The Smashing Pumpkins Thread

[Zantera]

Man, I probably had the biggest luck ever today.
Was going out for a drive with my dad, something we do almost daily to play some music in the car but drive somewhere and buy groceries and other daily products. (We have stores close, but we like going to different places)
So we went to this small city outside Gothenburg (40 minute drive) and they have a very small recordstore there. It's probably 1/10th of the size of the big recordstore here in Gothenburg. Yet, I stumble across a copy of Machina on CD. (new and everything)
Now, they don't even sell Machina down here in Gothenburg, and they don't have it on various sites here where you can order music, so I just feel like I was meant to go there and buy the album. Surely I could have picked it up on Ebay or Amazon, but it's really cool how it works out. Especially seeing how I'm currently really into the band and didn't really know them 6-7 months ago.
Machina was also the only Pumpkins album they had in that store.

So yeah, now I have Machina physically as well. Also waiting on an order for Pisces Iscariot on CD which should arrive next week. I'm also going to the big recordstore here in Gothenburg tomorrow and might pick Gish up on CD, but I feel very tempted to buy a Vinyl so it may have to wait a bit.

[Phoenix87x]

So, is anybody gonna try and see them on this Fall tour? Supposedly they are playing Oceania in its entirety, so I haven't made up my mind yet.

I kinda feel conflicted, because The Smashing Pumpkins are one of favorite bands in the world, but at the same time I just don't really care that much about Oceania.

[Nel]

I wouldn't mind seeing them. I actually was really pleasantly surprised by Oceania. Great album. Probably in my top 10 for the year right now.

[Zantera]

Man, I want to see them so bad. Oceania is really good, and while there are other albums in their discography that I enjoy more, I would certainly love seeing it live in it's entirety. Too bad they aren't coming here anytime soon. :/

On another note, I listened to Machina and Machina II for the first time today. Some really cool stuff. I need to read up more on the concept and spin it way more times, but I really enjoyed it. Now only Zeitgeist, Teargarden By Kaleidoscope (both generally disliked by fans) and lots of B-Sides left. (The Aereoplane Flies High for example)
Still, I feel positive. 

Also, current top 10 Pumpkins songs:

1. Farewell and Goodnight
2. Starla
3. Thru the Eyes of a Ruby
4. For Martha
5. Tonight, Tonight
6. Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans
7. Soma
8. Glass and the Ghost Children
9. Pinwheels
10. Silverfuck

[pain of occupation]

after spinning both gish and pisces last week, i texted my pumpkins-head friend to ask how many ">" symbols pisces is than gish...he said two. seemed about right.

a few days later after spinning both machina and zeitgeist, it (further) dawned on me that i like oceania more than the previous two. i dont know, maybe the romance of the new album still hasnt worn off.

(didnt hear about oceaniainitsentirety til just now; extra stoked to catch the tour!)

also, ive been in quite a mood for "set the ray to jerry" lately. it might be that one of the new silversun pickups songs has a STRTJ vibe (opening melody and tone) to it. and once i got thinking about it, i predicted it will be THE zantera song outta the aeroplane flies high collection once zantera's ears catch a spin.

[Zantera]

I just listened to Zeitgeist for the first time and was actually quite positively surprised. Pretty much everything I've read has been about how "shit" the album is, and honestly I went into it without any expectations whatsoever.
But I was fairly pleased actually. "Doomsday Clock" and "United States" stood out right away as two songs I really liked actually. Two amazing songs. I didn't find anything particularly bad with the rest, I really enjoyed the album, though it's not weird that only a few songs clicked right on the first listen.
The only negative thing I could see is that it felt perhaps a bit more "one dimensional" than most of the other Pumpkins-albums, lots of "straight up rockers", but I still enjoyed it.

Maybe part of me enjoying it is that I didn't wait 7 years and had high hopes for a new Mellon Collie. 

[Phoenix87x]

Oceania is growing on me. 

[Nel]

You think when the Zeitgeist re-release comes out, it'll have all the bonus tracks they foolishly made store exclusive... to about 5 different stores? Granted, I know nothing about the album, but it must have sucked to have bought it back when it came out and then find out that in order to get all the songs, you needed to buy it from Best Buy and Walmart and iTunes and whatever else.

[seasonsinthesky]

You think when the Zeitgeist re-release comes out, it'll have all the bonus tracks they foolishly made store exclusive... to about 5 different stores? Granted, I know nothing about the album, but it must have sucked to have bought it back when it came out and then find out that in order to get all the songs, you needed to buy it from Best Buy and Walmart and iTunes and whatever else.

definitely. my biggest question is whether or not they'll be inserted into the tracklist of the main disc or not. it'll hopefully include demos of songs that didn't make it as well, like the fabled "Signal to Noise" and perhaps even "Gossamer" (the most worthwhile song from the period!).

I just listened to Zeitgeist for the first time and was actually quite positively surprised. Pretty much everything I've read has been about how "shit" the album is, and honestly I went into it without any expectations whatsoever.
But I was fairly pleased actually. "Doomsday Clock" and "United States" stood out right away as two songs I really liked actually. Two amazing songs. I didn't find anything particularly bad with the rest, I really enjoyed the album, though it's not weird that only a few songs clicked right on the first listen.
The only negative thing I could see is that it felt perhaps a bit more "one dimensional" than most of the other Pumpkins-albums, lots of "straight up rockers", but I still enjoyed it.

Maybe part of me enjoying it is that I didn't wait 7 years and had high hopes for a new Mellon Collie. 

i enjoy some standouts (those two, "That's the Way," "Bleeding the Orchid," "Starz," "Neverlost," and "Stellar"), but between those and some of the related era songs like "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W.", the American Gothic EP, and some of the standout residency material, they could've had one pretty kickass album that just... wasn't put together in 2007. by the time they could've gotten it right, in hindsight, it would only have been ready a year later. perhaps the better comeback plan would've been to do the tour first and then examine the material that worked.

[Zantera]

I have a question regarding the B-Sides of Zeitgeist. Were they ever released in some form? Available on some release or anything? I have an EP called "Bonus EP" which has live versions of some (Gossamer at least), I know G.L.O.W was released as a single, and I have the track "Zeitgeist" on a single (Tarantula I believe).
But I guess I'm missing quite a few?

[WebRaider]

I have a question regarding the B-Sides of Zeitgeist. Were they ever released in some form? Available on some release or anything? I have an EP called "Bonus EP" which has live versions of some (Gossamer at least), I know G.L.O.W was released as a single, and I have the track "Zeitgeist" on a single (Tarantula I believe).
But I guess I'm missing quite a few?

Those songs were tacked on to several different editions of the cd's at release. It was a pain in the ass to many of the fans trying to track down the different songs because there were so many different versions of the release. The best place I've found for info and releases for The Pumpkins is here....

https://www.spfc.org/



This is the page for Zeitgeist where they list the various editions where you can find the songs.

https://www.spfc.org/songs-releases/discog.html?discog_id=199

[Zantera]

Cool! I'm not quite sure which one I've ordered (since it was from a webstore here in Sweden), but on the picture it has a silver-cover and there is a DVD on it as well, so by that it sounds like it's the Best Buy version?

On another note it's just such a joy getting into the Pumpkins discography. The only "problem" is tracking down individual B-Sides. I do have Pisces Iscariot and Aeroplane, and also a folder with around 100 songs that was called just "B-Sides and Rarities", which has quite a lot of stuff in it. But there's always a few that is harder to track down, and that "B-Sides and Rarities" was from '05, so it doesn't have Zeitgeist-stuff for example.

[seasonsinthesky]

Cool! I'm not quite sure which one I've ordered (since it was from a webstore here in Sweden), but on the picture it has a silver-cover and there is a DVD on it as well, so by that it sounds like it's the Best Buy version?

On another note it's just such a joy getting into the Pumpkins discography. The only "problem" is tracking down individual B-Sides. I do have Pisces Iscariot and Aeroplane, and also a folder with around 100 songs that was called just "B-Sides and Rarities", which has quite a lot of stuff in it. But there's always a few that is harder to track down, and that "B-Sides and Rarities" was from '05, so it doesn't have Zeitgeist-stuff for example.

yep, silver is the Best Buy version — has the most bonuses, but not all of them.

B-Sides and Rarities is an iTunes release. it collates pretty much everything pre-'05, as you said, except for some stuff from the bonus discs of the Gish, SD, and PI reissues.

the Zeitgeist period also includes residency material (some of it was released on the If All Goes Wrong DVD), the American Gothic EP, the "Superchrist"/"G.L.O.W." digital single, and "FOL." aside from the Teargarden stuff (initial 3 EPs + Oceania), you'd pretty much be caught up!

[Kotowboy]

I just listened to Zeitgeist for the first time and was actually quite positively surprised. Pretty much everything I've read has been about how "shit" the album is, and honestly I went into it without any expectations whatsoever.
But I was fairly pleased actually. "Doomsday Clock" and "United States" stood out right away as two songs I really liked actually. Two amazing songs. I didn't find anything particularly bad with the rest, I really enjoyed the album, though it's not weird that only a few songs clicked right on the first listen.
The only negative thing I could see is that it felt perhaps a bit more "one dimensional" than most of the other Pumpkins-albums, lots of "straight up rockers", but I still enjoyed it.

Maybe part of me enjoying it is that I didn't wait 7 years and had high hopes for a new Mellon Collie. 

In the Zeitgeist EPK - Billy said that he asked Pumpkins fans what they wanted from a new album and they mostly wanted a heavy album.

[faemir]

I'm still in shock at how good the new album is.

[Phoenix87x]

I'm still in shock at how good the new album is.

Me too. Its all I've been listening to the past few days. I absolutely love inkless.

[pain of occupation]

it was just dawning on me how Oceania has probably received as many spins in the first 2 month rotation as anything this year.

I'm still in shock at how good the new album is.

Me too. Its all I've been listening to the past few days. I absolutely love inkless.

Pinwheels was an early favorite the 1st week or so...but yeah, theres just something special bout Inkless that has kept it in the top spot since.

[Phoenix87x]

Just got pit tickets for the upcoming tour. 

[Kotowboy]

Oceania is a much better album than Zeitgeist.

For all his supposed legend status - the last two albums by Roy Thomas Baker I heard have been awful.

The Darkness - One Way Ticket. Terrible album and awful mix.

Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist - Ok album but the mix is all over the shop.

[Phoenix87x]

I genuinely like every song on Oceania.

and even though I think the album is about 15 minutes too long, I can still listen to it from beginning to end without feeling the urge to skip. Now I haven't been able to do that since Mellon Collie, so I am very impressed.

[pain of occupation]

always felt the final track was mostly a stinker, but i found myself getting into it yesterday the most i ever have.

[Zantera]

I need to give Machina II and Zeitgeist a few more listens before I can properly rank the Pumpkins discography, but if I had to do it right now, it would look something like this:

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Siamese Dream
Pisces Iscariot
Oceania
Machina/The Machines of God
Adore
Gish
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
Zeitgeist

With that said, I very much like all of these. Some are better, some are not as good, but all in all very solid discography. I still have loads of B-Sides and The Aeroplane Flies High left, should be great. 

[Phoenix87x]

Based on frequency of listens

1. Siamese Dream

2. Mellon Collie
3. Adore

4. Oceania

5. Machina

6. The Rest

[Kotowboy]

Adore is very patchy for me but " Perfect " is such a good song.

[WebRaider]

I need to give Machina II and Zeitgeist a few more listens before I can properly rank the Pumpkins discography, but if I had to do it right now, it would look something like this:

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Siamese Dream
Pisces Iscariot
Oceania
Machina/The Machines of God
Adore
Gish
Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music
Zeitgeist

With that said, I very much like all of these. Some are better, some are not as good, but all in all very solid discography. I still have loads of B-Sides and The Aeroplane Flies High left, should be great. 

As I figured my rankings are very similar Zantera. Only thing different for me (as I tend to be different than most on this) is that I hold Zeitgeist in higher regard. I understand why it rubs some the wrong way but I understand where Corgan was going with the record and enjoy the wall of sound type thing he had there for what it was. Overall though I pretty much agree totally.. Maybe I might have Machina ahead of Oceania. 

[Zantera]

Well, as I said, I very much like them all. Zeitgeist is much better than I think people give it credit for, I'm not saying it's a 5/5-album, but I still very much enjoy it. Doomsday Clock and United States in particular.
It feels lame either way I rank it, since I really enjoy the albums I have to rank the lowest.

[Zantera]

Bump. Would people be interested in following a top50 Pumpkins-songs thread? I'm really toying with the idea of making a list, but it would be more fun if people would actually be interested in it.

[pain of occupation]

just post it in this thread 

pumped to see how high my prediction of set the ray to jerry as a 'zantera song' makes it.

[TheSoylentMan]

Sure, I would follow.

[Zantera]

Cool. There's still a few B-sides I want to check out and get to know slightly better before compiling it, so it might be a week or so before I can start it.

Also, considering how many B-sides the band has in total, it's probably impossible for me to hear them all before, but I need to spin The Aeroplane Flies High a few more times.

[Zantera]

https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=34510.0 thread made, do follow. 

[TVC 15]

Uhhh...

Can't wait for the Mellon Collie reissue that drops so soon!  I'm already looking forward to checking out the bonus tracks and the DVD video.

https://pitchfork.com/news/48057-smashing-pumpkins-announce-mellon-collie-and-the-infinite-sadness-deluxe-box-set-reissue/

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness Track Lists (for the curious):

Dawn to Dusk (CD1):

01 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
02 Tonight, Tonight
03 Jellybelly
04 Zero
05 Here Is No Why
06 Bullet With Butterfly Wings
07 To Forgive
08 An Ode to No One
09 Love
10 Cupid De Locke
11 Galapogos
12 Muzzle
13 Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
14 Take Me Down

Twilight to Starlight (CD2):

01 Where Boys Fear to Tread
02 Bodies
03 Thirty-Three
04 In the Arms of Sleep
05 1979
06 Tales of a Scorched Earth
07 Thru the Eyes of Ruby
08 Stumbleine
09 X.Y.U.
10 We Only Come Out at Night
11 Beautiful
12 Lily (My One and Only)
13 By Starlight
14 Farewell and Goodnight

Morning Tea (CD3):

01 Tonight, Tonight (Strings Alone mix)
02 Methusela *
03 X.Y.U. (Take 11)
04 Zero (Synth mix)
05 Feelium *
06 Autumn Nocturne *
07 Beautiful (Loop version)
08 Ugly *
09 Ascending Guitars *
10 By Starlight (Flood rough)
11 Medellia of the Gray Skies (Take 1)
12 Lover (Arrangement 1 demo)
13 Thru the Eyes Of Ruby (Take 7)
14 In the Arms of Sleep (Early Live demo)
15 Lily (My One And Only) *
16 1979 *
17 Glamey Glamey *
18 Meladori Magpie
19 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Home Piano version)
20 Galapagos (Instrumental) *
21 To Forgive *

High Tea (CD4):

01 Bullet With Butterfly Wings *
02 Set the Ray to Jerry (Vocal Rough)
03 Thirty-Three *
04 Cupid De Locke (BT 2012 mix)
05 Porcelina of the Vast Oceans (Live Studio rough)
06 Jellybelly (Instrumental/Pit mix 3)
07 The Aeroplane Flies High (Turns Left, Looks Right)
08 Jupiter’s Lament (Barbershop version)
09 Bagpipes Drone *
10 Tonight, Tonight (Band Version Only, No Strings)
11 Knuckles (Studio outtake)
12 Pennies
13 Here Is No Why (Pumpkinland demo)
14 Blast (Fuzz version)
15 Towers of Rabble (Live)
16 Rotten Apples
17 Fun Time *
18 Thru the Eyes Of Ruby (Acoustic version)
19 Chinoise *
20 Speed

Special Tea (CD 5):

01 Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (Nighttime version 1)
02 Galapagos *
03 Cherry (BT 2012 mix)
04 Love (Flood rough)
05 New Waver *
06 Fuck You (an ode to no one) (Production Master rough)
07 Isolation (BT 2012 mix)
08 Transformer (Early mix)
09 Dizzle *
10 Goodnight (Basic Vocal rough)
11 Eye (Soundworks demo)
12 Blank *
13 Beautiful (Instrumental-Middle 8)
14 My Blue Heaven (BT 2012 mix)
15 One and Two
16 Zoom (7 ips)
17 Pastichio Medley (Reversed extras)
18 Marquis in Spades (BT 2012 mix)
19 Tales of a Scorched Earth (Guitar Overdub mix)
20 Tonite Reprise (Version 1)
21 Wishing You Were Real (Home demo)
22 Thru the Eyes of Ruby (Pit mix 3)
23 Phang *

* Sadlands demo

DVD:

Live at Brixton Academy, London, 5/15/96:

01 Tonight, Tonight
02 1979
03 Zero
04 Here Is No Why
05 Thru the Eyes of Ruby
06 Porcelina of the Vast Oceans
07 Jellybelly
08 Silverfuck
09 Disarm
10 Bullet With Butterfly Wings

Live at Rockpalast, 4/7/96:

11 Fuck You (An Ode to No One)
12 Muzzle
13 Cherub Rock
14 X.Y.U.

[seasonsinthesky]

^ and there are already sneak peeks and/or descriptions of lots of the bonus tracks at https://www.crestfallen.com/tea - certainly going to be a varied and entertaining walk through the vaults, methinks, what with a random country tune, a James Iha solo track demo, some Pastichio Medley tracks, etc. i'm waiting for the official site to put up a preorder before i go all-in on the CD box and vinyl.

[Phoenix87x]

Last night I saw the Smashing Pumpkins for the very first time and it was incredible!!!!

The first set was all of Oceania, which was pretty cool. I like the album a lot and enjoyed hearing it live, but the second set is really where shit got crazy. Zero, Bullet with butterfly wings, cherub rock, Tonight Tonight, disarm, X.Y.U and ava adore and The crowd was going crazy. They also played a brand new song which was heavy as hell and damn good as well. My favorite thing was that the band felt like a cohesive unit rather then just hired guns. I Had a great time.

[Scorpion]

Mellon Collie is the best them, closely followed by Siamese Dream and then Oceania.