Billy Corgan: Biggest creep in music?

[JesseFromVegas]

http://www.avclub.com/chicago/articles/billy-corgan-gets-in-a-nasty-internet-fight-with-a,60967/

He's been awful for years but this is the first time I've out and out hated him rather than just been bewildered/entertained by his insanity.

[Smelodies]

Seems to be a lot of pissing back and forth on both sides, judging from a very cursory look.

All I can say is, why not walk into a Guitar Center and buy an effects pedal there?  They got a million to choose from.  I can't imagine hiring someone to make some kind of esoteric guitar pedal when every sound under the sun is already available at any given instrument store.  You have too many choices, really.  Which brings me to my next thought: electric guitar players use too many effects.  Here's hoping the clean tone comes back.

[daveB from Oakland]

Jesse -- I read that same article and also had the thought of posting something about it here. My subject heading was gonna be something like "Is Billy Corgan the most hideous A-hole ever??"

I saw Corgan's side project, Zwan, play on Letterman one time, and I actually kind of liked it. But then I saw an interview with one of the guys from Zwan and he had some hilarious stories about Billy's monumental jerkiness.

Also, the closest Shudder to Think ever came to "the big time" was an opening slot for the Smushing Pupkins. Shudder to Think was a million times better than the Smushing Pupkins.

Also, the AV club onetime posted that video of Billy giving a lecture to his audience about how they should receive his newer material with just as much enthusiasm as they would receive his older material. (Okay, now I feel like I'm doing a big advertisement for the AV Klub. Sorry, Tom).

Also, anyone who expends a lot of energy towards getting mad at Kanye West should redirect that energy towards getting mad at Billy Corgan.

Also, Billy Corgan can go jump in a lake. That right, I said it. He can Jump. Into. A. Lake.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

Doesn't he not believe in the moon or something?

[JesseFromVegas]

Doesn't he not believe in the moon or something?

I have to know the context behind this.

[Shaggy 2 Grote]

I don't know, I remember hearing something crazy, like he thinks the earth is flat or hollow or something like that. I haven't checked my Google alert for Billy Corgan in a while.

[effecT]

I don't know, I remember hearing something crazy, like he thinks the earth is flat or hollow or something like that. I haven't checked my Google alert for Billy Corgan in a while.

Hey!
We're called hollow-earthers and have feelings too!!!

[JonFromMaplewood]

I don't know, I remember hearing something crazy, like he thinks the earth is flat or hollow or something like that. I haven't checked my Google alert for Billy Corgan in a while.

He thinks the world is a vampire.



Sinbad's up next.

[effecT]

I don't know, I remember hearing something crazy, like he thinks the earth is flat or hollow or something like that. I haven't checked my Google alert for Billy Corgan in a while.

He thinks the world is a vampire.

[KickTheBobo]

yeah, he's a dick.

He did, however, create Siamese Dream, which is one of the best albums ever made.

Gotta separate the art from the artist I guess.

[Omar]

yeah, he's a dick.

He did, however, create Siamese Dream, which is one of the best albums ever made.

Gotta separate the art from the artist I guess.

When I saw William with a shaved head on the 11/11/95 installment of SNL (QT as host!), I knew he was finished. That is the official turning point.  Gish-Lull EP-Siamese Dream- the stuff collected on the Pisces Iscariot comp-Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (and the excellent "Zero" EP)  is a better run than most, though. Adore is a passable change of pace, and there are a few solid tracks on Machina/The Machines of God + Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (not even sure if the latter was ever officially released).  The Zwan album is pretty good.  Zeitgeist is gross.

I do regret that damn back bathroom area tattoo: Ms. Wretzky riding a unicorn as the rest of the band members loitered bottomless in the background.  It was inked by some heroin-drenched reprobate who claimed that he once participated in a threesome with Courtney Love ("C-Lo") and Falling James Moreland.

[buffcoat]

yeah, he's a dick.

He did, however, create Siamese Dream, which is one of the best albums ever made.

Gotta separate the art from the artist I guess.

When I saw William with a shaved head on the 11/11/95 installment of SNL (QT as host!), I knew he was finished. That is the official turning point.  Gish-Lull EP-Siamese Dream- the stuff collected on the Pisces Iscariot comp-Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (and the excellent "Zero" EP)  is a better run than most, though. Adore is a passable change of pace, and there are a few solid tracks on Machina/The Machines of God + Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music (not even sure if the latter was ever officially released).  The Zwan album is pretty good.  Zeitgeist is gross.

I agree 100% with you on the Smashing Pumpkins stuff.  I only heard the one Zwan song.

I really liked their stuff, in spite of its flaws (maybe, in some cases, because of them).

If I were going to reevaluate their catalog, I would point out that not reducing Mellon Collie to one record was so perfectly parallel to not reducing Use Your Illusion to one record that it's amazing that no one's written a book comparing and contrasting the two great one-man-band flameouts of the 1990s.

And both named Billy to boot.

[JonFromMaplewood]

If I were going to reevaluate their catalog, I would point out that not reducing Mellon Collie to one record was so perfectly parallel to not reducing Use Your Illusion to one record that it's amazing that no one's written a book comparing and contrasting the two great one-man-band flameouts of the 1990s.

And both named Billy to boot.

As bad as Melon Collie is,  I cannot compare it to the stinking wreck that is Use Your Illusions I and II.  Those things sound like they were recorded underwater and mixed by a chimp.

[dave from knoxville]

I liked the guitar sound, could never get beyond the voice.

[Omar]

If I were going to reevaluate their catalog, I would point out that not reducing Mellon Collie to one record was so perfectly parallel to not reducing Use Your Illusion to one record that it's amazing that no one's written a book comparing and contrasting the two great one-man-band flameouts of the 1990s.

And both named Billy to boot.

As bad as Melon Collie is,  I cannot compare it to the stinking wreck that is Use Your Illusions I and II.  Those things sound like they were recorded underwater and mixed by a chimp.

MC&TIS, UYI I, and UYI II are all awesome (and/or awesomely bloated), though certainly weaker than the bands' previous LP.  Most albums are weaker than Appetite and Siamese Dreams'll Come Through, though.  It's worth noting that I'm someone who can name all four "classic lineup" members of the Bulletboys* without consulting Wikipedia, so my take on musics is perhaps at odds with most observers.

Eric Weisbard's 33 1/3 series installment on UYI I and II is well worth a read.  He digs into a lot of the things that make those two albums very interesting -- i.e., a sonic voyage into the strange mind of W. Axl Rose. I find the push-and-pull of Axl's Elton-and-Queen thing he was into at the time vs. the Slash/Izzy/Duff approach to be quite thrilling. 

*Marq Torien¹, Mick Sweda, Lonnie Vencent, and Jimmy D'Anda.

1. Torien was briefly a guitarist for Ratt circa 1982 and auditioned for Ozzy Osbourne after the death of Randall Rhoads.