In the year that fell between the Smashing Pumpkins releasing their 1993 breakthrough album, 'Siamese Dream,' and their 1995 crossover smash, 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness,' the band tied over impatient fans with a collection of rarities called 'Pisces Iscariot.' The 14-track disc peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart and went on to platinum certification on the strength of more than a million units sold. Diffuser.fm is teaming up with Loudwire to give away a prize pack consisting of the new 'Pisces Iscariot' reissue (featuring remastered tracks, 17 additional unheard or alternative versions of songs from the era, a DVD with unreleased live performances and more), as well as deluxe reissues of 'Gish’ and ‘Siamese Dream.’ You can enter below.
Smashing Pumpkins' music is all over the map -- they touch on everything from psych rock and electronica to folk-tinged indie pop, sometimes -- but frontman Billy Corgan isn't shy to say that head-banging metal has always been a major influence. But while he personally is very vocal about the hard-hitting tunes he's into, he feels that metal as a whole doesn't get the respect that it deserves in the alternative community.
The modern rock boom in the early '90s wouldn't have been nearly as successful without Smashing Pumpkins' songs. Consisting of frontman Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, the outfit made their mark with 1991's 'Gish.' It wasn't until their second album, 'Siamese Dream,' that the Pumpkins became a household name.
This might sound a bit morbid, but Smashing Pumpkins' singer Billy Corgan, who just issued 'Oceania,' knows which song he would like to have played at his funeral. Turns out it's one of the singer-guitarist's own tunes. That's not really surprising, given the depth and breadth of the Pumpkins' expansive catalog of alt rock hits, which dominated the airwaves in the '90s. So which one did he choose?
The Smashing Pumpkins and EMI Music are continuing their ambitious reissue campaign with the band's entire catalog. The new entry into the series is the unlikely platinum-selling compilation disc, 'Pisces Iscariot,' which is set to be released later this month.
Billy Corgan's war of words against, oh, pretty much everything continues. This time, while appearing last week (June 29) on CNN's 'Piers Morgan Tonight,' the Smashing Pumpkins' auteur set his sights on the American public, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Billy Corgan has a lot of trash to talk as he does the promotional rounds for Smashing Pumpkins' new 'Oceania' album -- from his "piss on f---in' Radiohead" comment to his total dissing of his former bandmates -- and his latest target is a big one. Speaking to Fuse, the singer pretty much bashed all bands of the grunge generation, calling them out for not living up to the ideals they supposedly set back in the roaring '90s.
Smashing Pumpkins singer Billy Corgan once claimed he fired former bassist D'arcy Wretzky "for being a mean spirited drug addict who refused to get help," but that wasn't until years after both Wretzky parted ways with the band and, just months later, was arrested in Chicago for possession of crack cocaine. Later she pleaded guilty and was sentenced to spend one month in a drug education program.
The Smashing Pumpkins rolled into New York's intimate iHeartRadio theatre on Tuesday night (June 19) for a concert celebrating that day's release of their new 'Oceania' album looking relaxed, refreshed and ready to rock. And that's exactly what they did right off the bat, opening with a cover of the KISS classic 'Black Diamond,' complete with Pumpkins drummer Mike Byrne handling Peter Criss' vocal part.
Billy Corgan has been at this whole "rock star" thing long enough to know that when you say something that could possibly be construed as controversial or offensive, the press is going to run with it -- so we have to at least give him credit for reacting to the brouhaha over his "I'll piss on Radiohead" quote with the equivalent of a goodnatured shrug.
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