http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050621/us_nm/people_corgan_dc CHICAGO (Reuters) - Singer Billy Corgan said on Tuesday he plans to revive The Smashing Pumpkins, his Grammy-winning band which broke up in 2000 after more than a decade of blending alternative rock with the avant-garde. In full-page advertisements in Chicago newspapers, the bald-headed Corgan said, "I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams." He did not say which if any of the band's former members would be involved in the revived group, which broke through with albums such as "Gish" and "Siamese Dream." The Pumpkins' top selling album was "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" which came out in 1995, but as the 1990s progressed their work became increasingly obscure as tensions arose in the group. They broke up over differences among its four members and Corgan has since jumped from project to project but failed to match his early success. Corgan, based in Chicago, has just released a solo album, "TheFutureEmbrace" on Reprise Records. He did not say when he would try to reform the Pumpkins but the new album "represents a new beginning, not an ending. It picks up the thread of the as-yet-unfinished work and charter of The Smashing Pumpkins," he said.
In full-page advertisements in Chicago newspapers, the bald-headed Corgan said, "I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams." ... and my money ...
Sweet, saw them the last time they were in houston; I guess it was summer of 2001 in Aerial or Bayou Place or whatever they call that place now. It was the best show I've ever been to.
This smells fishy to me. Billy just released a solo album. Jimmy (drummer) has a new experimental jazz band and he just released an album. If Billy tries to put the band back together without all original members, I'll never forgive him.
i saw chamberlains band at south by southwest. its more on the instrumental post-rock indie-jazz tip. very chicago-sounding (not the band, the scene). i stood about 5 feet from him for the whole set. it was a pretty good drum lesson. the only pumpkins album i can enjoy anymore is gish. it was all downhill from there.
I don't mind 'em. Most of their music is a little too, I guess "artsy" for me, but I really like some of their stuff. I especially love "Bullet With Butterfly Wings." The riff that starts the song out is badass.
I left during their performance at Lollapalooza in Dallas in '95. They sucked. George Clinton stole the show that day. But no Flaming Lips side stage due to rain.
I love Gish as well. I listen to alot of the tracks on the bootlegged Mashed Potatoes Boxset. It has alot of their covers and college radio appearances (88-93). http://www.billy-corgan.com/downloads/mp3/mashed_potatoes/index.php You can get the MP3s here, but there are FLAC copies that sound better. If it's not the original lineup this news doesn't really excite me.
SP strikes me as a better studio band than a live band. I've seen some of their live concert footage and the reproductions of their songs are weak in my opinion. Corgan's voice doesn't seem to hold up well live. But, I haven't seen them in person so I'll take MR. MEOWGI's word for it.
I saw the Pumkins (here in Houston) come out on stage, curse the audience and then leave the stage. Apparently before I got there someone had thrown a shoe at Billie Corgin and they left the stage. We arrived just before they came back and, since they weren't satisfied that the culprit had been caught, left again. It's a good think I talked my way in and didn't have to pay. My wife purchased their best-of CD and when Ripping it to MP3 I decided they had some really good tunes. Whatever.
He started playing right when a huge storm started to blow through. The thumping funk was going along with the lighting & thunder, it was like he was influencing the weather. It was pretty cool.
