Number of Good Songs Had By the Smashing Pumkings

sorry, carry on

I voted none, but to be honest I think the intro to "Mayonaisse" which wiki tells me was written by James Iha (and most importantly is instrumental) is pretty good. So technically 0.5 but I rounded down.

I was in my early 20s when they became successful, and I was like...the last ten years of work in the underground are yielding...this???

i guess i wasn't there & i know there was a lot of controversy about the Smashing Pumpkins and their relationship to the "underground" but to me it's just like, listening to Pisces Iscariot I just hear classic after classic after classic. they captured lightning in a bottle. their music is singular and special in spite of & because of the unimpeded ego of their frontman. four bars of "Whir" is worth a bajillion Steve Albini recordings to me, personally.

i like cherub rock and rhinoceros and 1979 so i'm over 2.5 but not by much. i like the idea of a grandiose rock band with that big muff direct sound, but most of their songs are a chore and the later material is a joke.

crüt my thoughts exactly

call all destroyer good post. those are a good pick only 3 too

@ imago - you ever heard the live version of Thru the Eyes of Ruby? this would be my favorite Pumpkins song by far if the studio version included the extended coda they always played live '96-'97. it sorta peters out and settles into the mellon collie theme reprise on the album, but live they'd build it back up into this colossus, it's just incredible

coda starts at 5:15, the peak of the entire body of work by the band imo starts at 6:52

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdjIdc9-13U

Number of good songs ever by anyone: 15.75

the best band of their generation, even though corgan is a dreadful lyricist

like charlie brown, I have never seen the great pumkings

(2.5 songs is the right answer - oh, let's say Disarm and 1979 and Cherub Rock - but the real cultural contribution, the one that shall be remembered, is 'you hurt me deeply in my heart')

2.5 is the right answer regardless of any actual reasoning

you 2.5 me deeply in my heart

the best band of their generation, even though corgan is a dreadful lyricist

― ufo, Wednesday, February 21, 2018 1:34 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

His lyrics are gloriously ridiculous, just like his singing. Big part of why Melon Collie is their apex.

Pearl Jam are the only band I've seen live to make me weep. I haven't seen Pumpkins live but I'm pretty sure Corgan could also reduce me to tears, albeit for different reasons.

I always cry when the Pumpkins play 'I Dreamed a Dream' live. But boy do I laugh when they play 'Master of the House'.

PO2.5

Number of Good Poll Options Had By the Pearl Cream

Where do you like to listen to #PearlJam?

— Pearl Jam (@PearlJam) February 22, 2018

lmao holy shit @ "at the gym"

hey spin the black circle is a great gym song

don't tickle squatters not fair to

I can provide a Paypal address?

― imago, Tuesday, February 20, 2018 4:17 PM (five days ago)Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Sheez. The good days are well and truly over

(I think you might like "Starla", imago--stoner rock epic the last half of which is fully in thrall to some inexorable vertiginous build)

haha OK, will check out

will check out gratis, even

'Starla' is one of their very best tracks.

hmm this isn't bad at all yeah

it's their Safesurfer, haha

the 5 minute guitar solo that's essentially the second half of Starla was recorded in 1 take at 7am when they were under deadline to deliver a B-side. they really should've done more spontaneous stuff like that in the studio. X.Y.U., Pissant, and Marquis in Spades are the only other SP tracks I can think of that were recorded totally live, vocals and all.

Starla's also the track in which you can hear an ambulance drive by, no?

yes! also on "Soothe" you can hear the early morning buses outside Billy's apartment

I always liked that they kept that in. At the time it felt very PI-y to have done so, b-sides and all, but you are right about the spontaneous approach over all and that that did them a world of good. It's a shame Corgan lost the ability to let it hang loose once in a while.

*cue: 'horses run once in awhile for u*

It's a shame Corgan lost the ability to let it hang loose once in a while.

ha this reminded me that "Shame" from Adore was recorded mostly live, with the vocals at the end overdubbed. Probably some guitars, too. I'm excluding anything (like "For Martha") that was tracked live but without vocals.

Yeah! Adore was probably an exception, in that it's so achingly close the way it's recorded and not polished (Blank Page, Annie Dog etc). Death does that tho.

oh yeah, add Annie-Dog to the list. I think Dusty + Pistol Pete, too, though that might just be an example of a song that didn't change much from the demo and one that wouldn't be on the album if D'arcy hadn't fought for it. Blank Page doesn't really count because the parts were recorded separately. Although the lyrics were written in the studio as he was tracking the piano, and I believe recorded shortly thereafter. Such a sparse track (what else is on there besides the ring-modulated guitars?), and a top 10 pumpkins track for me.

oh yeah, a lot of "To Sheila" is live - guitar & main vox tracked live.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Show will be timed to minute and will run same set list every night due to production concerns, massive setlist, and need to be A level Broadway type show. We have to prove to the world we can compete at highest level or tour will never get out of America.

https://www.alternativenation.net/smashing-pumpkins-darcy-shares-billy-corgan-guns-n-roses-reunion-offer/

cool man

They will never get out of America

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I saw Smashing Pumpkins at primaverasound a decade ago. It was like watching scarecrows with guitars on stage... even Low gave a more lively performance that night.

Jimmy Chamberlin's drumming was the thing that hooked me in after Gish came out. They had a bunch of tunes that had a cool galloping groove and I really liked that feel (like Siva, I Am One & Bury Me). Did not really become a sustaining fan of the band, but I like that first one and some of their other tunes.

Yeah Gish is the one I love too. Chamberlin is really good, I know Corgan writes mostly everything but I can’t imagine SP being half as famous without those drums.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoG0P0C3geQ

Oooh, this one is even better!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LW8ie73w78k

I remember back when Gish came out, I don't remember why I bought it - I was in Philly at the time, in high school, and I think I saw a review of it in Option? Anyway, even back then it was the drums that kept me hooked, and ... maybe everything but the drums that kept me from going back to it that often? I'm not sure I ever owned a copy of Siamese Dream, but if I did it was to listen to his playing on Geek USA.

Pinkpop 1994 Jimmy cam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC8Ky7Lb2Ko

Whoa that view is amazing. Do they have a cam for every band member and do this for all pinkpop performances? I can imagine selling dvds of concerts where you can choose the same concert but sticking to a certain view you want to see instead of cutting to different takes be helpful for learning musicians and hardcore fans.

Btw that flawless-blink and you’ll miss it moment qhen Jimmy changes a broken stick for a new one at the start of minute 30 is fucking pro.

nah just a hero that uploaded one of the cam feeds

Chamberlin put out a jazz album recently that's quite good.

there's some great Genesis videos that are just Collins playing drums that are cool

http://images2.onionstatic.com/clickhole/5203/3/16x9/800.jpg