The Smashing Pumpkins Thread

[cramx3]

And honestly, I think he should have tried harder to get Darcy back in the band, and then they could have focused on putting out one very solid and decent album.

I think everyone would have wanted Darcy back, but would that change anything with the direction of the band?

[HOF]

And honestly, I think he should have tried harder to get Darcy back in the band, and then they could have focused on putting out one very solid and decent album.

I think everyone would have wanted Darcy back, but would that change anything with the direction of the band?

Yeah, I always thought Corgan kind of wrote and played everything himself on those early albums, which is kind of what fractured the band in the first place.

[Kotowboy]

From what I can gather - Darcy wasn't great live - was too unpredictable from being out of it all the time - and now is just messed up.

Billy said he tried many times to reach out - but she refused.

Meh. Corgan, Iha and Chamberlin is enough of a reunion. I dunno why Melissa didn't do it either.

[Zantera]

I know around the time the reunion was happening D'arcy had a bunch of personal issues. She has struggled with drugs and also been in jail. Unlike Iha or Chamberlin she hasn't really done much in the business since Machina. It's obviously hard to know what 'state' she is in now but at the time I get why Billy Corgan would be hesitant to get someone involved who maybe wasn't up for the job mentally or physically, just for the sake of having the 'true' lineup reunited. But also I don't think it would have mattered that much. I know back in the day D'arcy was given credit for her opinion carrying weight and maybe reigning in some of Billy's crazier ideas but we're now 25 years into the future and Billy has kept making music and arguably gotten a bigger ego meanwhile she has basically vanished from the scene and done nothing of importance to have that same 'aura'. I would just imagine her second guessing one of Billy's ideas and he would go "but who are you to argue with me?".

Hearing all these news about a Mellon Collie & Machina follow up as well as the other new album they are working on, and the one coming out soon, it does give me some excitement again but I just worry it's too much quantity and not enough quality. Mellon Collie is one of the all time classic albums for me, Machina is decent. But as a follow up to the former, I know it will never be AS good, but I would still hope it's closer to Oceania than Zeitgeist or Monuments in quality.

[Kotowboy]

I put on Oceania yesterday for the first time in years probably - and it still suffers from ALL the guitar being way up front and the drums being in the background.

Zeitgeist had the same problem.

I know they don't currently have a permanent bass player since all 3 play guitars - but I'm guessing either Jeff handles bass as well in the studio - or it's literally

Billy and Jimmy again with Jeff and James just doing solos here and there.


----

It's funny that now Billy is either doing massive albums - or very short albums :-P

No Past No Future No Sun is 30 minutes long and then Cyr is 72 minutes long

Mellon Collie 3 will be 33 songs long and Shiny Vol 3 will be 10 songs.

[Kotowboy]

Listening to Shiny And Oh So Bright now...

It's a bit better than I remember. The mix is a bit better than Zeitgeist but it still has that trademark Rick Ruin crispiness. Nowhere near Death Magnetic levels though...

[Zantera]

I guess my hot take is despite being a huge Pumpkins fan, I've never cared much for their production/sound on any of their albums. Even the classic ones. They're not great albums because of how they sound but rather the music itself.

[DTA]

Listening to Shiny And Oh So Bright now...

It's a bit better than I remember. The mix is a bit better than Zeitgeist but it still has that trademark Rick Ruin crispiness. Nowhere near Death Magnetic levels though...

That about sums up every album he's ever produced. Agreed about the production on Oceania. There's like no bottom-end or depth to any of the drums...they're all very surface-level sounding and weak in the mix. Mike was a pretty good drummer and I feel like he got so many unhealthy comparisons to Jimmy because the drum-mix sucked for the songs he played on.

[cramx3]

Really enjoying the new song that came out today, Wyttch. Definitely the heaviest of the new ones I've heard. 

https://youtu.be/9NcVNOWjv1E

[soupytwist]

Strange band for me.  I like (and even love) a lot of their music....but Corgan is really unlikely (sort of the reverse Dave Grohl) comes off as a total prick always bitter and jealous.   And James Iha is a awful song writer, just dire - his solo album is one of the worst albums I've ever heard and those two songs he wrote on Melon Collie (the ones that end each half) are so obviously the weakest songs on that album.

[cramx3]

Billy is definitely an odd ball personality and certainly rubs people the wrong way.  I follow him on instagram where he is very active and he answers questions sometimes in such harsh ways to people.  It's kind of entertaining from a social media perspective, but I can't believe he publicly rips his own fans so often.

[Kotowboy]

Hope the next SmashingPumpkins album is as good as it needs to be.

Shiny and Oh So Bright was pretty good but CYR was like listening to paint Dry.

Oceania was just alright and I never bothered with Monuments to an Elegy.

..I'm writing this as I am listening to Shiny And Oh SO Bright Again and it's way better than I remember.

But I couldn't get through CYR - which wasn't even as good as Adore.

Very interested in " Mellon Collie and The Machines Part 3 : The Infinite Sadness of God's Machines : Deux Ex Machina III - La Tristesse Durera Pour Zero "

or whatever the fuck he calls it.

[cramx3]

Cyr was not very good IMO and I agree, Shiny actually is pretty decent and it didn't hit me at first but I enjoy it much more now.  Smashing Pumpkins actually played locally here recently part of a festival.  I chose to see The Used and Coheed and Cambria insead. 

[billboy73]

So, now that ATUM has been announced and Beguiled is out, I am curious what y'all think.  I think Beguiled is fine, it doesn't blow me away or anything.  I don't think it will live up to the hype as the follow-up to Mellon Collie and Machina, but I am someone who likes a fair amount of Pumpkins 2.0 stuff.  I am excited for the eventual physical release, and it sounds like this will be a pretty diverse album.  I have been listening to Billy's 33 podcast as well.  So far there are 4 episodes, and they debut a new song for each one, discussing the concept.  I have enjoyed what I have heard so far.  They also talk about a song from the SP catalog on each and have a guest.  The hosts get a little annoying at times, but I have enjoyed it so far.

Now, if we can just get that Machina I/II remaster as well...

[cramx3]

Beguiled is definitely more along what I expect from SP over Cyr, but it also didn't really excite me.  Fine song like you said.  I haven't listened to the podcasts and probably won't.  I am debating internally which concert to see on their local date, them or a the local ska show with some bands I also enjoy.  Tough one for me.

[Nel]

He gave that little 30-minute album a name like "Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun." and then the follow up, which clearly had the same artist for the album cover, was just "CYR". Bugged the crap out of me.  I remember when it was announced I was trying to ask him on social media "Is this Shiny And Oh So Bright, Vol. 2"?

And yeah, still sad we got all those cool box sets and then just stopped before the Machina albums got their turn.

I wanted Zeitgeist to get one too, so all those bonus tracks that had been divided up for different stores would finally be in one place.

And I wanted those online-only Teargarden By Kaleidoscope tracks he released before Oceania came out to finally get a cd collection.

My collection feels so incomplete, darn it!

[DTA]

A Machina reissue is the album I want most from any artist currently making music. I know some parts were rerecorded due to lost originals, and it was in the works at one point, but it seems to have disappeared.

I like the new songs so far but nothing's ever gonna blow me away like their older stuff unfortunately. I just want an enjoyable, listenable album with enough good songs to be worth its length. I liked Cyr enough, but it was bloated and hard to take in one sitting.

[WilliamMunny]

I agree with all of the above sentiments!

I've been a fan from the beginning, and for a solid chunk of time in the late '90s/early'00s they were my favorite band. To me, Machina/Machina 2 is the band at their peak.

Unfortunately, everything since has felt like a meandering case of 'one step forward, one step back.'

Zeitgeist and Oceana were solid enough efforts, if not a little over-long. Monuments was the exact opposite (and I still don't understand why Jimmy isn't drumming on it).

Shiny and Cyr, despite contributions from Iha, feel like a million miles away from what I am looking for in a Pumpkin's record. I'm all for new directions (Adore is in my top 3), but the last two albums are just, well, not my thing at all

So, with all of that said, I 'like' the new song and will surely check out the new triple album. I just fear that, as has been the case for the past two decades, I'm going to have to sift through thirty or so tracks to find a solid album.

[cramx3]

Beguiled is definitely more along what I expect from SP over Cyr, but it also didn't really excite me.  Fine song like you said.  I haven't listened to the podcasts and probably won't.  I am debating internally which concert to see on their local date, them or a the local ska show with some bands I also enjoy.  Tough one for me.

I got my dates wrong, there's no conflict. I expect to go to the Pumpkins show at the Garden in 9 days.

[HOF]

Rick Beato interviews Billy Corgan.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nAfkxHcqWKI&t=2963s

This is a really wonderful, in depth conversation with Billy. One of those guys who always seems to have something interesting to say about music (the conversation about AI at the end is fantastic). But he also got pretty emotional throughout the interview talking about his music, his band, and some of the people he’s worked with through the years. Really good stuff.

[cramx3]

I'll have to check it out, Billy can give some really interesting interviews