Too bad he hasn’t been a band for twenty years there was a 5 year gap or so in there somewhere… this reunion is a joke.

Pre-2001 Smashing Pumpkins are still my favorite band of all time, I even embraced Zwan and the Billy’s solo album, but this new “Pumpkins” is nostalgic garbage.

He should have kept it electronic… or even if the band was now called Billy Corgan and The Smashing Pumpkins perhaps that would give me some sort of satisfaction… but this band out there touring under that name is NOT Smashing Pumpkins.

Adam

Seriously, the Pumpkins are Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin. Look at it. Their iconic sound comes from Billy’s vocals, Billy’s riffs, and Jimmy’s drums. The other members have all just been placeholders. Calling them any sort of impostor is simply false. And Zeitgeist was an incredible album. Get over yourselves and move on. Things change, often for the better.

People moan about Darcy and James not being there simply because they were likable. They were cool and photogenic and were a big part of the SP ‘image’, but logically it makes no sense – they had very little/nothing to do with the actual music.

Zeitgeist is a good album.

if billy had kept the sound electronic, like his (mediocre) solo album, people would still be here bitching about how its not the old pumpkins…which would be a valid point.

saying its not the pumpkins because two ineffective members aren’t in the new band is crap. i mean, hell, journey has a filipino singer (their SECOND replacement singer, i might add) who is about 10 years younger than the original (steve perry).

not saying i love journey like i love SP, but still. things change, people. if the main elements are still there, just go with it.

And James wasnt even that likable. Rock on, Billy. Now if Axl ever gets his caca together, this would be a great double bill.

It’s kind of sad to see that there isn’t much excitement about this SP 20th anniversary tour. There aren’t many tour dates up there and a couple of shows are at casino hotels (not exactly what you’d call a cool venue to play at). I say once Corgan became a melon head that was when the SP went on a decline (Adore and after). Billy should put on a wig on this tour, it may bring back memories.

I saw the Pumpkins in Raleigh a little over a month ago and it was a disappointment. A lot of other people seem to feel the same way.

Get over yourself, Billy Corgan, and either make some better music or let it die.

Corgan has weakened the Pumpkin’s name like Metallica did after the Black album. In contrast Guns n’ Roses are cooler than ever by doing nothing. Likewise Nirvana.
Only Pearl Jam was solid enough to maintain their luster while remaining active.

Zeitgeist is a very good album. Stronger than MACHINA I. I think the main problem with the new album was the recording quality. It was not very good.

I hope I can make it to the show

Matt, Trey and “The Graveyard”?,

If you think Zeitgeist was a “good” album I’d like to hear why. Is it just because it was a return album for them? The guitar work lacked any sort of creativity, overdubbing and work behind it. The lyrics were too little too late (Corgan needs to stay away from politics). The singing was horrible, and I hate to say it but Jimmy really was just going through the motions on this one.

Like many out there I was once the #1 fan, mainly for the music, but if you had a trivia question chances are I could have answered it and gave a detailed description.

I’m 26, and over the last 7 years I’ve seen bands coming around trying to pick up where the pumpkins left off in 1995, and even some flat out ripping off their early sound. They started something, but instead of finishing it or taking it to a new level (which I think they did on Adore… using succdess to redefine mainstrain – see U2 Zooropa)they decided to burn out into obscurity, only to return with nothing but empty promise after months of speculation and hype… a hype they/he did not even come close to living up to.

Trey also commented on how if they/he kept it electronic everyone would complain that it didn’t sound like the Pumpkins. I think that is a convenient remark and has no validity. TheFutureEmbrace tour was much more vibrant and exciting than any Pumpkins tour had been since probably 94/95.

They never were a live band, he was very studio oriented.

Either way I guess everyone has an opinion…

But for the record where’s his live dvd/cd of his solo show at Metro from back in 2004/2005? He promised that and the Pumpkins “final” Metro show to be out by the end of 2005? And what about his book? Again, I really like that stuff he had posted on his website, but he failed, chickened out on pursuing something new and different… which explains why he went back to the Pumpkins… his poetry book did suck though… but as a fan and a critic, I can really see both sides honestly.

Adam

They “were” great (in fact amazing/perfect) and then they make a half ass comeback. Why market the CD the way they did? Sell one version here at one big box, another there at the other big box? Not one version helping out independent stores. And most of all, just saw them this last tour, and they sucked live. But Zwan was good, Paz rocks!

I like the Pumpkin’s sound but since there’s little craft one album is all you need. I pick Machina as the least tedious.

Siamese Dream is the best album the Smashing Pumpkins released.

The Pumpkins have been pretty lifeless since Adore came out. If you included only the best songs off Adore, Machina, Machina II, the Zwan album, the solo Billy album, and Zeitgeist you might have enough material to fill a decent mixtape.

I am 29 and remember when I was 15 I thought Gish was the most amazing CD that I had ever heard.
Siamese Dream I thought was just as good, but they started to go downhill from there. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness had some good songs on it, but it did not come close to the greatness of the first two. This was the first CD by them that I got sick of hearing.

These “reunion” tours are only going to be getting worse for us Gen X’rs. Just wait, in the next few years you will see “reunion” tours from Live, Crash Test Dummies, Spin Doctors,……

Sorry Billy this is like The Who still touring with only Pete and Roger. Won’t be doing it.

ZZZzzz…

ehm… who cares!

I saw the Pumpkins twice in concert. The first time, they were the opening act on a triple bill with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. This was when Gish had come out and the SP and PJ were basically still unknown. The Pumpkins comppletely blew me away! They were incredible.

The second time I saw them was on a (by then) bloated and floundering Lollapalooza tour. This was after Mellon Collie and they just sucked! They were horrible. I guess it was another example of huge success completely sapping all of the creativity and energy out of a band. I completely lost interest after that. (I thought the Zwan album was crap.)

They headlined Lolla 94, Mellon Collie came out in 95.

LEAVE BILLY ALONE
YOU’RE LUCKY HE EVEN PERFORMS FOR YOU BASTARDS!!!

How the hell can yo say Mellon Collie was a downhill record for the Pumpkins. Not only was it the peak of their career, but was probably the best album in the 90s. It has so much musical range from the metal of jellybelly, to the chilled out songs like 1979, and mellon collie and the infinite sadness piano piece is amazing. Porcelina, An Ode to No One, 33, Iha’s Take Me Down, Farewell and Goodnight, AND TONIGHT TONIGHT!! You have idea what good music is if you think Gish was the peak of their musical careers. It just got better with Siamese Dream, and then even better with MCIS.

i like the smashing pumpkins cds, mellon collie was deffinitly the highlight of their career, however, i saw the smashing pumpkins in concert and was highly dissapointed. i was so angry with the performance i left early. half of the crowd was sitting and nodding off. the last half of the concert was just a bunch of nonsense psychedelic bullshit. not even songs! never ending interludes and billy seeming conceited and beyond weird. he was like a mental patient. granted, he can deffinitly play some guitar and the albums are good but his stage presence sucks and the show was so bad that iv lost all respect for the sp im sorry to say. im sure many others feel similarly. he lost the crowd completely.