Thu August 24, 2017 5:22 am
LoathedVermin72 wrote:I really like the Corgan song, especially all the vibrato. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thu August 24, 2017 5:32 am
tragabigzanda wrote:LoathedVermin72 wrote:I really like the Corgan song, especially all the vibrato. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Do you like Antony & The Johnstons/Anohni? It reminds me of that.
Thu August 24, 2017 9:48 am
tragabigzanda wrote:Birds in Hell wrote:tragabigzanda wrote:The grunge tourney compelled me to throw together an SP playlist for a long drive yesterday. I think that Billy's ability to convey different characters with his voice is really something special, like Bowie-level good.
Just listen to Bullet With Butterfly Wings: Within the first several bars, he goes from the detached, emotionless "The world is a vampire..." to the hint of bitterness felt in the line "Betrayed desires..." By the time we're at the pre-chorus ("Even though I know..."), the song's character can't really contain the emotion any more; it's starting to seep out in a seething ooze. And then that chorus blasts, and it's all torture and angst.
He uses his voice so effectively across their discography. Unlike Vedder, Cornell, Cobain, Lanegan, and Staley, who all seemed to bring their real-life personality to the microphone, Corgan's songs, and his vocalizations, offer unique characters that bring his songs to life in a completely different way. Add to that the production flourishes and overall sound, and the SPs are more like NIN to me, in that each song brings me into the world of the singer, makes me occupy a different landscape and set of emotions with each track. Dude is brilliant, even if his public persona is silly and annoying.
I have to say, I feel almost totally the opposite of this. The worst thing about post-1994 (or so) Smashing Pumpkins is that I find Billy totally suffocating, it's like having an angst-ridden teenager dumping a wheelbarrow of his weird neuroses over you. I find Cornell, Staley, etc. way more listenable in contrast. I think one of the reasons I still love those first two Pumpkins records are Billy's voice and lyrics aren't pushed to the fore anywhere near as much, they're just some breathy punctuations over beatific guitar explosions. The more confidence he had in his voice, the less I can stand listening to it.
So would you say that the later SP records are laborious for you because you've acutely aware that it's BILLY CORGAN on the mic? Because after re-reading my post, I think that's the more succinct way I could have made my point: I'm acutely aware when it's Vedder/Staley/etc; but Corgan is able to create these characters who take me into the fantasy of their given song.
Thu August 24, 2017 2:55 pm
Birds in Hell wrote:tragabigzanda wrote:Birds in Hell wrote:tragabigzanda wrote:The grunge tourney compelled me to throw together an SP playlist for a long drive yesterday. I think that Billy's ability to convey different characters with his voice is really something special, like Bowie-level good.
Just listen to Bullet With Butterfly Wings: Within the first several bars, he goes from the detached, emotionless "The world is a vampire..." to the hint of bitterness felt in the line "Betrayed desires..." By the time we're at the pre-chorus ("Even though I know..."), the song's character can't really contain the emotion any more; it's starting to seep out in a seething ooze. And then that chorus blasts, and it's all torture and angst.
He uses his voice so effectively across their discography. Unlike Vedder, Cornell, Cobain, Lanegan, and Staley, who all seemed to bring their real-life personality to the microphone, Corgan's songs, and his vocalizations, offer unique characters that bring his songs to life in a completely different way. Add to that the production flourishes and overall sound, and the SPs are more like NIN to me, in that each song brings me into the world of the singer, makes me occupy a different landscape and set of emotions with each track. Dude is brilliant, even if his public persona is silly and annoying.
I have to say, I feel almost totally the opposite of this. The worst thing about post-1994 (or so) Smashing Pumpkins is that I find Billy totally suffocating, it's like having an angst-ridden teenager dumping a wheelbarrow of his weird neuroses over you. I find Cornell, Staley, etc. way more listenable in contrast. I think one of the reasons I still love those first two Pumpkins records are Billy's voice and lyrics aren't pushed to the fore anywhere near as much, they're just some breathy punctuations over beatific guitar explosions. The more confidence he had in his voice, the less I can stand listening to it.
So would you say that the later SP records are laborious for you because you've acutely aware that it's BILLY CORGAN on the mic? Because after re-reading my post, I think that's the more succinct way I could have made my point: I'm acutely aware when it's Vedder/Staley/etc; but Corgan is able to create these characters who take me into the fantasy of their given song.
Yeah, I'd say that's right, and funnily enough, my experience is basically the complete inverse of yours. Even when Layne Staley, the doomed heroin addict, sings about being a doomed heroin addict, I don't find it remotely as over-bearing or intensely personal; there's always some degree of (quite welcome) detachment, as though he's singing character songs which have been heavily informed by his own personal experiences. I'm never able to detach Billy's singing from Billy, the person - and I don't even find him that annoying or unsympathetic the way frequently do.
Thu August 24, 2017 5:05 pm
Thu August 24, 2017 5:09 pm
Thu August 24, 2017 7:28 pm
Iholdthepain wrote:Rank your Pumpkins shows...
Thu August 24, 2017 11:39 pm
Wed August 30, 2017 1:14 pm
Mon September 04, 2017 3:58 pm
Iholdthepain wrote:Thanks for posting reviews, Andy. I like reading others' experiences. Cool you got the nod from Melissa... She was a fun bass player to watch. I loved that Machina tour, especially since they got Jimmy back in the band. The Adore-era SP tour was good for what it was, but I'm glad Billy didn't continue in that direction for long.
Wed September 20, 2017 3:49 pm
Thu September 21, 2017 3:05 pm
Thu September 21, 2017 3:06 pm
Thu September 21, 2017 3:10 pm
durdencommatyler wrote:Shocking
Thu September 21, 2017 3:32 pm
VinylGuy wrote:durdencommatyler wrote:Shocking
Yeah, that was my point.
Mon October 02, 2017 5:10 am
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."
...
The only person to play on the record outside of Corgan and a string quartet is original Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha, who appears on "The Processional." It marks his first time on a song with Corgan since the 2000 Smashing Pumpkins LP Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music. They were estranged for many years following the dissolution of the original Pumpkins that year, but in March 2016 they shocked fans when they performed a series of songs from Siamese Dream at a handful of shows on the Pumpkins' In Plainsong tour. "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."
Iha's appearance is likely to fuel persistent rumors that the original Pumpkins will reunite in the near future. Just a few years ago, Corgan was estranged from every member of the 1990s lineup. But drummer Jimmy Chamberlin returned to the band in 2015, and the next year Corgan smoothed things over with Iha and even reestablished a relationship with reclusive bassist D'arcy Wretzky. "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."
Fri October 06, 2017 6:39 pm
Fri October 06, 2017 6:53 pm
Fri October 06, 2017 7:12 pm
Fri October 06, 2017 9:17 pm