Smashing Pumpkins (Official Thread)

Soot and Stars

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Re: "The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

CN, just caught your vid! Crazy stuff! :heheh:

I agree Jimmy had a great presence in the band but I'll always believe it's Billy's vision overall so that carries me forward personally! The following video syncs up well with my thread so far and is a cool doc on the early years/formation of the group! I particularly like the material about everything already being done and playing with all your influences. It reminds me of the plagiarism thread and I think it's a great answer to that! :grinthumb

Smashing Pumpkins-Full Circle (Part 1)
 

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Re: "The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

The 90's Era Pumpkins Begin

The first set of songs to be produced in the 90's which would be the Pumpkins golden era are these two chillout demos recorded in SP land itself, Chicago! :grinthumb

Jesus Is The Sun


Christ knows
As christ grows
Christ shows nothing but love
Jesus
Can you hear me
My pain is echoed through you

Is your head filled with lies
And do you despise me if i try
If i try, why, why
Jesus is the sun

You won't miss me
Like i miss you too
You'll be sorry
Like i'm sorry, why
It's not easy
When you're on your own
My love's weakness
Your love's strength and bone

Is your head filled with lies
And do you despise me if i try
Why
Jesus is the sun

Christ knows
As christ grows
Christ shows nothing but love
But love


Translucent


Now, I think this is an appropriate time to expand on Billy's spiritual nature as any SP fan knows that spirituality has a huge place in Billy's writing and a lot of it seems to lean towards Christianity. He recently created a spiritual website/blog (currently under maintenance) and he's never been afraid to keep his beliefs in the open through song and in his interviews. Here are a series of quotes from the singer himself discussing spirituality.

billy_corganLG.jpg
I didn't find Jesus. He's been there the whole time.

I don't have to play by these rules or do these things... I can actually have my own kind of version.

My version, of course, is not this flag-waving, let's all get on the Jesus train and ride out of hell. I'm not that kind of guy. It's an embrace that life is good, worth living and yeah, it's not easy, but there are more pluses than minuses.

I've always been spiritual but I've never had a proper context, and it took me awhile to find the proper context. It's hard to realize you can have any kind of relationship with God you want... and so I now have a punk rock relationship with God.

A lot of this is rock star talk and all it's indulgence I admit. I mean any celeb you shouldn't take what they say without a grain of salt and you should form your own opinions but I have a similar feeling to spirituality as Corgan does. I believe that God will find you through life rather than through the traditional fire and brimstone, sinners and saints, Heaven and Hell methodology that usually is used to convert people to Jesus and God. That's where I seem to sync with Billy's second quote.

Billy also seems to be on the path that life is good with both it's good and bad. I agree! I prefer having both good and bad. Personally, I think that balance is the best thing God could of given us. How can we appreciate the good if we don't know the bad. I think using the bad things in life to criticize God is the lamest tactic ever. So I believe that's where Billy's third comment syncs with me.

I'm not preaching here by the way, but honestly I'm reading these quotes for the first time and it really says something about the music we like. Sometimes it syncs with us because it comes from a source that similar to us in moree ways than we'll ever know!
 

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Re: "The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

The 90's Era Pumpkins: Introducing Butch Vig

The following songs were the first I've found to be worked alongside this man:

Butch Vig
butch-vig-250.jpg

This master producer helped The Smashing Pumpkins as well as Nirvana become staples of the 90's rock revolution. He even was a member of two bands. One as most know was Garbage but the other he was in before his success as a producer was called:

Spooner
4517244056.jpg


Here are some tracks which I think are cool to show because the sound aside from the vocals has elements of SP (especially the intro on the first vid and the guitar in Sense of Wonder.

Spooner-Will You Remember Me


Spooner-Sense of Wonder


Spooner-Where You Gonna Run


So Butch's history album wise with the Smashing Pumpkins was the upcoming debut Gish and the milestone Siamese Dream. His success may be measured by Nirvanas-Nevermind more than anything but his work and relationship with the Smashing pumpkins equally show his brilliance as much as anything. I'll add some tidbits as I go along but one of the things that is noted for the earlier songs is that Butch Vig and Billy made sure it had an unprocessed sound particularly with the drums and they were aiming for a guitar sound that stood apart from it's contemporaries at the time!

Here are some of the tracks that were recorded pre-Gish in the studio with Vig but ended up being B-sides! I won't put a vid for the studio version because they ended up on Gish itself, the Lull EP and the Pisces Iscariot B-Sides album which I'm reviewing separately. Here are the B-sides in alternate forms though.

The following were created in the same studio and together formed the Smashing Pumpkins second release of a single after I Am One. The lead off single was Tristessa with La Dolly Vita and HoneySpider (U.K. release only) as b-sides. This was released on Sub-Pop records, the label famous for releasing Nirvana's debut Bleach and would be their only work through the label.

Tristessa Single (Sub Pop Records)
SmashingPumpkins-Tristessa.jpg

Tristessa
(words translates as sadness)


La Dolly Vita
(a live version)


Honey Spider


As a bonus here's a track that was recorded around the time of the single and hasn't shown up on any EPs or album collections. It's a cover of a song by Ozarka Mountain Daredevils.

Jackie Blue
 

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Re: "The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

The 90's Era Pumpkins: Caroline Records

The Smashing Pumpkins first label for releasing an album was an independent called

Caroline Records
reclogo.gif

caroline_records+richmond+st.jpg

The label was started in 1973 and distributed through EMI. It has released the beginnings of artist careers such as Ben Folds Five, White Zombie, Goo Goo Dolls and Hole!

Billy on why he signed with
121499.jpg

 

aeroplane

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Re: "The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

Favorite songs:

-Tonight
-1979

Both genius.
 

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Re: "The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

So we finally have made it to the first official SP release:

GISH
Gish.jpg

Recorded: December 1990–March 1991
Studio: Smart Studios, Madison, Wisconsin (Butch Vigs Studio)
Time of Release: May 28, 1991
Label: Caroline (Subsidiary of Virgin)
Producers: Butch Vig, Billy Corgan
Band Members:
Billy Corgan-Vocals, Guitar, Production
James Iha-Guitars, Vocals
D'Arcy Wretzky-Bass Guitars, Vocals, Layouts
Jimmy Chamberlain-Drums
Peak Chart Position: 195
Official Released Singles: Siva, I Am One

First my personal thoughts and anecdotes. I didn't start with Gish. My Smashing Pumpkin experience start with the follow up, Siamese Dream. It took me a while to find out about Gish because at the time I only had MTV, word of mouth and shopping and browsing to delve into a bands catalog. Considering I lived in a small town, word of mouth and browsing at any store nearby didn't open me to many "finds" and it wasn't until I started traveling further out that I found that you could get "Everything" from an artist. I remember going to Circuit City for the first time and buying every Smashing Pumpkin single, remix EP, etc. I could grab. Gish was honestly the fourth Smashing Pumpkins album I heard and bought after Siamese Dream, Pisces Iscariot and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. I actually bought it right around the same time as the Aeroplane Flies High.... Box Set at a Strawberries. So yeah, even as a fan I was late on the Gish train.

You always tend to connect to the material you first hear from an artist but Gish has grown on me immensely and I have a high amount of respect for it. It's a very spiritual, tribal like album with a very slow melodic feel. If there is a Smashing Pumpkins album to just chill out to then it's this one. This is just the beginning as I'm going to try to break down this an every other album from all angles.

If you'd like feel free to share your thoughts and come along for the ride! :grinthumb
 

METALPRIEST

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Re: "The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

^^^ GISH!! When Billy had hair!! :heheh:

This album carries a song that I like quite a bit...good memories!!

SIVA!! (very Sabbath) :cheers2

 

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Re: "The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

What exactly is a "Gish"?

Just to show that every detail of a Smashing Pumpkins album means something I'll post a bit I just found out myself. I always associated it as something in an Asian vain, perhaps short hand for Geisha. Never looked it up until tonight. According to Wikipedia, it actually is connected to silent movie star

Lillian Gish
220px-Lillian_Gish-edit1.jpg

Lillian was most famous for being a lead in one of the most controversial yet respected films in all of history, the silent "Birth of a Nation". The connection comes from the stories Billy's mother would tell him about the star.

"My grandmother used to tell me that one of the biggest things that ever happened was when Lillian Gish rode through town on a train, my grandmother lived in the middle of nowhere, so that was a big deal..."
~Billy Corgan on where Gish came from


Billy also joked that the original idea was to call it fish but he didn't want the album to be affiliated with these guys:

Phish
phish1990.jpg

:oyea:
 

METALPRIEST

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Re: "The Official" (The) Smashing Pumpkins Thread

^^ "These Guys" :lmao:

I sort of remember the Lillian Gish story. Pretty cool really cause it makes the whole thing seem a bit darker.

Silent movies spook me out as it is.

:heheh: :grinthumb
 

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