things Billy Corgan said to Kim Thayil in Australia in 1994 poll

http://nextmosh.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Smashing_Pumpkins_Beacon_Theatre_NYC-480x251.jpg

didn't know this hell was goin on

if that dude has even the faintest idea of what plainsong is I'll open this cage and eat a rat

Well at least Liz Phair's getting work.

It's a Cure track, duh

Plainsong is def the core, the heart music

"1979" is so good, it's never not blown me away, the way he so effortlessly builds a little bridge between Daydream Nation and Disintegration in the form of a gorgeous pop song

otm

this is proooooobably not the first time someone has said this but it's amazing that he can be such a profound asshole and complete dumbass but they had some really kickass songs for like a decade straight

it's not amazing at all, if the last few years have taught us anything it's that there's no real relationship between someone's creative contribution to culture and the strength of their personal character, much as we want there to be one.

balls yr doin' God's work on this thread. Corgan has an ear for production vibe, that can't be denied, he knows what it is that makes a record sound appealing to a lot of people. but both as a songwriter and a player he's garbage. his nearest analog guitar wise is Greg Ginn, who also practiced 10 hours a day and still sucked. I may not be able to shred myself but I know a lot of proper shredders and not a one of them would cross the street to play Aeolian mode on Corgan's grave, he's just bad.

― tremendous crime wave and killing wave (Joan Crawford Loves Chichi), Friday, April 22, 2016 5:52 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Oh man. I want to talk about this. I understand if you don't think he's a good songwriter, but in what universe is Corgan a bad guitar player???

Two performances come to mind. "Siva," like most of the songs on Gish, isn't the strongest song necessarily, it's a vehicle for soloing and jamming. The first part of this video, I mean, he's playing the guitar like it's part of his body. The flash solo from 2:12 to 2:30 is what I show friends who don't know much about the Pumpkins beyond a song or two. How is this not proper shredding?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzBVvD1vUvM

Then there's the solo in "Here is No Why," one of my favorite guitar solos ever. 2:22 to 3:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOmGsEFSBc8

I've read and hear critiques of Corgan's voice, songwriting, and attitude all the time, but I've never heard anyone say he's a bad guitar player. I'm genuinely curious though. I don't know much music theory and I'd love to know how more re why you think he sucks or is a hack.

chamberlin's a fuckin incredible drummer stop frontin'

"oh he's not the world's greatest drummer" whatever there's so much tiny incredible work going on in his fills and in his general swing

chamberlin is a GREAT drummer and corgan can shred while also being a terrible person with the voice of a mouse dying in its trap

they were so frustrating live because corgan keep getting ahead of chamberlin, knowingly or not trying to speed up the tempo, chamberlin wouldn't have it, and so the performances were a mess. I saw them twice on the siamese dream tour, both times the same problem. I guess it helps knowing that corgan was on speed during that tour.

I like a few Smashing Pumpkins albums, but he is all left hand and that's boring. 1979 is a notable exception.

Chamberlin has one gimmick, but it's a fantastic gimmick. So, whatever.

Mellon Collie was released in 1995.

Notable albums from a guitarist perspective released in 1995:

The Bends
Pure Phase
Wowee Zowee
To Bring You My Love
(What's the Story) Morning Glory?
A Northern Soul
Washing Machine

i.e. It was a cool album. But it was difficult for Corgan to stand out as a guitarist outside of the bullshit ROCK MUSIC gas station mags. Smashing Pumpkins were played alongside a number of guitar all-timers!

h8 those gimmick drummers with the gimmick of complementing a wide range of material with versatile creative drumming, what a one trick pony

Indeed

He also didn't layer his guitars 40 times over.

I've been reading this about "Soma" for 20 years. I like the song but does anyone seriously hear 40 guitar parts on it? It's not exactly Branca. Or does "40 guitar overdubs" just mean that the guitar parts were comped from 40 takes? I could believe that.

In Hummer and Soma, there are forty guitar parts - a lot of those are atmospheric parts and little drop-ins. The heavy parts are overdubbed four to eight times. They're not all happening at the same time, maybe at the most there's fifteen guitar parts or layers at one point. Butch Vig talked about it online several years ago: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/q-butch-vig/398145-1993-smashing-pumpkins-siamese-dream.html

I think Soma and Hummer had closer to 40 guitar tracks. Not all playing at the same time, but there could be 8-10 overdubs in one section, then another 8-10 in a second section, etc. A lot of times we would bounce them down...like in the bow part, I think that was around 12 tracks mixed down to stereo.

Thru the Eyes of Ruby on MCIS has 56 guitar parts...Alan Moulder confirmed this in a podcast interview a year or two ago, can't find the link...

OK, I could see how that could work if they're counting each track in each section separately. Too bad the EQ Mag link isn't working for me. I'd like to read that.

http://www.trbimg.com/img-56d4da5f/turbine/la-me-george-kennedy-obit-pictures-20160229/650/650x366
Nobody can layer 40 guitars

h8 those gimmick drummers with the gimmick of complementing a wide range of material with versatile creative drumming, what a one trick pony

He was replaced by a drum machine.

And that record was dogshit

most of the drum tracks on adore are live

yeah Matt Walker, Joey Waronker, and Matt Cameron all play on Adore.

Don't forget:
http://www.drumsoloartist.com/Site/Drummers/images/KennyAronoff.gif

he only played on the tour

I like how BC made a riff out of distorted harmonics on "Zero".

which was why it was so difficult for me to play reading it from the tabs in Guitar magazine

Yeah, it's quite a neat trick. Eye seem 2 remember Corgan being interviewed 4 that Rush documentary, and Alex Lifeson plays a lot of riffs based on harmonics on stuff like 'Cygnus X-1 Book II: Hemispheres' and 'Red Barchetta' ... It's possible Corgan may have picked up designing a riff around harmonics from listening 2 Rush.

i can dig this Prince-posting style

The Kor the <3 Music

I could see that. There's a striking distinction for me in that "Red Barchetta" is based on the 2nd to 4th harmonics (12th, 7th, and 5th frets), which give you octaves and fifths that are not too far from their equal-tempered counterparts. "Zero" uses the 5th, 6th, and 7th harmonics, including a just M3 and just m7 that are more distant from equal temperament. Obv, at the same time, it's more simple-minded: he just slid his finger along that stretch of the string with a tonne of distortion.

2xp OTM re posting style!

what the hell is the solo to "Zero" btw. like it's this out of key weird alien sounding thing. have always liked it but didn't know if it was just achieved with a fuck ton of pedal effects or if he was just mashing frets in the 22 - 24s and bending them weirdly

Feel like this thread has lost sight of it's original focus guys. Can we bring it back to stupid things Billy Corgans says/has said? Thanks.

"what the hell is the solo to "Zero" btw. like it's this out of key weird alien sounding thing. have always liked it but didn't know if it was just achieved with a fuck ton of pedal effects or if I was just mashing frets in the 22 - 24s and bending them weirdly"

- Blind Willy Corgs

It's a shame 2 c both 'U Hurt Me Deeply' and 'What Sign R U?' get no votes in hindsight.

Well first is better when you add "in my heart" so I get that one (esp. when you imagine him tapping the Superman S on his chest).

'What Sign R U?' would make a great Prince song title, come 2 think of it.

what the hell is the solo to "Zero" btw. like it's this out of key weird alien sounding thing. have always liked it but didn't know if it was just achieved with a fuck ton of pedal effects or if he was just mashing frets in the 22 - 24s and bending them weirdly

― Neanderthal, Sunday, April 24, 2016 10:04 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

that's one of James' rare shining moments in a SP studio recording. painstakingly pieced together, and yeah it's run through like half a dozen harmonizers and pitch shifters

"Zero" is a remarkably powerful and compact song, their shortest epic. one of his most distinctive riffs, for sure. lots of layering going on with the rhythm tracks:

"Zero"
We like to call this style of our music "Cybermetal." "Zero" has six rhythm guitars, with two line-in 12-string acoustics, plus those wacky Iha leads. Tracked live with overdubs added later, this is a true mover as well as the first song that was recorded for Mellon Collie, James has always said this reminds him of Judas Priest.

http://www.starla.org/articles/gw5.htm

I actually bought that issue of GW!

http://pitchfork.com/news/65426-billy-corgan-disses-bernie-sanders-on-conspiracy-theorist-radio-show/?mbid=social_facebook

ok now he's gone too far

why Prince and not this jackass

if we had to lose one chemtrails believer...

Why does he look like a hobo

sometimes hobos have valid ideas. See: Regis Philbin, Kenneth Arrow, Charlotte Bronte

Regis Philbin was invented by a hobo?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMc2x8DZLZc