, have done for years.

Corgan's vocals are hard for some to take, but his lyrics and musical creativity are unreal.

Superb band, even if the current line-up misses Iha and Wrestsky badly.

anonymous_joe

Karl Hungus wrote: »

You know, I loved their later stuff. So many people at the time hated Adore, but I rank it very highly indeed. Machina also, really enjoyed that album.

Adore's beautiful. Far and away their most emotive, unsurprising giving the effect that year had on Corgan. Machina is also wonderful. It's a superb evolution of their original style.

brendansmith

Saw em at V festival in Melbourne last year. cant remember much

I have dug out Gish here now, :eek::eek::eek: i forgot how fukkin amazing it is!!............oh sh1t, song with Darcy singing has come on:mad::mad::mad::mad:. Ill just go back to the start of the album again.

Tristram

Pumpkins were awesome!

lostexpectation

released their new single as car commerical during super bowl

dead air

Corgan's vocals are certainly an acquired taste but don't let that put you off some of the greatest alternative rock music created.

There's quite a few recently released live tracks like peace and love, 99 floors, as rome burns etc that are worth checking out. Smashing Pumpkins release a lot of really good stuff inbetween albums that never gets picked up beyond their core fanbase. Shame, because there's some fine tracks there.

anonymous_joe

dead air wrote: »

Corgan's vocals are certainly an acquired taste but don't let that put you off some of the greatest alternative rock music created.

There's quite a few recently released live tracks like peace and love, 99 floors, as rome burns etc that are worth checking out. Smashing Pumpkins release a lot of really good stuff inbetween albums that never gets picked up beyond their core fanbase. Shame, because there's some fine tracks there.

Even their fans miss out a lot of it.

Not helped by Corgan lambasting us at any opportunity. ^^

blindpilot

Probably my favourite band. Great albums in the 90's. Not a bad one in 2007 either. People should also check out G.L.O.W. and Superchrist as I think they're two of the best songs they've put out.

Den_M

My favourite band, every album is completely different. Adore being my favourite.

Gish was quite psychadelic, Siamese Dream was epic back when that word actually meant something, Mellon Collie did everything from metal to folk-style stuff, Adore was dark and introspective, the Machina records were nothing like the previous records and Zeitgeist was an encouraging return after the split.

Pisces Iscariot and Judas-O are also must listens. Apparently they're only going to release a handful of songs every so often now, no more albums. Of their very recent stuff I really like Superchrist, As Rome Burns and 99 Floors. GLOW and the newest song haven't quite hit me like the old stuff.

Den_M

Acacia wrote: »

Anyway, best SP albums- Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie. Thinking of getting this as a tattoo, in fact-

Got that a few months back:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58261357&postcount=17

fortuneg

dead air wrote: »

There's quite a few recently released live tracks like peace and love, 99 floors, as rome burns etc that are worth checking out. Smashing Pumpkins release a lot of really good stuff inbetween albums that never gets picked up beyond their core fanbase. Shame, because there's some fine tracks there.

Very true, theres also some fantastic stuff on the Mellon Collie singles (Aeroplane Flies High Boxset) such as Set the Ray to Jerry, The Aeroplane Flies High, Tribute to Johnny, Tonight Reprise, Transformer, etc...

Really liking the new acoustic stuff, not so much the heavier stuff they're putting out these days.

keane2097

Yay imo.

HercHauk

Muisc for Sudo Depressed.

keane2097

HercHauk wrote: »

Muisc for Sudo Depressed.

Pseudo?

anonymous_joe

keane2097 wrote: »

Pseudo?

At least we're not pseudo-retarded.

byte

Karl Hungus wrote: »

You know, I loved their later stuff. So many people at the time hated Adore, but I rank it very highly indeed. Machina also, really enjoyed that album.

Hmm, must give them a listen so.

HercHauk

I am mentaly retarded. There.

keane2097

byte wrote: »

Hmm, must give them a listen so.

Adore is a class album.

lorweld

lostexpectation wrote: »

released their new single as car commerical during super bowl

Brill band:)


Free download of Smashing Pumpkins song FOL

Moojuice

They WERE a good band. They have gont ot **** in recent years, as Corgans ego gren unchecked. I think Adore was the last decent album and even then there was a lot of crap on it. Siamese Dream is their best, followed by Gish. The Aeroplane Flies High Looks Left Turns Right box set is good too. A lot of stuff that should have been on another album.

tony1kenobi

Gish= Tribute to all the musical influences Billy Corgan felt the need to put on one record

Siamese Dream= One of the best albums of all time

Mellon Collie= A cock measuring guitar **** contest with, probably, radiohead.....the judges clearly being Pink Floyd in the early 70's....yes 25 years before this double album of mostly dross was created......except for Bullet With Buttefly Wings.....that was written by Kurt Cobain and called Opinion....but everyone knows that already.Bit of a sickener because it was the only good song apart from Muzzle....and maybe Zero.

Sh1te= everything else....the latest Pumpkins incarnation is not even worthy of my head turn. It isn't the pumpkins.

Of course this is only my opinion.....it merely coincides with absolute truth.

Acacia

Den_M wrote: »

Got that a few months back:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=58261357&postcount=17

Wow, that looks really cool! Love it!

HercHauk wrote: »

Muisc for Sudo Depressed.

Like SudoCrem for depressed people?

http://beaut.ie/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/sudocrem.jpg

anonymous_joe

tony1kenobi wrote: »

Gish= Tribute to all the musical influences Billy Corgan felt the need to put on one record

Siamese Dream= One of the best albums of all time

Mellon Collie= A cock measuring guitar **** contest with, probably, radiohead.....the judges clearly being Pink Floyd in the early 70's....yes 25 years before this double album of mostly dross was created......except for Bullet With Buttefly Wings.....that was written by Kurt Cobain and called Opinion....but everyone knows that already.Bit of a sickener because it was the only good song apart from Muzzle....and maybe Zero.

Sh1te= everything else....the latest Pumpkins incarnation is not even worthy of my head turn. It isn't the pumpkins.

Of course this is only my opinion.....it merely coincides with absolute truth.

What an angry post. ^^

Siamese Dream remains one of the best albums I've ever listened to, and will probably always remain one of my favourites. In terms of the Pumpkins canon, I disagree with your take on Mellon Collie, I'd hardly contrast it to Radiohead, it's from 1995, Radiohead didn't really gain massive popularity until OK Computer which was released 2 years later. I take it you don't like Radiohead either? Anyway, while self-indulgent, it's the self-indulgence of a great band at the height of their creative powers.

The crises that followed Mellon Collie for the band and the members ends up with Adore, which I've always loved, which is a nice break from their traditional music, while maintaining their emotional development.

As for Machina, I'd hardly call that shít, it's a great album. The more recent stuff might not be as good, but not too many bands have stayed great over 15 years.

Acacia wrote: »

Wow, that looks really cool! Love it!




Like SudoCrem for depressed people?

http://beaut.ie/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/sudocrem.jpg

Sudocrem rawks! :pac:

lostexpectation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAV6rWUyqCc

this stand up to all their work

still great not convinced by the last album though and thats with jimmy back

Malice

tony1kenobi wrote:

Mellon Collie= A cock measuring guitar **** contest with, probably, radiohead.....the judges clearly being Pink Floyd in the early 70's....yes 25 years before this double album of mostly dross was created......except for Bullet With Buttefly Wings.....that was written by Kurt Cobain and called Opinion....but everyone knows that already.Bit of a sickener because it was the only good song apart from Muzzle....and maybe Zero.

What about Where Boys Fear To Tread, Bodies, Tales Of A Scorched Earth, XYU, Jellybelly and An Ode To No One?

tony1kenobi wrote:

Sh1te= everything else....the latest Pumpkins incarnation is not even worthy of my head turn. It isn't the pumpkins.

Why do you say it isn't the Pumpkins? You do realise that Billy wrote all the music and played all the instruments bar drums on Siamese Dream? Do you really believe D'Arcy Wretsky and James Iha make that much of a difference?

spoonbadger

I adore the first 2 albums, and MCIS too (but it just doesnt compare to the other 2).

Imo, siamese dream is one of the greatest albums ever created and soma is one of the greatest songs.

The vocals are kinda whiney,but it wouldn't be the same with anyone else!!.

'Pity he went all "tortured-artisty" though, everything after the first 3 albums was a complete let down. He kinda missed the point of music...the music aspect .

fortuneg

malice_ wrote: »

You do realise that Billy wrote all the music and played all the instruments bar drums on Siamese Dream? Do you really believe D'Arcy Wretsky and James Iha make that much of a difference?

Now thats just not true.
Iha co-wrote Soma & Mayonaise

dimejinky99

think everything up to mellon collie was class, especially Siamese dream obviously, but there were a few good tracks on adore and the one after it. i lost touch with them though when James&darcy left. its all ****e after that.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Definately yes!
Fantastic band - they had it. Melody, lyrics, sound et cetera. Fab band, I love how their albums varied sonically

Malice

fortuneg wrote: »

Now thats just not true.
Iha co-wrote Soma & Mayonaise

Okay maybe he didn't play all of the instruments but then, you didn't address that in your post . Anyway, you're right, according to here Iha did co-write those two songs.

My question still stands though. Would Wretsky and Iha really make that much of a difference to the modern Smashing Pumpkins? I doubt it.

fortuneg

malice_ wrote: »

Okay maybe he didn't play all of the instruments but then, you didn't address that in your post . Anyway, you're right, according to here Iha did co-write those two songs.

My question still stands though. Would Wretsky and Iha really make that much of a difference to the modern Smashing Pumpkins? I doubt it.

Personally I think Iha was responsible for a lot of the 'dreamy' ambiance during the slower parts of the early Pumpkins stuff & throughout much of Machina.
The newer stuff has been distinctly lacking those slower ambient breaks.

anonymous_joe

fortuneg wrote: »

Now thats just not true.
Iha co-wrote Soma & Mayonaise

I feel the band lacks someone to try and contrast Corgan's considerable ego and talent, which is what Iha offered.

dimejinky99 wrote: »

think everything up to mellon collie was class, especially Siamese dream obviously, but there were a few good tracks on adore and the one after it. i lost touch with them though when James&darcy left. its all ****e after that.

Darcy had left long before Iha. Like, an album before. :P

Den_M

anonymous_joe wrote: »

I feel the band lacks someone to try and contrast Corgan's considerable ego and talent, which is what Iha offered.


Darcy had left long before Iha. Like, an album before. :P

D'arcy played on Machina, which was their last album before the split, she left before the Machina tour began.

Dudess

Brilliant. Gish and Siamese Dream are amazing. Mellon Collie is mixed but has plenty of great moments - self-indulgent is correct though. The ego of that man...
Adore is great too. Couldn't understand the hatred at the time.