Weird topic,but looking to see what my peers think. They emerged during a period dominated by grunge bands and pretty much immediately following the last of the hard rock outfits like GnR, Aerosmith on its last legs. Blind Melon had a cool sound, but no band had as distinguishing a sound as The Smashing Pumpkins. Sure they had those overdrive-laden songs on Siamese Dream, but really beautifully written progressions. Mayonnaise and 1979 are two of my favorite songs ever. Then you get MellonCollie and its like a completely different band...meaning a totally reinvented sound. Dont get me wrong, I thought the double album was a mistake as there is plenty of crap on there too.
I always thought Corgan to be a weirdo, but then you listen to him talk about his music and what hes been through in his life and I have come to admire this band more and more over the years.
Anybody get feels when looking back on this group?
Just an anecdotal thing, I always noticed the more annoying kids around me liked them and kind of overhyped their songs. I never once went out of my way to hear their music or ever wanted to see them in concert. I will just leave it at that.
They weren't as great as Nirvana, but they were up there.
Went downhill fast though around Adore.
Unpopular opinion, but Zwan wasn't bad.
Siamese Dream is a nearly perfect album.
Siamese Dream is a nearly perfect album.
Also yeah, Corgan's voice does get on my nerves, and current day Corgan kinda sucks. But the late 80s early 90s Pumpkins were undeniably awesome.
lyrically too.
Siamese Dream is a masterpiece, Gish underrated.
By mellon collie they became more corporate but still some good songs.
I even liked the song Honestly by Zwan.
Personality wise (Corgan really) was the worst, and sometimes that influences people more than the music
I'm a sucker for lyrics and Disarm was such a powerful song as was Drown - about the one who got away. I'm a sucker for those kinds of songs too.
Rhinoceros is underrated.
Can't argue if you don't like them, but overrated? They are never really thought of as the premier band of their era. That's typically owned by Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, etc.
If anything I think they are somewhat underrated.
Pumpkins were always a bit of an outlier in that entire scene. Then again, the funny thing about grunge is that none of the "Big 4" sounded like eachother (well, maybe Soundgarden and AIC had some commonalities).
Nirvana sounded very different than Pearl Jam, who sounded very different from Soundgarden and Alice in Chains, who sounded very different than the Pumpkins.
I also always thought the Pumpkins were like two separate bands rolled into one.
You had the aggressive, fast songs (my favorites being Geek USA, Where Boys Fear to Tread, Siva, and Jellybelly), the softer/orchestral stuff (1979 being the most famous example, but Silverfuck, but things like 33, Mayonaise, Soma), and then the shit kind of in the middle (Bury Me).
They had a really good run up until Adore. Mellon Collie probably could have cut some songs though. And FWIW, Siamese Dream is def one of the best albums of the early 90s IMO.
Damn, idk why I keep returning to this thread to post thoughts on the Smashing Pumpkins lol. I do have their poster hanging up in my wall of the famous 1996 show at MSG that never happened, so maybe I undersold how much I used to love them growing up, even if they were slightly before my time.
Billy Corgan really is an asshole though.
I haven't closely followed them in their later iterations.
Plus the shift to Electronica and vampire costume and makeup seemed so contrived.
Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam would like a word with you...
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The Smashing Pumpkins were another one of those nostalgic, but not memorable bands.
Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam would like a word with you...
Yea, the first 5 years, especially, were tremendous. You also had Sonic Youth, the Pixies, Jane's Addiction, RHCP, Oasis, REM, U2, The Screaming Trees, Alice In Chains, Green Day, etc etc..
The Pumpkins had some classics. Never close to my favorite band but an undeniable part of my youth. Overall I'd probably lean towards the "good but not great" reflection of their career.
Stone Temple Pilots as well.
The 90s was the best music for rock music IMO. It's a shame that rock has fallen into less and less relevancy till we reached it's current state, but a lot of the blame falls at the feet of us (the fans) and the artists themselves. That's a whole other conversation though...
You have to be kidding. The 90’s was one of the best rock decades ever. I’m not even going to name the bands because Producer already did. I felt like Rock music started going downhill around 2005 or so.
The 90s was the best music for rock music IMO. It's a shame that rock has fallen into less and less relevancy till we reached it's current state, but a lot of the blame falls at the feet of us (the fans) and the artists themselves. That's a whole other conversation though...
It was also an amazing decade for rap music. I feel like Rock and Rap have really declined the last 10 or 15 years, but the 90’s were amazing. From a rock perspective you got away from all that hair band garbage from the 80’s and introduced a moody pissed off wave of music with grunge which is my favorite era of rock.
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In what world? It was the apex of creativity. Due to how music was distributed (album sales), you still had labels taking changes while having a modicum of quality control.
The 90s was the best music for rock music IMO. It's a shame that rock has fallen into less and less relevancy till we reached it's current state, but a lot of the blame falls at the feet of us (the fans) and the artists themselves. That's a whole other conversation though...
It was also an amazing decade for rap music. I feel like Rock and Rap have really declined the last 10 or 15 years, but the 90’s were amazing. From a rock perspective you got away from all that hair band garbage from the 80’s and introduced a moody pissed off wave of music with grunge which is my favorite era of rock.
I agree, I still listen quite a bit to 90's Hip hop and grunge... probably more than anything else. Especially when I'm working out. It's funny, musically I write and play Jazz fusion... lol.
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The Smashing Pumpkins were another one of those nostalgic, but not memorable bands.
You have to be kidding. The 90’s was one of the best rock decades ever. I’m not even going to name the bands because Producer already did. I felt like Rock music started going downhill around 2005 or so.
I'd probably say it started going downhill in 1998 or so when the recording industry spent all of their development and publicity money on the former "Mickey Mouse Club" acts (i.e. Britney Spears, N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, Jessica Simpson).
Those artists were way more profitable (they didn't write their own songs) and easy to control. The industry's publicity machine flooded them on MTV and the radio and pushed rock bands right off the air waves.
From a songwriting perspective, Corgan was insanely prolific throughout the 90s. There were so many songs written around each official release. Hell, even the Aeroplane Flies High box set of B-sides/unused songs has its own boxset of even more B-sides/unused songs. I get that for some people it's all shit, but for me his quality ratio is extremely high across hundreds of songs between Gish and Machina 1+2. I can't think of many people with a better good-to-bad ratio across that many songs.
From a musician perspective, Corgan and Chamberlain were heavyweights and their playing still sounds fresh today.
With all that said, I haven't liked much after Machina or after the Zwan album. I think Corgan has largely emptied his tank when it comes to great songs, but he's left us with a shitload of them.
A friend of mine loved 80's hair bands and thought crunge ruined rock- but for me it really brought back the blues element of rock, not in the traditional sound way but more in a way that it expanded on the themes lyrically and how it made you feel listening to it.
Everything about Corgan is distinctive but yes he's a big league, grade A asshole who's history of gaslighting other band members with the unbearable burden of label/tour expectations is legendary.
Jimmy Chamberlain is an absolute monster. His track on Geek USA was a 1st take which for anyone who's every recorded music knows is pretty fucking bonkers.
I'd probably say it started going downhill in 1998 or so when the recording industry spent all of their development and publicity money on the former "Mickey Mouse Club" acts (i.e. Britney Spears, N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, Jessica Simpson).
Those artists were way more profitable (they didn't write their own songs) and easy to control. The industry's publicity machine flooded them on MTV and the radio and pushed rock bands right off the air waves.
Circa 1999-2000 also had the stink of nu-metal. That crap was horrid.