bound and gagged
Bulletproof Heart
Age: -
Gender: Female
Posts: 28660 | March 6th, 2007 at 05:36pm Thanks for all the support you guys!
Hardcore, angry emo grunge by garden vegetables
Pie, edible seeds, Jack-O-Lanterns, and a band that helped shape rock history. What do they all have in common? Pumpkins. But, sadly, I'm not here to write about pie, seeds or Halloween. I'm here to write about The Smashing Pumpkins.
For many of you, you say you might've heard of them, but you're not sure. Or you haven't heard of them at all. And that's okay. They were popular when most of us were born, so I don't expect any of us to remember them. So, using reliable resources, I will educate you about the Pumpkins.
First off, let's start with members:
Billy Corgan: Vocals/guitar
James Iha: Guitar/vocals
D'arcy Wretzky: Bass/vocals
Jimmy Chamberlin: Drums/percussion
Got that? Good. Now we move on to genre. Some people would classify them as Goth, heavy, progressive, psychedelic and/or alternative rock. Other people call it early emo. That's understandable, because some of that stuff is really dark. Once you hear Disarm, you'll see the point.
Corgan was in bands when he was 19, until 1988, when he got Chamberlin on drums, Iha on guitar and Wretzky on bass- after arguing with her at a club about a band that had played- together. They played a few shows together, Corgan briefly dated Wretzky, and the line-up was the same until the band broke up. In 1989, they recorded demo tapes, and recorded a vinyl with several other similar bands of the time.
After signing to a small Chicago label, they released their first single, I Am One. After that one sold out, they signed to another label, Sub Pop, and released Tristessa. They later signed to Caroline Records afterwards.
In 1991, the Pumpkins recorded their debut album Gish on Caroline Records, still. They made it for $20,000 with producer Butch Vig. To get the sound he wanted, Corgan played all the instruments, which didn't make bands members too happy. With its heavy metal sound, Gish had minor success with one single, Rhinoceros, and it got them compared to bands like Jane's Addiction. They released an LP called Lull, on Caroline Records in October, but then signed to Virgin Records.
While on tour, opening for bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, bad things happened. Iha and Wretzky had a messy break-up, Chamberlin became a drug addict, and Corgan went into a deep depression, writing songs from the parking garage he lived in.
After this, music entered the grunge era. With this, bands like Pearl Jam and Nirvana became the hottest thing. The Pumpkins, who still considered themselves a grunge band, were thrust into this limelight. With Nirvana's huge album Nevermind, the Pumpkins felt pressure, and lots of it.
As Corgan said, "We felt a great pressure that if we didn't come up with a record that was huge, we were done. It was that simple in our minds. We felt like our lives depended on it." In a way, Corgan's life depended on it. He was so deep into depression, he thought about suicide. To get out of his depression, he basically lived at the studio, working on the Pumpkin's 1993 follow-up, Siamese Dream.
The Pumpkin's moved far away to record this, for two reasons. One: To get away from distractions, like friends. Two: To get Chamberlain away from all of his known drug connections. Getting Chamberlain away failed, as he found new dealers, and vanished for days at a time.
The recording was difficult, and I mean really difficult. The other members referred to Corgan as a 'tyrant'. Corgan didn't deny these accusations, saying that the press and others didn't understand the situation. There was also speculation that Corgan did everything on the records, and the other members did very little. Corgan did say he did most of the work, only to get the sound to his standards, and to get it done in fewer takes.
In the end, Siamese Dream wasn't cheap, costing over $250,000, but it was a hit. It debuted at number 10 on the Billboard charts, and MTV put the videos for Today and Disarm in heavy rotation, making the Pumpkins international.
Most of the guitar parts on Siamese Dream were so overdubbed that they were nearly impossible to do live. Because of that, some songs were altered drastically to be played live.
Pumpkins were famous, others outside the band weren't happy. All the bands that knew the Pumpkins before they got mainstream laughed at them, saying mean things about them and their success in their songs. One man referred to them as 'ultimately insignificant'. Others, like Courtney Love, were big Pumpkin fans.
In 1994, they released a B-side to Siamese Dream called Pisces Iscariot. It outshone Siamese, making it to number four on the charts. They also released a VHS called Vieuphoria, which had a mix of behind-the-scenes footage and live performances. After getting headlining spots on the Lollapalooza and Reading festivals, they took time off to work on their next album.
For the next album, Corgan wrote non-stop, writing over 56 songs for what would be their next album, and maybe their lengthiest, 1995's Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Corgan referred to this as "The Wall (Album by Pink Floyd) for Generation X." Mellon Collie was a double-album that was over two hours long with 28 songs. It charted at number one on Billboard charts, and got praised by Time Magazine. It was more successful than Siamese, by getting platinum nine times. The Pumpkin's got seven Grammy nominations, and earned one Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal for the song, Bullet with Butterfly Wings. Did EVERYTHING on Mellon Collie have a sweet title?
In the end, Mellon Collie had five hits: 1979, Zero, Tonight, Tonight, Thirty-Three and Bullet with Butterfly Wings. It confirms it. Everything on here had a sweet title. All the songs that didn't make it onto the album were released on a B-side collection called The Aeroplane Flies High. Because of the band's popularity, Virgin Records only wanted to released 200,000 copies of Aeroplane, but had to produce more because of 'overwhelming demand'.
In 1996, the Pumpkins went on a world tour for Mellon Collie, and the bands appearance changed. Well, mostly Corgan's style changed. He shaved his head, and began wearing a long-sleeve shirt that read 'Zero' and silver pants. Wow, the 90's were a scary time. Soon, the 'Zero' shirt began to sell at malls all over.
With all the popularity they had, it was not a happy year for them. In May, at a concert in Ireland, a 17 year-old girl was crushed to death in the mosh pit. The band sent flowers to her funeral, and cancelled their next show there. Despite Corgan's "don't mosh" pleas, the band still had open-floor shows. In July, Chamberlain and their keyboardist were doing drugs in a hotel room. The keyboardist died of an overdose and Chamberlain was arrested. He was later fired from the band. Corgan would later say this was the band's worst decision, because it damaged both their reputation and their career.
They finished the tour with a different drummer and keyboardist. Soon, they started giving interviews saying that Mellon Collie would be the last conventional Pumpkins record, and that rock music had been becoming stale. At the end of 1996, Iha said, "The future is in electronic music. It really seems boring just to play rock music."
After the release of Mellon Collie, the Pumpkins did three songs for different things. The End is the Beginning is the End or The Beginning is the End is the Beginning for the Batman & Robin soundtrack. Despite Chamberlain not being there, the song sounded heavy, like Bullet with Butterfly Wings did. The song won the band a Grammy. They also did a Christmas song, and a song from the Lost Highway soundtrack, sounding totally different then they usually did. Like, WAY different. Different in the way of that it was more electronica than rock. But it was still a cool song
Their fourth album, Adore, was influenced by the death of Corgan's mother and his divorce. It was a rock album with dark, electronica with a drum machine put in. It sounded much like the band's early work. They also adapted a darker, subdued look instead of their alternative look. While Adore got good reviews and was nominated for a Grammy, it didn't sell very well. It sold only 830,000 in the U.S., and triple that overseas. It was considered a failure.
Over the summer of 1998, the band went on a fifteen city/seventeen date tour. All the money went to charity, and the band literally paid for the concert out of their pockets.
In 1999, they reunited with a sober Chamberlain to tour and release Machina/The Machines of God. After its release, the band announced Wretzky's leaving of the band. She was replaced by Hole bassist, Melissa Auf der Maur. Melissa was in the music videos following the decision.
Machina was released in 2000 and it was similar to the Pumpkins' traditional sound, after the pretty much techno Adore. A critic gave it good reviews, and said, ".seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans has turned a deaf ear toward alternative rock."
In May of 2000, on the radio, Corgan announced the band was breaking up at the end of the year. They would release one more album, Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music. It was released on Corgan's own label, and they allowed it to be distributed online. They released 25 copies on a double LP and ten, three-inch EP's. They asked Virgin records to do the distribution thing, but when they declined, Corgan opened his own label, and did it his way.
On December 2, 2000, the Pumpkins played their last concert at the same club they played their first 12 years before. They gave everyone there a copy of their first show. The concert was over four hours long, spanning their whole career. They released one more single, and then they were done.
For a bit, the members did other projects. Corgan, Chamberlain and Iha were in other bands. Corgan wrote a book of poems. Chamberlain started his own band. Iha started and still works with his own record label. Wretzky hadn't made any public appearances since the band broke-up, but was arrested in 2000 for buying 3 bags of crack.
In 2004, Corgan wrote something bitter about Wretzky on his online blog, calling her a "mean-spirited drug addict." And he blamed Iha for the breakup. He later said how much he hated Iha was how much gratitude he had for him. Iha retorted, saying that only Corgan could've broken up the band.
In June of 2005, Corgan took out a full-page ad in a Chicago newspaper, and made it official. The Pumpkins were reuniting. The September, Chamberlain confirmed that they would start a reunion tour for next February, and maybe a new album to go with it.
February of 2006, MTV confirmed that Corgan and Chamberlain had signed with Front Line Management. Melissa Auf der Maur said that the two were writing new material and that if Wretzky wasn't able to play, she'd be happy to be in second.
That spring, that band's website announced that they were getting back together. It said that they were working with the man who produced several Queen albums, including A Night at the Opera. They were also working with a producer who worked with bands like Soundgarden and Pantera.
This January and February, they announced via MySpace that they would be embarking on several European tour dates, and the official reunion would be in May, at a German festival. Right now, the two only confirmed members are Corgan and Chamberlain. Still not sure if Iha or Wretzky are coming back.
February, it was also announced that the new Pumpkins album would be released on 7/7/07 and would be titled Zeitgeist. I think it's German or something.
To this day, bands like Kill Hannah and My Chemical Romance said to be influenced greatly by the Pumpkins. Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance said he wishes to copy the Pumpkins career for My Chemical Romance. Mat Devine from Kill Hannah is actually good friends with Corgan, and has compared his band to the Pumpkins.
In conclusion, the Pumpkins shaped rock history by creating musical fusion that was both psychedelic and metal, D'Arcy dated almost everyone in the band, they were on several different labels, and they were one of rocks biggest and most over-dramatic bands. I hope that when the new album comes out this summer, not only will I get it for my birthday, but it will be a success. This concludes my gigantic article. Thank you for your time and patience. And remember, "The world is a vampire."
And I am done! |
but it's a funny remark. 
I would start with Mellon Collie or Siamese Dream.