The Smashing Pumpkins

[Shadaloo]

some of these are not overly priced actually, especially since owned by mister BC.

Oh yeah, I'm just joking around. If I had 6K lying around I'd snap up a ZG guitar like that, and no foolin'.

I really do hope these will go into hands of people who'll appreciate them and maybe use them to create their own cool stuff.

[eversonpoe]

$30,000 for an alesis sr-16? seriously? like, i get that it was used to make the drumbeat on 1979, which is cool, but you can get a new one for $150. i just don't understand why the fact that it was owned by B.C. inflates its price 200x.

[fillow]

$30,000 for an alesis sr-16? seriously? like, i get that it was used to make the drumbeat on 1979, which is cool, but you can get a new one for $150. i just don't understand why the fact that it was owned by B.C. inflates its price 200x.

Oh, so you're saying you're gonna buy the rest of unsold Siddhartha records instead? Those money won't earn itself you know.

[Shadaloo]

Album's out Oct. 13th, brief fall tour

Early access tix to upcoming tour available if you buy a the album with it. I might head to Toronto.

After one listen to the song, I kinda dig it. Not totally acoustic. I'll let it simmer a bit.

[fillow]

Uggghhhh why the need for the new moniker? How do I scrobble thissss???
Song sounds like something written for Oceania and recorded on piano instead of a rock band format.

[GulDukat]

Is "WPC" his new moniker?

Is Ogilala part of the Teargarden project? Is it an album within an album within an album within an album within an album? Or is it something new? Is "WPC" Billy Corgan's Chris Gaines-like alter-ego or is an artistic statement, protesting the zeitgeist, post-modern industrialization, Niche-Schopenhauer post-WW2 Military Industrial Complex of Donald Trump's America? Or is Billy being ironic and is Ogilala actually a statement that is pro-post-modern industrialization, Niche-Schopenhauer post-WW2 Military Industrial Complex of Donald Trump's America?

[Shadaloo]

Tracklist:


Zowie
Processional
The Spaniards
Aeronaut
The Long Goodbye
Half-Life Of An Autodidact
Amarinthe
Antietam
Mandaryne
Shiloh
Archer

Amarinthine (spelled differently?) and The Spaniards are the two new tracks SP performed on the In Plainsong tour.








This album is already better than MTAE and Teargarden and I haven't even heard it

[GulDukat]

I actually am really looking forward to hearing this. Betcha Pitchfork already has their 3/10 review written.

[Shadaloo]

He's actually been going by WPC for a few years now. Doesn't make a big thing of it, but I guess he prefers it to Billy. He was selling WPC trucker hats out of the ZuZu's store not so long ago.

[neorev]

[neorev]

Not feeling it. I think it's because the vocals, I just get no feeling from them. I think Billy is too focused on sounding "good" and "perfect" that he forgot that it needs to sound sincere and from the soul. I just don't hear that with this. You listen to older acoustic Billy only songs and you feel like he's leaving a piece of his soul on tape. Fragile and imperfect. It is those idiosyncrasies that made those songs what they are. It wasn't about sounding perfect and clean. I feel that sterile-ness sucks out a huge part of this track's heart and soul and honestly most of the later Billy material suffer from this. They end up sounding like Billy going through the motions.

[Prettybrokenspiral]

Just what every Pumpkins fan wants...another William Patrick Corgan solo album.

Judging from the song titles, I bet this lands firmly between the schlock rock of Oceania and his lame tea-time synth noodlings.

This guy does nothing for me anymore. Classic Pumpkins reunion or GTFO

[Kodiak33]

Just what every Pumpkins fan wants...another William Patrick Corgan solo album.

Judging from the song titles, I bet this lands firmly between the schlock rock of Oceania and his lame tea-time synth noodlings.

This guy does nothing for me anymore. Classic Pumpkins reunion or GTFO

When he had an editor (the other members of the original band) or good producers he is incredible. But ever since the Machina days he hasn't had one and it's been very apparent IMO.

[implanted_microchip]

Aeronaut's vocals are everything I've not liked about Billy's singing style over the last decade, wow. It's so rare that someone completely captures what you don't care for so thoroughly.

Spaniards is a great song, but I'm worried it'll get lost in translation to studio. A lot of recent Pumpkins songs haven't been half as good polished and recorded as they are live. What someone said above about sterility is a great term for it -- there's a sense of not allowing any room for personality, charm or grit. Billy's current vocal style of that weird stuttery pausing he does between syllables and the hard annunciation on "ih" sounds grates at me, and not in that good way that his vocals on things like Mellon Collie might.

Also it's good to hear him continuing the lovers drinking game -- if you took a sip every time he sings that word you'd die.

[Shadaloo]

ZG->TG->Oceania->Monuments To A Eugoogly being precisely those places where he's been surrounded by nothing but yes-men and allowed to do the first thing that crosses his mind. I tend to think one of the reasons Oceania is as palatable as it is (your mileage may vary, of course), is because it's him actually trying to buckle down and do a 'traditional' SP album in response to nobody giving a shit about Teargarden.

I'll be the last guy to say "He's still got it", but he's been a case study in fucking shit up when it comes to laying down studio cuts while still writing a fair number of decent songs. There's a lot of great stuff that came out of IAGW, and I kind of wonder if a big reason I don't love stuff like Gossamer and 99 Floors as much as I do is because they were never committed to an album, and just allowed to flourish live.

IMO The Spaniards and Amarinthine are good songs - I'd say Spaniards is actually damn great. If he manages to make it sound like crap on the album I'll be disappointed - but not surprised. The vocals are a lost cause - that's a foregone conclusion - but I hold out hope the songs will at least be good.

[Space Suicide]

Not digging any of this "solo" stuff if I'm honest.

[Piko]

I really liked Oceania. I felt like that was the album that he finally took his head out of his ass and actually took outside input. I can't listen to most of his other stuff post 2000. Oceania is probably the only one. I'll be fine if I never zeitgeist ever again or the TG stuff.

[Prettybrokenspiral]

My problem with Oceania is that it sounds like a force-job, where he's self-consciously trying to make a classic Pumpkins record with not much of a clue what made the classic albums legendary. A lot of it just sounds like the same song over and over again: Inkless, Glissandra, Chimera, Panopticon, etc.

It also has some of his most cringeworthy songs of all time on it. One Diamond One Heart being the worst offender. There's also that one song I remember that's like 10 minutes long but keeps changing course because it can't figure out what it's trying to do.

Pale Horse is amazing though. He manages to bring the old BillCo out for one stone-cold gem, at least..

[Piko]

My problem with Oceania is that it sounds like a force-job, where he's self-consciously trying to make a classic Pumpkins record with not much of a clue what made the classic albums legendary. A lot of it just sounds like the same song over and over again: Inkless, Glissandra, Chimera, Panopticon, etc.

It also has some of his most cringeworthy songs of all time on it. One Diamond One Heart being the worst offender. There's also that one song I remember that's like 10 minutes long but keeps changing course because it can't figure out what it's trying to do.

Pale Horse is amazing though. He manages to bring the old BillCo out for one stone-cold gem, at least..

I think the complete opposite. I feel like it's probably his least forced thing since 2000. Thought the band had a good chemistry and he let loose a bit and let things happen. I think it was a fluke though since he immediately reverted back. I don't mind Monuments, but it's definitely lacking it areas.

[eversonpoe]

Monuments To A Eugoogly

i've had the worst fucking day and this just made me giggle incessantly. thank you so much. <3

[GulDukat]

When he had an editor (the other members of the original band) or good producers he is incredible. But ever since the Machina days he hasn't had one and it's been very apparent IMO.

Weren't the first two albums just Billy and Jimmy? Digging the new song. Frankly, his only work I wasn't that into was ZWAN and Teargarden.

[Kodiak33]

Weren't the first two albums just Billy and Jimmy? Digging the new song. Frankly, his only work I wasn't that into was ZWAN and Teargarden.

I had to go back and read about Gish real quick, but you're right. Most of those two records (Gish and Siamese Dream) were mostly Corgan and Jimmy doing the sounds. I think Corgan redid most of the bass parts on SD? Still, they were in the studio with him (AFAIK) and Butch Vig was there for some control.

[GulDukat]

ZG->TG->Oceania->Monuments To A Eugoogly being precisely those places where he's been surrounded by nothing but yes-men and allowed to do the first thing that crosses his mind. I tend to think one of the reasons Oceania is as palatable as it is (your mileage may vary, of course), is because it's him actually trying to buckle down and do a 'traditional' SP album in response to nobody giving a shit about Teargarden.

But Oceania IS part of Teargarden. An album within an album--remember?

I would definitely rank MTAE over Teargarden. At least MTAE sounds polished, fleshed-out--and there's some great stuff on there, imo, i.e., "Drum and fife" and "Dorian." Billy never should have released TG--it's dull, meandering, forgettable. And the 11 $50.00 EPs that stopped after the second one? What was that all about?

[Failure]

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!

[Shadaloo]

The first two albums were Billy and Jimmy in terms of performance, yes, but D'Arcy and James still had input.

But Oceania IS part of Teargarden. An album within an album--remember?

I would definitely rank MTAE over Teargarden. At least MTAE sounds polished, fleshed-out--and there's some great stuff on there, imo, i.e., "Drum and fife" and "Dorian." Billy never should have released TG--it's dull, meandering, forgettable. And the 11 $50.00 EPs that stopped after the second one? What was that all about?

*Slams button* What is "Bullshit Corgan said to save face over his failure of a release", Alex! (That's why he stopped after vol. 2 and two songs into 3 - nobody cared and nobody was buying.)

Corgan has never explained the Teargarden 'concept' beyond it being 'inspired by the Tarot'. I want someone to find some concrete lyrical or musical link between any Oceania and Teargarden track. I've tried and come up with nothing.

And the reason is this - there's no connection because there's no real concept. TBK is just a bunch of unrelated songs with no overarching theme whatsoever. TBK was literally just him shitting out whatever came to mind. It was an experiment in putting out free music with the option of purchasing a physical version. .



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

But for all that, I'd still take one song off Teargarden over Monuments any day. Song For a Son has more emotion and heart put into it than the entire fucking processed, factory-churned pile of soulless shit that is MTAE. God, I hate that record.

[GulDukat]

The first two albums were Billy and Jimmy in terms of performance, yes, but D'Arcy and James still had input.



*Slams button* What is "Bullshit Corgan said to save face over his failure of a release", Alex! (That's why he stopped after vol. 2 and two songs into 3 - nobody cared and nobody was buying.)

Corgan has never explained the Teargarden 'concept' beyond it being 'inspired by the Tarot'. I want someone to find some concrete lyrical or musical link between any Oceania and Teargarden track. I've tried and come up with nothing.

And the reason is this - there's no connection because there's no real concept. TBK is just a bunch of unrelated songs with no overarching theme whatsoever. TBK was literally just him shitting out whatever came to mind. It was an experiment in putting out free music with the option of purchasing a physical version. .




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

But for all that, I'd still take one song off Teargarden over Monuments any day. Song For a Son has more emotion and heart put into it than the entire fucking processed, factory-churned pile of soulless shit that is MTAE. God, I hate that record.

Truth is, American Gothic was the one, true Pumpkins album. Everything else were, pre and post-albums within albums. Still like MTAE, but your post made me laugh. ETA--I was joking about Oceania being an "album within an album." know it was dumb.

[Shadaloo]

lol, fair enough. Sometimes I'm not good at detecting jokes online. Corgan's BS just really grinds my gears.

I like American Gothic, actually. It's kinda forgettable, but it's sweet in its simplicity. A little snippet of that good stuff he was rolling out during the 2007 residency shows. Shame it wasn't longer.

[henryeatscereal]

I liked some stuff in Oceania a lot, but mostly the album it's a mixed bag; last album i cared about was Zeitgeist.

I don't blame him for trying solo stuff, but this guy is lost lately, i don't doubt his capacities but he seems so unfocused...

[Shadaloo]

It also comes in pink

Also, I'm going to the Toronto show.

[Shadaloo]

One song per day from now through Sunday from Madame Zuzu's streaming to FB. Yay and stuff