The Smashing Pumpkins

[neorev]

I could never get into MTAE, especially after hearing WPC describe it on Howard Stern. I am paraphrasing here, but he basically said that his entire goal was to "make an album that sounds the way people perceive the Smashing Pumpkins to sound rather than the way we really sound". Just give me some fucking Geek and Bodies with the original lineup William!

Funny cuz MTAE absolutely does not sound anywhere near the way I, and I am sure many others, perceive The Smashing Pumpkins to sound. I actually perceive them to sound good, not sound like the gigantic turd that is MTAE. When he made that statement, I was baffled by how clueless he really is.

Sadly he had no edge nor emotion anymore. Any emotion is destroyed by terrible production and his singing having no soul anymore. All his songs sound so lifeless now. He's too much about perfection that all things that feel human are lost. Listen to the piece of shit Aeronaut, then go and listen to something like Stumbleine or Soothe. The difference is astounding.

[Shadaloo]

So yesterday's performance was Aeronaut, to nobody's surprise, and it was nice. Just now, BC broke out "I Fall", which is a pre-Gish track that hasn't reared its head

if anyone's curious This was pretty cool to hear.

[Prettybrokenspiral]

.



I actually want one for some fucking reason. Maybe just the sheer ridiculousness of it all.

lol

I'm laughing because I actually bought this TBK package years back when it was released, and today the only part of it I still own is the obelisk in question here. The music/concept of that whole thing was so bad that I just ditched every other aspect of it, save for the obelisk, long ago.

It's sitting on one of my bookshelves right now, staring at me as I type this. And a part of me has zero idea why I even kept the fucking thing and wants to send it to you as a joke, like, tomorrow.

But I'm also getting this strange Twin Peaks-esque vibe like it's akin to that mysterious jade ring from the Black Lodge, where I'm going to need it to cross over into another dimension one day. Hopefully to one that has better music from William Patrick Corgan than anything we've heard in the past decade.

Goddamn you, @Shadaloo. Now I'm overthinking this shit. The confounded powers of WPC have won again..

[Shadaloo]

lol

I'm laughing because I actually bought this TBK package years back when it was released, and today the only part of it I still own is the obelisk in question here. The music/concept of that whole thing was so bad that I just ditched every other aspect of it, save for the obelisk, long ago.

It's sitting on one of my bookshelves right now, staring at me as I type this. And a part of me has zero idea why I even kept the fucking thing and wants to send it to you as a joke, like, tomorrow.

But I'm also getting this strange Twin Peaks-esque vibe like it's akin to that mysterious jade ring from the Black Lodge, where I'm going to need it to cross over into another dimension one day. Hopefully to one that has better music from William Patrick Corgan than anything we've heard in the past decade.

Goddamn you, @Shadaloo. Now I'm overthinking this shit. The confounded powers of WPC have won again..

LOL, don't worry about it. It's my great shame to come forth and admit that I found one brand new at a record shop for 20 bucks a few weeks back and caved. I wouldn't touch either volume when they were released but in comparison to some of the stuff that's come since...I'll probably track down the 2nd EP just to say I have everything now.

I had actually thought only some volumes had the obelisk with the different vinyl, but it's all of them and the special ones are fool's gold. Mine's ugly brown marble.

Thanks though. And glad to be of service

[Shadaloo]

Looks like he's having enough fun or is happy enough with the response that he's doing more for the whole week:





I've been enjoying these. Anyway, I'll just keep this post updated rather than bumping daily.

So far it's been:

Aeronaut
I Fall (First time since 1988)
Vanilla
Daydream, Snail
Smiley, Aeronaut again
Sweet Sweet (First time since 1994)
Spaceboy
Soma
Today, Purr Snickety, Rocket
Plume, Soothe

[Shadaloo]

...And he's directed a short film with Linda Strawberry called "Pillbox" which apparently features a song called "No Hero Dies But Twice". There's a trailer on ogilala.com and song excerpt, with a not-as-yet active link for tix for screenings.

...This really came out of nowhere.

SCREENING DATES:
October 5 – London
October 9 – Los Angeles
October 11 – Chicago
October 12 – New York

[sonic_discord]

...And he's directed a short film with Linda Strawberry called "Pillbox" which apparently features a song called "No Hero Dies But Twice". There's a trailer on ogilala.com and song excerpt, with a not-as-yet active link for tix for screenings.

...This really came out of nowhere.

SCREENING DATES:
October 5 – London
October 9 – Los Angeles
October 11 – Chicago
October 12 – New York

Is this "No Hero Dies But Twice" song billed as a WPC song or a Smashing Pumpkins song? I hate to say it, but I really couldn't care less about his solo material. I know it's the same guy, but for some inexplicable reason, his solo work has never appealed to me even though I love 95% of the material he labels as Smashing Pumpkins. He seems to write differently when it's for SP. I tried to give TheFutureEmbrace and even Zwan a chance back when they were new, but I couldn't get into either. Zwan is better than TheFutureEmbrace, but for me, all of it pales in comparison to SP (even the newer stuff).

[frankie teardrop]

disagree actually. i didn't like thefutureembrace when it came out, but it's really grown on me over the years as an electro/shoegaze hybrid. the same guy who did a lot of the electronics on adore (bon harris of nitzer ebb) worked on this as well. i've always considered it to be a more aggressive counterpart to adore​, just not AS good.

[Shadaloo]

Is this "No Hero Dies But Twice" song billed as a WPC song or a Smashing Pumpkins song?

WPC. If there's SP news I'll cry it from the goddamn heavens.

[sonic_discord]

I REALLY hope that the rumored reunion of all four original members and the new album and 2018 tour featuring them still happens. They were my favorite band before I discovered NIN and they have always had a special place in my heart. I've been dying to see the original band play live since 1996.

[Shadaloo]

You and me both, man. You and me both....

Well, knowing Billco's insistence on making a big event of everything, I'm sure when the day comes it'll be full of pomp and splendor and everything it actually deserves. For now, I give Bill his moment and whatever the outcome, I'm just content that it actually happened considering his tendency to leave so much unfinished or abandoned. I think he first mentioned this solo album like 3 years ago.

[Shadaloo]

Holy shit

-James Iha plays on one song off the new album, 'The Processional'. "I sent him some [songs] and said to him, 'I feel like this is right up your alley' as far as the kind of music he likes to work on," says Corgan. "He picked out two songs, though one will likely be a B side."

-Zowie is a tribute to David Bowie.

And yeah. This:

"Billy Corgan was midway through recording the Smashing Pumpkins' follow-up to their 2014 LP Monuments to an Elegy when he was hit with a strange sensation. "I felt like I had exhausted the idea [of the band] on my own," he says. "That doesn't mean I haven't had help, but I think my interest in working on just the name Smashing Pumpkins is not as interesting to me without original people involved. It doesn't seem to have the same resonant energy for me. I like to think that if I do any work in the future it would be with them, if possible."

"I talk to D'arcy all the time," says Corgan. "We reconnected, I guess, about a year and half ago. We talk really regularly. I'm really happy to have her back in my life."

"[A reunion tour] has been knocked about," says Corgan. "There's certainly gears that turn and things get waved around, but until it's inked, I'm in the dark as much as anybody … But I'll say this and I mean it: If we never play a note together again, that's OK. I'm way, way more interested in the fact that we have peace with each other. I've reached the point in my life where I'm not in a hurry to get to anything. If it's there, great. If it's not, cool."

[sonic_discord]

It's nice to finally have an answer as to what happened with "Day for Night" or whatever it was going to be called. The way he described it as a more "unfriendly" album had me looking to it, but when Monuments to an Elegy came out, it felt like a step backward after the fantastic return to form that was Oceania. MTAE was mostly "just ok" with a couple of "pretty good" songs tossed in, so that dashed my hopes a little that the follow-up would be as great as it sounded. Doesn't matter now, I guess. I'd MUCH rather he work on new material with James, Jimmy, and D'arcy (and I'm glad he feels the same). I hope their rekindled friendship and the joy of playing together for the first time in 17 years will inspire them all to write at least one more amazing album that can hold up to their '90s albums. One can hope...

[Pbgut]

We're never gonna get CD quality audio of Machina 2 are we. That reissue was supposed to come out like two years ago. Machina is overlong and has a couple of nearly unbearable songs on it, but Machina 2 was pretty great and probably should have been released as well. I can't believe it's never seen a wide official release and only exists on archive.org and torrent sites.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Shadaloo]

Around the time he was touting its imminent release, he was also going off about how he might release MI and MII together ""Not as he would have in 2000", but the way he wanted to do it currently, and he was even mentioning guest vocalists.

I have nothing to back this up, but I'm starting to wonder if in addition to all the legal issues the reissue was/is facing, his being on buddy-buddy terms with the old band again might have prevented him from releasing a clusterfuck botch job, got him to reevaluate his old legacy and he wisely put the brakes on it, wanting to finish it with the rest of the band present for input.

[Pbgut]

Around the time he was touting its imminent release, he was also going off about how he might release MI and MII together ""Not as he would have in 2000", but the way he wanted to do it currently, and he was even mentioning guest vocalists.

I have nothing to back this up, but I'm starting to wonder if in addition to all the legal issues the reissue was/is facing, his being on buddy-buddy terms with the old band again might have prevented him from releasing a clusterfuck botch job, got him to reevaluate his old legacy and he wisely put the brakes on it, wanting to finish it with the rest of the band present for input.

That is true - I forgot about the guest vocalists (I remember reading that he wanted to remix it which - considering the minorly tweaked remixes of a couple of b-sides the MCIS reissue, wouldn't have necessarily been a bad thing, though I didn't really like almost any of the "reimagined" Matt Walker remixes on Adore's). That would have almost certainly been nightmarish! In fact I put together my own "sixth disc" for Adore since so many original versions were missing and we never got a decent, comprehensive b-side/outtake collection like we did for the previous albums. Judas O comes close but it's missing several songs that are scattered on rare promos. All of the reissues had some pretty bizarrely redundant material and unfortunately scattershot track lists. There's only about an hour of unreleased tracks on the MCIS reissue but it's hidden within three and a half hours of slightly different alternate mixes and a handful of worthwhile demos across three discs. I could not figure out the logic of that presentation. Adore is also missing a ton of material despite having four bonus discs. So ... who knows how M1/M2 would have worked out.

I've always liked the very lo-fi sound of M2 (I think I read they didn't even really make a final mix of the songs for whatever reason), especially in comparison to a couple of the synth- and reverb- drenched M1 tracks.

It has been three years since the last reissue though, and I'm never sure if any of the poorer-selling 90s music I liked is a real priority for whatever remains of the big labels. (The closest thing we got for a Fragile deluxe so far is only on vinyl and not available in any digital stores or streaming services?!) So I'm just assuming that it's not gonna happen unless it's in the news again.

[neorev]

The Smashing Pumpkins' Rarities & B-Sides collection is quite extensive. Picked up lossless of Qobuz. It's over 100 tracks. It's missing some stuff, but includes quite a bit.

The Mellon Collie and Aeroplane sets had a few shared tracks. The Dark Globe live CD that comes with the Aeroplane reissue is amazing. I do wish we got ALL of the Pastachio Medley tracks separated, even if they're just jams. But the boxsets are quite nice even though they left out some stuff. It does bug me. The Pumpkins have SO MUCH material though. During the releases of the reissue boxsets, there's been a bunch of stuff leaking that was not included. It's crazy how much material they got.

I hate when artists do reissues and ignore their b-sides. The electronic group Leftfield recently did a remastered reissue of their classic album Leftism with a bonus disc. But instead of remastering their amazing b-sides and alternate mixes, they included newly commissioned remixes from modern day producers. Such a shame because they have some amazing b-sides.

[Shadaloo]

I've been slowly creating a B, C, Z-etc. sides compilation of my own, something more comprehensive than the B-Sides collection (which being digital only bothers me to no end), divided by era. Actual single B-sides, alt. versions reissue bonus tracks, live-only tracks, bootlegs and leaked stuff...the sheer amount of it is staggering.

The album version of The Spaniards debuts tomorrow morning. There's 15 seconds of it up on BC's twitter....I'm rather optimistic.

[Shadaloo]

I liked the Bjorn Thorsrud 2012 Cupid De Locke mix, bringing Jimmy's drums to the forefront was a good choice. Other than that, I don't listen to those.

Remember that one mix of Cherry that sounded exactly like the original? Good times.

Anyway, the Spaniards. I really like this one. I'd suggest listening to it sans watching the seizure-inducing Pillbox film excerpt:

[neorev]

Anyway, the Spaniards. I really like this one. I'd suggest listening to it sans watching the seizure-inducing Pillbox film excerpt:

Not bad. The synths are a nice touch. Though I do wish this album had some beats, even if they're minimal. Or Adore-esque loops. It's definitely one his better post-original line up songs.

P.S. Shadaloo, I am MyKeyZ on Netphoria.

[Shadaloo]

I think there are like five of us with accounts there, lol

[fillow]

LOL, Netphoria forums. Every time I try to go there from workplace, I see Sorry. The administrator has banned your IP address. It's been like this for years. I guess I'm better off not reading it.

[neorev]

Someone in the comments on The Spaniards video called Adore boring and hasn't aged well and that Machina 2 is their best record. I wanna go spit in his eye. :P

[sonic_discord]

Someone in the comments on The Spaniards video called Adore boring and hasn't aged well and that Machina 2 is their best record. I wanna go spit in his eye. :P

Yeah, I'm sure this is a controversial opinion, but I consider Machina II to be the original lineup's worst record.
For me, it goes Mellon Collie > Siamese Dream > Adore > Gish > Machina > Machina II
SPv2 = Oceania > Zeitgeist > Monuments > Teargarden
If I had to combine: Mellon Collie > Siamese > Adore > Oceania > Gish > Machina > Zeitgeist > Monuments > Machina II > Teargarden

[implanted_microchip]

Like almost all of his songs from the past decade, Spaniards studio is incredibly weak stuff compared to the live version. None of the energy, none of the urgency, none of the soaring feeling of the version they debuted on that In Plainsong tour.

Also, the best stuff on Machina II is among the best stuff they'd ever done -- Dross, White Spider, Here's To the Atom Bomb, In My Body. Some of my favorite songs of theirs by far are on that album.

[sonic_discord]

Like almost all of his songs from the past decade, Spaniards studio is incredibly weak stuff compared to the live version. None of the energy, none of the urgency, none of the soaring feeling of the version they debuted on that In Plainsong tour.

Also, the best stuff on Machina II is among the best stuff they'd ever done -- Dross, White Spider, Here's To the Atom Bomb, In My Body. Some of my favorite songs of theirs by far are on that album.

I think the production (or lack thereof) on that album kills of a lot of it for me. It has always (since 2000) felt like B-sides and demos left over from the Machina I sessions to me. I know that it was all written together with the intention of releasing a second double-album, but the Machina I tracks were the only ones that got the proper studio treatment. I would love to give a newly remastered version a second chance, if only it would be released...

[Shadaloo]

Call me nuts, but I like that it's a more subdued take. I figured this was going to happen once I saw it was part of the tracklist. Bill prolly wants to leave the crazy guitar shredding to the SP name.

I think I just like the song whatever form it comes in. *shrug*

Almost everything SP1 did was solid gold IMO and that includes MII.

[neorev]

Yeah, I'm sure this is a controversial opinion, but I consider Machina II to be the original lineup's worst record.
For me, it goes Mellon Collie > Siamese Dream > Adore > Gish > Machina > Machina II
SPv2 = Oceania > Zeitgeist > Monuments > Teargarden
If I had to combine: Mellon Collie > Siamese > Adore > Oceania > Gish > Machina > Zeitgeist > Monuments > Machina II > Teargarden

You forgot Pisces Iscariot

Mine would be...
Mellon Collie/Aeroplane Flies High
Adore
Siamese Dream
Pisces Iscariot
Gish
Machina II
Machina

[implanted_microchip]

I enjoy the lo-fi sense of "found in a crate in a closet in some abandoned record studio" vibe that Machina II gives off, even though I'd love a properly integrated, polished version of it and Machina I combined. I feel like that was Corgan at his mad genius peak.

[sonic_discord]

You forgot Pisces Iscariot

Mine would be...
Mellon Collie/Aeroplane Flies High
Adore
Siamese Dream
Pisces Iscariot
Gish
Machina II
Machina

I didn't forget it. I just don't consider it a true "album." It's a collection of B-sides. Anyway, I'd probably put it between Gish and Machina. Frail and Bedazzled, Whir, Landslide, Pissant, and Starla are all amazing though. I might even put it above Gish.

I enjoy the lo-fi sense of "found in a crate in a closet in some abandoned record studio" vibe that Machina II gives off, even though I'd love a properly integrated, polished version of it and Machina I combined. I feel like that was Corgan at his mad genius peak.

I too would like to hear the properly sequenced, remastered version combined into a double-album, but that wasn't Corgan at his "mad genius peak." THAT was during the MCIS/TAFH era. That was by far the most prolific period of the band's career and it also yielded their best (and most diverse) work, in my opinion.