Firth Media

The Smashing Pumpkins

Written and Researched By: Jess Firth

The following article critically discusses how The Smashing Pumpkins and their work has broadly influenced and impacted the shape of the alternative rock scene during the nineties and beyond. Firstly, an approach of outlining the early historical realities surrounding The Smashing Pumpkins is presented to help contextualise the bands emergence and existence. Due to brevity the discussion of The Smashing Pumpkins work will be a central point of focus, looking at its impact and influences from a broad socially holistic angle. Combined with an in-depth analysis of The Smashing Pumpkins impact, influence, and role in the music scene both past and present will be addressed. Note that throughout the essay specific emphasis will be drawn towards band member Billy Corgan due to his highly influential role in The Smashing Pumpkins.

Smashing Pumpkins formation and early days (historical account)

When attempting to centralise The Smashing Pumpkins emergence into the musical arena of the 1990’s one must first draw their attention to the beginning phase of the band, and in doing so look to Billy Corgan who undoubtedly played a key influential role in the creation and development of the bands success.

Son of a jazz guitarist, Billy Corgan grew up in a middle-class suburb of Chicago, leaving home at the age of 19 and moving to Florida with his first band, the Marked. Goth metal band the Marked lasted for approximately one year, after the disintegration of the band Corgan returned to Chicago and ended up working in a record store during 1988. It was through working at this record store he met James Iha (guitar) and began collaborating, performing and recording songs with a drum machine. Corgan was to meet D’Arcy Wretzky (bass) one night at the Metro club, the two hit it off and became friends, not long after this meeting Corgan invited Wretzky to jam with Iha and himself. In late 1988 the official title of the band was decided, Smashing Pumpkins, which quickly became The Smashing Pumpkins. (www.rollingstone.com, 2005).

In their home town of Chicago The Smashing Pumpkins swiftly received a dedicated local following, as they received strong support from the underground indie rock followers. The Smashing Pumpkins profile was boosted further when they opened for a show with Jane’s Addiction in Chicago during the summer of 1989. (www.music.yahoo.com, 2005 ).

This show was most definitely a pivotal point in putting The Smashing Pumpkins in the lime light for prospective producers and record companies to snap the group up. The booking of this show also prompted the band to hire Jimmy Chamberlin a former jazz, as their full time drummer. Only a few years later the final Pumpkin Johnathan Melvoin would join the band as a keyboardist completing the group. (www.rollingstone.com, 2005).

It was in 1990 The Smashing Pumpkins released their debut single “I Am One”, on the local Chicago label Limited Potential. (www.vh1.com, 2005). The label name seems ironic considering The Smashing Pumpkins future successes in the music industry reached an expediential level. “I Am One”, quickly sold out, and in December the band released “Tristessa” on the label Sub Pop. It was at this point in time that The Smashing Pumpkins became subject of a bidding war between bigger record labels trying to sign them up. (www.rollingstone.com, 2005).

The band made a conscious decision to sign to Virgin records and to release their debut album “Gish” on the Virgin subsidiary Caroline. The rationale behind this approach was so that The Smashing Pumpkins would not lose there indie status and respect among the audience that had supported them up until that point in time. This strategy paid off, “Gish a majestic mix of Black Sabbath and dream pop produced by Butch Vig, became a huge collage and modern rock hit upon its spring 1991 release.” (www.rollingstone.com, 2005). Arguably, this also meant that when The Smashing Pumpkins went on to release there next album on Virgin Records “Siamese Dream” they retained credibility as an emerging band that was socially recognised not to have sold out their sound and image.

Siamese Dream

The release of Siamese Dream in 1993 proved to be a ground breaking album for The Smashing Pumpkins. Firstly, the album captivated the audience’s attention with an all new approach to the delivery of progressive/alternative rock, with emotionally charged guitar riffs that were tweaked with distortion peddles, the use of violins in such songs as Disarm, and the mysteriously mesmerising vocals of Billy Corgan, all combined put forth a sound that had not been heard by the audiences of the nineties and many proved to love it. In interviews, Corgan emphasizes the honesty of his lyrics, many of which seem to address his childhood, “but too often they sound like sophomoric poetry” (DeRogatis, 2003:80). For example, “Faith lies in the way of sin / I chased the charmed but I don’t want them anymore”. (Siamese Dream, 1993). Arguably, Corgan’s straight forward and to the point lyrics accompanied by emotionally charged instrumental work tapped into an unfulfilled stylistic arena that audiences demanded and essentially welcomed. Secondly, Siamese Dream could arguably be seen as the album which launched The Smashing Pumpkins into stardom, as the album hit number 10 on the American music charts during 1993 the bands profile was blown out of the water, thus opening the door for the larger mainstream market to access the band and its future music endeavors. Furthermore, The Smashing Pumpkins where criticised for Corgan’s alleged dominate role in the recording and overall production of Siamese Dream. Due to confrontation between band members Iha and Wretzky who had been lovers during the Gish tour, and Chamberlin becoming addicted to drugs, The Smashing Pumpkins were not operating at a highly civil or productive level. In reaction to the negative intensities surrounding the band internally Corgan entered into a deep depression. To counteract his depression Corgan intensely engaged himself in continuing the writing and recording of Siamese Dream. As the other members writing and recording efforts were minimal Corgan took an applied approach by writing a surplus of songs and playing the majority of the guitars and bass on the album. Regardless of this album being ultimately a musical masterpiece of Corgan’s The Smashing Pumpkins reaped the benefits, having their profile boosted and their sound and presents demanded buy audience’s world wide. This acclaimed recognition could be viewed in leading to a more stable and focused Smashing Pumpkins, committing to the delivery of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness in 1995.

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was undoubtedly the pinnacle of The Smashing Pumpkins musical success, an album that can boast 28 songs lasting over 2 hours. The album proved to be even more successful than Siamese Dream, selling over twelve million copies world wide and also achieving seven 1996 Grammy Award nominations, including album of the year. It was during 1994 Corgan worked intensively writing a large body of songs for the creation of Mellon Collie, out of which 26 were attached to the album. “Corgan’s role as the great Pumpkin is undeniable, but Mellon Collie at least feels more like a band effort than its predecessor. Even as it incorporates such baroque textures as harp, strings, and grand piano, the album retains the rough edge and intimate vibe of old friends (and sometimes enemies) playing together in their rehearsal space.” (DeRogatis, 2003:81).

These combined elements of togetherness and angst that are emotively delivered through the musical styling of the album arguably has had the effect of capturing an attentive audience response, interpretively they have created a musical atmosphere of love, conflict and angst throughout Mellon Collie, tapping into and igniting a common emotional response from the audience. This alone is arguably a large contributing factor to Mellon Collie’s great success. In addition, Corgan’s lyrics can be attributed to being synchronically aligned with the musical atmosphere of love and conflict and angst that is so strongly put forth throughout the album. “Corgan is a romantic who believes in the redemptive power of love, but he is also a cynic, having been constantly disappointed by those he loves.” (DeRogatis, 2003:81). An example of this in his lyrics is “Believe, believe in me, believe / that life can change that your not stuck in vain,” he sings in “Tonight, Tonight”, much of the rest of the album consist of Corgan wallowing in his own misery and moaning about everyone and everything not meeting his expectations. “Intoxicated with the madness, I’m in love with my sadness”, he sings in “Zero”, further along the song breaks into a chant of “Emptiness is loneliness, and loneliness is cleanliness / and cleanliness is godliness, and god is empty just like me.” One could argue that Corgan’s lyrics are not intended to be analysed under a microscope and are instead simply intended to conjure a mood alone with the music. But I believe Corgan’s vocals are far too prominent and attention grabbing to merely invoke only a state of emotion in the audience, instead it appears that his lyrics also act as a frame and explanation for the further depth of the music. On a broader social level it seems that this facet of The Smashing Pumpkins music has acted as a key counterpart in securing their musical success possibly due to playing on the audience’s dreams, desires and darksides through Corgan’s own lyrical confessions and through the musical ambiance the band creates. Furthermore, DeRogatis argues that “Musically, Mellon Collie solidifies Corgan’s position as one of his generation’s most ambitious songwriters – no one else in alternative rock’s superstar stratum has attempted an album of such length, let alone scope, and it may even match The Wall in its sonic accomplishments.” (DeRogatis, 2003:82).

Adore

In 1998 The Smashing Pumpkins released Adore. Adore took on quite a different sound and image to previous albums released by the Pumpkins, moving away from the guitar based rock the band was notorious for and veering towards an electronica sound, “trimming much of the guitar-driven sonic underpinnings and infused with a much heavier mood.”(bio…). The use of drum machines and synthesizers was a distinct counterpart in changing the overall sound delivery of the band. The loss of keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin to a heroin overdose in 1996 and the firing of drummer Chamberlin due to his heroin involvement ultimately lead to The Smashing Pumpkins change of set up and sound. As well as Adore becoming an album recognized for its experimental sound, Corgan went through a time of experimenting with his own public image, “shedding his alternative hipster look for a dark Gothic persona, and began hanging around Marilyn Manson.” (bio…). Comparatively this change in sound and image from their guitar orientated alternative rock of the early nineties that was surrounded by influential bands such as Pearl Jam, Nirvanan and Sound Garden, re-emerged with the influence of increased support for electronica and Gothic rock in the late nineties. Arguably, The Smashing Pumpkins release of Adore was partly a reaction to the surrounding social influences of the time, whether this be other musical movement uprising or the bands that were successfully drawing the attention of the public and media at the time, such as Marilyn Manson’s controversial but high profile emergence on the music scene. In reaction to this it is possible that Adore became a highly influenced product of the surrounding environment of the late nineties, play up to an all new movement of electronic and gothic rock that was emerging. The Smashing Pumpkins can also be viewed as a band that reinforced the popularity of these two developing movements, through their high profile and accessibility to the mass music market, it could be argued that experimental actions surrounding Adore lead to the increased support for gothic rock and integration of electronic elements in the alternative scene. For example, the East Bay hardcore orientated band AFI followed suit and produced the album The Art Of Drowning that introduces elements of electronica in their music and a gothic rock image. In addition, although Adore received favorable reviews, being nominated for Best Alternative Performance at the Grammy’s, the album sold only 3 million copies. (bio…).

Machina

In 2000 The Smashing Pumpkins released their final album Machina / The Machines of God, the album took of with a bang in its first five weeks on the music store selves, but then steadily slid down the charts from a debut peak at number 3 to number 54, selling around 340,000 copies. “As much as the phenomenal first-week sales of to-and-a-half million album sales by ‘N Sync, this seems like concrete proof that a new wave of young pop fans had turned a deaf ear towards alternative rock. But the songwriter from the most successful rock band Chicago has ever produced maintained that he was not disappointed with his bands album’s performance.” (DeRogatis, 2003:85). “I’m very happy with it; I’m just glad we still have a pulse. . . I don’t just mean the record – I mean the band in general. We’re just happy to be alive. We’ve been through so much that the ability to go out, make a good record, play good shows, and be ourselves without making any compromises is enough. It’s probably one of the happiest periods of the band.” (Crogan, 2000). Contrary to this sentiment, The Smashing Pumpkins broke up in December 2000, playing their last show where it all began, on stage at the Metro club in Chicago. One could say they consciously decided to go out with a bang leaving the scene still in their prime, rather than living on and slowly washing out.

Summary

The Smashing Pumpkins can successfully be attributed being a cornerstone band of the alternative rock era, setting a musical example unique in their own right that has undoubted influenced other major bands of the era and onwards into the future. Arguably, bands such as Radio Head, Weezer, AFI and many more would not have been the same if was not for The Smashing Pumpkins, and vice versa with those bands of the era having corresponding influence over the Pumpkins. DeRogatis argues that the social setting of musical demand has changed since The Smashing Pumpkins heyday in the mid-nineties, “Alternative has given way to sickly-sweet teen-pop and testosterone-crazed rap-rock, and the cynical, angst-ridden Generation X has yielded to the cheerfully consumerist Generation Y. In part I agree with this statement, but argue further that such bands as The Smashing Pumpkins have laid new paths for future musicians and bands to evolve their own style based on the influences of the nineties rock-alternative era, essentially aiding the evolution and reconstruction of what is deemed to be the alternative genera. Further, I don’t believe Alternative has totally given way to “sickly-sweet teen-pop and testosterone-crazed rap-rock” in all entirety, instead it appears that Alternative is becoming far more fragmented with more holistic array of musical styles appearing on the music scene, meaning that the Alternative scene still exists but it has and is becoming far more stylistically mixed than the rock-alternative scene of the nineties. One could say that this quite simply comes down to the constant diversification and change in music demanded by audience’s and music created by bands. In Conclusion, that the Smashing Pumpkins undoubtedly played a key role in influencing the shape and progression of the alternative rock movement during the nineties. Through their innovative musical talents that took elements of psychedelic rock, progressive rock, heavy metal, Goth rock as a key influence on their own musical style the Pumpkin successfully captivated a huge audience following, tapping into a musical realm of emotion that many became fond of and essentially propped up the band with their support. Therefore, The Smashing Pumpkins can be viewed as a band that not only influenced millions of music lovers but more importantly impacted other musicians during the nineties in the development of their own sound, consequently resulting in a ripple effect that has influenced change throughout the music scene then and now.