Smashing Pumpkins?

Nalouto

http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/

yay!

let's all pray for a good album, these reunion CDs have a tendancy to be all "new" and "shitty"

does anyone have any info on the current roster? all I can say is I hope they've brought Chris Vrenna back on drums.

Aldo

You *do* know they've been planning on a new album for quite a while now, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smashing_pumpkins#Official_announcement

Oh well, any update is good. I just hope they won't go on with the Adore stuff. =( It's just...uninteresting compared to their earlier/other work.

Dynagrip

Corrigan is a total control freak psycho. How long until he kicks everyone out of the band again?

Sam

It's not the Smashing Pumpkins without James Iha. Only confirmed member at this point is Jimmy Chamberlain.
I'm pretty sure Auf Der Mar (sp) will get involved since Billy hates D'Arcy, and apparently the Smashing Pumpkins bassist can't have cojones.

I don't know what the hell Corgan's thinking. Why not just make a solo album? It's not the smashing pumpkins without Iha.

TankHammer

I wonder if my ex-roomate from freshman year of college knows about this? I wish I knew where he lived since he was a big fan of the Pumpkins. It amused me because he is from China.

sanstodo

Aldo wrote:

You *do* know they've been planning on a new album for quite a while now, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smashing_pumpkins#Official_announcement

Oh well, any update is good. I just hope they won't go on with the Adore stuff. =( It's just...uninteresting compared to their earlier/other work.

I disagree. I think Adore is their best album (MCIS has more good songs but doesn't work quite as well as an album) and would love to see them explore that sonic area more. It would have been a better album with Jimmy's input but if you listen to some of the live versions of songs off Adore, they're brutally amazing (and completely different).

In any case, I'm pretty sure Melissa will be the bassist since D'arcy sucks and Melissa can play well (and D'arcy was just a drag in general). Jimmy would die for Billy. James........I hope he'll come back but he has a lot of other things going on. Billy blaming James for the breakup doesn't help things either.

Still, the Pumpkins sound can survive without James. Billy's solo album "TheFutureEmbrace," which was already released, was ok, not great. He's definitely better in his Pumpkins skin (Zwan was fucking awful) so I expect good if not great things.

EDIT: Billy wrote most Pumpkins songs anyway. Siamese Dream had very little James on it at all (or D'arcy for that matter) so it's not like there can't be Pumpkins rock without the two of them. I'd miss James' presence since his playing style contrasts well with Billy's, but it wouldn't be insurmountable.

LondonBridge

Dude, this is making me all nostalgic for the 1990s again. I'm gonna hit up the thrift shop, used CD store, and watch a VHS copy of Reality Bites.

TroubledTom

I was really excited when I read the OP, but now it seems a bit like a Billy solo album. Hopefully the new members will be really strong and this will work out. Veruca Salt's new album (IV) is awesome, and one of their two key people left at the end of the 90s as well.

GoodOmens

LondonBridge wrote:

Dude, this is making me all nostalgic for the 1990s again. I'm gonna hit up the thrift shop, used CD store, and watch a VHS copy of Reality Bites.

Better get your flannel out of the closet.

James Iha went to my high school. He graduated about 2 years before I got there. My older brother knew him back then, said he was something of an emo drama addict. Killer musician, though.

That's all. I have nothing useful to add.

AbsoluteZero

I had heard Billy performed the new pumpkins music not too long ago... and stopped half-way through the set because the crowd reaction was so poor.

Not sounding good.

The Pumpkins are dead. Billy is just dragging his ass across the grave now.

Mitten

AbsoluteZero wrote:

I had heard Billy performed the new pumpkins music not too long ago... and stopped half-way through the set because the crowd reaction was so poor.

Where did you hear that? Not that the new material sucking is all that unbelievable, I'd just think more people would be talking about it.

Sam

Look, if you're goign to post something that isn't opinion or common knowledge, provide a source.

mcc

From what I can tell this project really doesn't seem like the Smashing Pumpkins, really. It sounds more like Billy Corgan can't get anyone to pay attention to his solo work, so he's going to start releasing his solo work under the name "The Smashing Pumpkins".

mcdermott

mcc wrote:

From what I can tell this project really doesn't seem like the Smashing Pumpkins, really. It sounds more like Billy Corgan can't get anyone to pay attention to his solo work, so he's going to start releasing his solo work under the name "The Smashing Pumpkins".

But...Jimmy Chamberlin! That's two!

Oh, wait...

Sam wrote:

It's not the Smashing Pumpkins without James Iha.

Yeah, pretty much.

Sam

Yeah, just like David Gilmour in the 80's, and Axl Rose since 1995.

mcc

mcdrmott wrote:

But...Jimmy Chamberlin! That's two!

Three if you count the keyboardist Jimmy Chamberlin killed, whose shade has been haunting him ever since!

Less

mcdermott wrote:

mcc wrote:

From what I can tell this project really doesn't seem like the Smashing Pumpkins, really. It sounds more like Billy Corgan can't get anyone to pay attention to his solo work, so he's going to start releasing his solo work under the name "The Smashing Pumpkins".

But...Jimmy Chamberlin! That's two!

Oh, wait...

Sam wrote:

It's not the Smashing Pumpkins without James Iha.

Yeah, pretty much.

It doesn't necessarily have to be Iha, but the band needs a strong creative influence to balance out Billy, otherwise he just kind of goes nuts. Jimmy follows Billy around like a lonely puppy, and if Melissa Auf der Maur (lol, name) got invited she probably couldn't do it either.

Lord Of The Pants

My mind is still fried from two nights of Pearl Jam, but here are my thoughts:

* - Pfft, just give me a goddamn Les Paul and A whammy pedal and i'll do all James' stuff for you.

* - I hope that they tour with a keyboard player. Because the revival of the Mellotron was SOOO 90s.

* - Hmm...makes me wanna put my Vinyl copy of Machina on and play Diablo II (Don't ask, but if you did ask, i'd say Raindrops and Sunshowers conjures ACT III vividly into my head)

* - The blog has a photo of them recording Jimmy's drums. No shot of any guitars in the background to give us a clue what kind of music they are playing.

Tele = MCIS, Jaguar = Adore, 335 etc = Machina.

Well, thats how I think of it

flamebroiledchicken

Like someone already said, Siamese Dream was basically a Corgan solo album and that (in mine, and many others' opinion) is their finest work.

As long as Billy can stay away from the electronic stuff he's been experimenting with lately, and return to writing in the Pumpkins style (which their brilliant final song proves he can) it might turn out okay.

The Savior

AbsoluteZero wrote:

I had heard Billy performed the new pumpkins music not too long ago... and stopped half-way through the set because the crowd reaction was so poor.

Not sounding good.

The Pumpkins are dead. Billy is just dragging his ass across the grave now.

What I heard is that Billy performed some solo stuff, the crowd kept asking for old Pumpkins tunes, and Billy got pissed and left before his set was over. This could be a different incident, though.