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Pumpkins back in studio
Posted: 18 Aug '06, 15:47
The Smashing Pumpkins are back in the studio, according to a post on their website, here.
Singer Billy Corgan (pictured) and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin are working with Darkness and Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker. No other contributing musicians have been mentioned by name, but Corgan has hardly hidden his displeasure at the behaviour of bassist D'Arcy Wretzky and guitarist James Iha around the time of the band's split in 2000. In 2004 he said the Pumpkins were "a dream I still believe in".
The band is currently being managed by Irving Azoff, who also handles The Eagles. Classic rock, yay! This news comes courtesy of Billboard.com.
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Boring.
Doesn't really matter. They'll obviously never top Siamese Dream.
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probably the most pointless comment ever ^
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True.
Although at least there'll be some ace drumming in there somewhere.
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"True"
in agreement with Wrightylew there.
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They did top Siamese Dream
twice.
I hope James gets involved...
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I dont think they have topped Siamese Dream
But Melancholy and Adore were close.
Still looking forward to hearing the new stuff.-
bah
The only album Siamese Dream topped was Gish, Adore shits upon all of the others. Siamese Dream is ok if you are 13 and you are a "grunger", but they have bettered it .
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I think
Mellon Collie and Machina II were the two best albums the pumpkins made
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no no no no
the point of siamese dream was that it wasn't grunge, it was somethign wholly different. grunge never had solos like that. but yes adore is the shizzle.
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Disagreed.
Siamese Dream, despite being really overblown in places was an absolutely indie record.
Songs like Soma and Hummer... its so sophisticated.
Mellon Chollie does not grab me at all.
I expected SO much more than it delivered.
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I'm confused..
what does "an absolutely indie record" mean exactly?
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mellon collie
is better than siamese dream. Adore is good but needs repeated listens. 'machina' is not as bad as people think. first album is good too. i've listened to all these albums about 6 million times.
chamberlin is the best rock drummer of the last decade. but if they go back to playing live they need iha on board or its just gonna suck like guns n roses.
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as cliché as it is to say
mellon collie is too long.
adore, however, beats the crap out of siamese dream. it's one of the most subtle, beautiful records i've ever heard and - as you say - it took me a long time to realise this.i'm interested to see how this pans out.
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the production
on machina is so lush its like earsex.
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agree on u
the album is great. the length is just. i've been listening it in a whole year in school time. aye... nice old days...
anyway, great news! ;)
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nah,
the first side of mellon collie is all filler no killer. the only song on the whole thing i don't like is the one that james iha wrote. there is that crazy heavy metal one with the silliest lyric ever 'and in the eyes of a jackal i say kaBOOM!' Great stuff.
i totally agree about adore.
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This is the best news story ever
And Siamese Dream was the bestest.
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er,
i meant all killer no filler.
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I can't be arsed with most of 'Mellon Collie' -
Corgan had started doing his horrible, nasal, proto-Molko pity-me-I'm-a-teenager-inside thing by then, and most of the lyrics are just bad.
Siamese Dream's awesome. And they've NEVER topped 'Hummer' or 'Geek USA'.
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I pretty much
love anything that comes out of his mind to behonest, apart from the poetry....
Has anyone else heard MACHINA 2? That has some pretty cool stuff on. I am sure this will be a very good album indeed, yet I do not quite understand how it will be smashing pumpkins, it is just as much zwan as it is smashing pumpkins right? Unless he is returning to his angsty ways ;)-
Didn't he
play pretty much everything on 'Siamese Dream' except the drums?
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^
Yes.
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Well
I guess we'll have to disagree.
I think there are better songs on Siamese Dream, let alone the rest of their discography
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heretics!
the pumpkins couldn't have been a tighter unit right at the end, the almost telepathic link between billy and jimmy was amazing, so even if a lot of the songs were a bit new wavey and curey the ones that rocked were probably some of the best rock in the last two decades-
oh hold on, his last album was GASH, fuck him then.
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i wonder
what kinda sound billy aproaches with this one.
his last 2 records(Solo & Zwan) were complete opposites.
I hope he returns to the old school sound.Mellon Collie's brilliant and epic, Machina's Rockin' and Adore is gorgeous BUT Gish and Siamese Dream are the ultimate Pumpkin records, hands down.
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I HOPE THIS IS LIKE ZWAN
I LIKED ZWAN
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Zwan were poo
And Gish is the best thing they ever did. Though most of the rest is good too.
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NO THEY WEREN'T
ok, i'll stop with the capitals thing.
they were worse than the pumpkins but i still quite liked the album. it's all summery.
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i think
that "his" or "their" sound, who ever "they" maybe, is ever evolving, obviously he is trying to hit on to the feel of smashing pumpkins, but what the album will actually sound like or concept approached will probably be a suprise to all of us. But i am sure on one thing, IT WILL ROCK!
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I hope so
I'm happy that they're back, but I'm worried that they will probably not have much success.
Anyway, it's good to know that I'm not the only one that's excited about a new sound and concept... I'm dying to listen to it!
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i love the fact everyone is putting opinion across as fact
That's not to say I'm not about to - Siamese Dream is easily the best Smashing Pumpkins album, though it would be run close if they got together the best 14 songs from Mellon Collie and stuck that out with a tracklisting that worked.
Like someone above said, at very least there will be some more awesome Jimmy Chamberlin drumming - I think Corgan has it in him to pull out a few great songs yet, while I don't hold out much hope of the album being consistent in the slightest. Expect some of his best work for years, but also probably some of the worst.
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Siamese Dream isn't the best Pumpkins album
it's the best album EVER.
Take that fact and eat it dan_thw, if that is your real name.
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meloncholy
is one of the best albums ever - fact
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Chamberlain...
Didn't he get kicked out originally for being a massive skag-head. I take it he's cleaned up now then? (Or am I imagining this)
Mellon Collie is shit apart from Thru the Eyes of a Ruby. Which is fucking stupid and yet still amazing.
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Siamese Dream
All the way. It's a great Rock album, a great Indie album, a great Alternative album. The only reason it's ever labelled 'Grunge' is because that was the convenient blanket term foistered upon alternative music in the early 90s by lazy hacks. Seriously: I saw FNM described as Grunge by both the NME and Melody Maker.
'Hummer' and 'Disarm' are the best tracks.
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Jimmy
got chucked out when their touring keyboard player and his drug buddy (Jonathan Melvoin, I think his name was - correct me if I'm wrong) OD'd on heroin and died.
I agree with Dan_thw - a bit of quality control and 'Mellon Collie' could have been much, much better, but there are some great songs on it - 'Jellybelly' being probably my favourite.
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Brand or band?
Probably alone here, but I think the Smashing Pumpkins were always a better band when they stopped trying to be a heavy rock outfit. The slower, moodier stuff on Mellon Collie is superb, and I feel much the same way about their other records. They have some great 'big' tunes, sure, but Billy Corgan's voice always suits a more reflective mood, in my humble opinion.
One thing I gotta say about this 'reformation' by the way. If Iha and D'arcy ain't involved, it's really just a reboot of the brand rather than the band, ain't it? You wouldn't accept this in certain other quarters:
"Yeah, yeah. I decided to reform the Beatles (TM) by asking Ringo to come play drums while I did all the rest. I even play the triangle on a new ballad which I have called 'One-legged whore from hell'. Its a subtle piece about getting older and wiser....oh...and its about gold-digging. fish-faced hookers, obviously."
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In my opinion
1. Adore
2. Mellon Collie
3. Machina
4. Siamese Dreams
5. GishI haven't heard Machina II yet.
Not that i dislike the first two albums, it just feels like they're just pre-cursors to the Mellon Collie masterpiece. Adore is still my favourite though - had it on yesterday for the first time in ages and it's still timeless and achingly beautiful. Almost Vespertine-esque.
I love Billy Corgan and I trust him even though I view the new Pumpkins with suspicion.
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i have to say
i'm quite intrigued why you think adore is the best album. it just seems a bit flimsy to me. certainly lacking in CHOONS, and the whole 'rock is dead' stance ended up being a huge plate of humble pie about 2 years later. they're all great albums, but very different textures. that is what made the pumpkins such a great band.. they didn't just churn out the same old shit record after record like.. mm.. most rock bands? (MOST, not all)
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ALL the pumpkins albums are good
i think the reason people on this message board love adore (the commercial flop) and diss mellon collie (the massive radio humping mtv approved album) has a vague hint of indie snobbery to me.
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indie snobbery
Indie snobbery? Yeah. That makes sense. God forbid they could just have a different opinion to yours.
"But MTV TOLD me I should like it, mummy! And So did Q magazine! Baa. Baa. Baa."
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I hate Corgan's
production. Slick and shit, I reckon.
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mm, slices of pie.
flood and moulder were the dab hands at the production desk most of the time. i think brad 'i've got' wood did adore, but corgan was heavily involved in that one. i think it's his ego record (well, alright... another one of them).
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calm down my dears
well one things clear from all these comments...... no band could so strongly divide opinion on which of its great works are the best and worst (well except the beatles) which is a great compliment to the strength of their material.
I mean even as a HUGE fan I didnt think machina was too hot but then thats just my opinion and for some it was their best work.
I love ALL the other albums with EQUAL joy, although some animals are more equal than others, Siamese Dream being slightly more equal than the others.
I respected SP for splitting up when they did as it was definately time. I can only see them becoming a tribute to themselves now.
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Mmm, I don't know....
I think it's possible they could be much more than a tribute to themselves, but they have to be very careful of the way they approach this. Quite a lot of bands who reform can end up not only trying to recreate their heyday, but making a really poor job of it. Repeating old formulas in songwriting never works for any band; especially when they haven't played or written together for a while, and the pressure is on to rush a record out. Sooo...I think it could work, but only if they take to it with a fresh attitude and steer their music into a new direction. If they don't, I'll eat my slippers. Would you want that on your conscience, Billy? Huh? Would you?!?!
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Whoops...
I realised I've just performed thread necromancy...My apologies! *blush*
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