The other day Vero asked me a question that I was troubled with answering…is my favourite band the Smashing Pumpkins or Pearl Jam?
Years ago, the answer was Smashing Pumpkins. Nowadays, unsure…I get excited by Pearl Jam’s live element more than the Pumpkins. But the Pumkins have always been there for me…
It wasn’t until this morning when Billy Corgan made some huge announcements that I knew the answer will always, and forever be…The Smashing Pumpkins (with Pearl Jam running a close second!)
– New/old song ‘Owata’ being released in the next few weeks: Owata has been around since the 20th Anniversary tour. This will be the first time being released as a studio recording. Sweet! This will also be the tenth release from the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project which I have been enjoying thoroughly. Granted, who wouldn’t have wanted ‘As Rome Burns’ to be the released song?
– The Teargarden project is taking a detour…into album territory!!! He couldn’t pull himself away from the album concept for long…especially with the new lineup of the band! They will enter the studio this spring and hopefully release something this Fall. Saweet. It still will be part of the larger Teargarden concept though. Here’s hoping that they have a physical release for Lightning Strikes and Owata…maybe included in the album?
– Tour this August/September! That is wild and may coincide with my upcoming trip to Europe in September as well.
– In MASSIVE news, the Pumpkins have (after ten years) reached a settlement between themselves and EMI…so they can go ahead and release anything they have ever made, recorded, etc. First up, reissues of the albums: 2011 will give us Gish, Siamese Dream and Pisces Iscariot, on vinyl as well, with unreleased stuff. Very cool. In 2012, Mellon Collie, Aeroplane Flies High (whoa! Didn’t see that one coming!) and Adore will be re-released, along with unreleased material AND ON VINYL! I have been searching for Mellon Collie on vinyl for literally 16 years. Way too high for me to buy it off of Ebay. But now it shall be mine. My preciousss. Afterwards, Machina I & II released…this is very interesting considering Machina II has never been released other than on 25 vinyl copies. Plus they will be combined into one package with a re-ordered tracklisting as originally envisioned. PLUS a possibility of a new mix. That is huge huge huge news. I’m very stoked over the reissues.
– My favourite news of the bunch is the fact that they now have the rights to release anything they wish…this means they can go into the Vault and release the ‘last’ show on DVD, or live concerts, or rare stuff, or whatever the heck they want. This is what I’ve been waiting for these past ten years.
Epic news from the Pumpkins front. Billy has been known to get fans excited and then not go through with some stuff, so here’s to hoping every one of these plans stick!