Artist.......: The Smashing Pumpkins
Album........: Live from Tower Theatre in Philadelphia
Label........: n/a
Genre........: Rock
Catnr........: n/a
Source.......: DVBS
Rip.date.....: May-20-2008
Str.date.....: Oct-00-2007
Quality......: VBR/44,1Hz/Joint-Stereo
Url..........: www.smashingpumpkins.com
track title time
01. Live from Tower Theatre in Philadelphia 87:25
Runtime 87:25 min
Size 149,5 MB
Release Notes:
Recorded : May 14, 2008 (Virgin 17)
Performed : October 2007 (Philadelphia)
Of all the major alternative rock bands of the early '90s,
the Smashing Pumpkins were the group least influenced by
traditional underground rock. Lead guitarist/songwriter
Billy Corgan fashioned an amalgam of progressive rock,
heavy metal, goth rock, psychedelia, and dream pop,
creating a layered, powerful sound driven by swirling,
distorted guitars. Corgan was wise enough to exploit his
angst-ridden lyrics, yet he never shied away from rock
star posturing, even if he did cloak it in allegedly
ironic gestures. In fact, the Smashing Pumpkins became the
model for alternative rock success. Nirvana was too
destructive and Pearl Jam shunned success. The Pumpkins,
on the other hand, knew how to play the game, signing to a
major-subsidized indie for underground credibility and
moving to the major in time to make the group a multi-
platinum act. And when the group did achieve mass success
with 1993's Siamese Dream, they went a long way to
legitimize heavy metal and orchestrated prog rock, helping
move alternative rock even closer to '70s AOR, especially
in the eyes of radio programmers and mainstream audiences.
Unlike many of their contemporaries, the Pumpkins were
able to withstand many internal problems and keep selling
records, emerging as the longest-lasting and most
successful alternative band of the early '90s.
The son of a jazz guitarist, Billy Corgan grew up in a
Chicago suburb, leaving home at the age of 19 to move to
Florida with his fledgling goth metal band, the Marked.
After the band failed down South, he returned to Chicago
around 1988, where he began working at a used-record
store. At the shop he met James Iha (guitar), a graphic
arts student at Loyola University, and the two began
collaborating, performing and recording songs with a drum
machine. Corgan met D'Arcy Wretzky at a club show; after
arguing about the merits of the Dan Reed Network, the two
became friends and she joined the group as a bassist.
Soon, the band, who named themselves the Smashing
Pumpkins, had gained a dedicated local following,
including the head of a local club who booked them to open
for Jane's Addiction. Before the pivotal concert, the band
hired Jimmy Chamberlin, a former jazz musician, as their
full-time drummer.
In 1990, the Smashing Pumpkins released their debut
single, "I Am One," on the local Chicago label Limited
Potential. The single quickly sold out, and in December
the band released "Tristessa" on Sub Pop. By this point,
the Smashing Pumpkins had become the subject of a hot
bidding war, and the group latched on to a clever way to
move to a major label without losing indie credibility.
They signed to Virgin Records, yet it was decided that the
group's debut would be released on the Virgin subsidiary
Caroline, then the band would move to the majors. The
strategy worked; Gish, a majestic mix of Black Sabbath and
dream pop produced by Butch Vig, became a huge college and
modern rock hit upon its spring 1991 release. While it
earned a large audience, many indie rock fans began to
snipe at the Smashing Pumpkins, accusing them of being
careerists. Such criticism did the band no harm and they
embarked on an extensive supporting tour for Gish, which
lasted over a year and included opening slots for Red Hot
Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. During the Gish tour,
tensions between bandmembers began to escalate, as Iha and
D'Arcy, who had been lovers, went through a messy breakup,
Chamberlin became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and
Corgan entered a heavy depression. These tensions hadn't
been resolved by the time the group entered the studio
with Vig to record their second album.
Toward the beginning of the sessions, the Pumpkins were
given significant exposure through the inclusion of
"Drown" on the Singles soundtrack in the summer of 1992.
As the sessions progressed, Corgan relieved himself of his
depression by working heavily -- not only did he write a
surplus of songs, he played nearly all of the guitars and
bass on each recording, which meant that its release was
delayed several times. The resulting album, Siamese Dream,
was an immaculate production owing much to Queen, yet it
was embraced by critics upon its July 1993 release.
Siamese Dream became a blockbuster, debuting at number ten
on the charts and establishing the group as stars. "Cherub
Rock," the first single, was a modern rock hit, yet it was
"Today" and the acoustic "Disarm" that sent the album into
the stratosphere, as well as the group's relentless
touring. The Smashing Pumpkins became the headliners of
Lollapalooza 1994, and following the tour's completion,
the band went back into the studio to record a new album
that Corgan had already claimed would be a double-disc
set. To tide fans over until the new album, the Pumpkins
released the B-sides and rarities album Pisces Iscariot in
October 1994.
Working with producers Flood and Alan Moulder, the
Smashing Pumpkins recorded as a full band for their third
album, which turned out to be, as Corgan predicted, a
double-disc set called Mellon Collie and the Infinite
Sadness. Although many observers were skeptical about
whether a double-disc set, especially one so ridiculously
named, would be a commercial success, Mellon Collie became
an even bigger hit than Siamese Dream, debuting at number
one on the charts. On the strength of the singles "Bullet
with Butterfly Wings," "1979," "Zero," and "Tonight,
Tonight," it sold over four million copies in the U.S.,
eventually being certified platinum over eight times (each
disc in the set counted separately toward certification).
The Pumpkins had graduated to stadium shows for the Mellon
Collie tour, and the band was at the peak of their
popularity when things began to go wrong again. On July
12, prior to two shows at Madison Square Garden, the
group's touring keyboardist, Jonathan Melvoin, died from a
heroin overdose; he was with Jimmy Chamberlin, who
survived his overdose. In the wake of the tragedy, the
remaining Pumpkins fired Chamberlin and spent two months
on hiatus as they recovered and searched for a new
drummer. Early in August, they announced that Filter
member Matt Walker would be their touring drummer, and
Dennis Flemion, a member of the Frogs, would be their
touring keyboardist for the remainder of the year. They
returned to the stage at the end of August and spent the
next five months on tour. During this time, Corgan
contributed some music to Ron Howard's Ransom.
Early in 1997, once the Pumpkins left the road, Iha and
D'Arcy launched Scratchie Records, a subsidiary of Mercury
Records. In the spring, the Smashing Pumpkins recorded two
songs for the soundtrack for Batman & Robin. Iha's solo
debut, Let It Come Down, appeared in early 1998; Adore,
the new Smashing Pumpkins LP, followed a few months later
to disappointing sales and reviews. Chamberlin returned to
the group and D'Arcy exited prior to the early-2000
release of MACHINA: The Machines of God. Several months
later, Corgan announced his intentions to dissolve the
band before the year was out. With former Hole bassist
Melissa auf der Maur replacing D'Arcy, the band launched
their farewell tour in 2000. Fans of the band received one
last treat when Corgan and company worked feverishly to
finish off tracks that were left over from the MACHINA
sessions. Surprisingly, Virgin Records balked at the idea
of releasing the 25-track set so close in time to their
previous album, so the band put the entire album (going by
the official title of Machina II: The Friends and Enemies
of Modern Music) on the Internet for fans to download for
free. On December 2 of the same year, the Pumpkins played
a mammoth final show at Chicago's Metro (also the venue at
which the group played their first show back in 1988)
before officially calling it quits.
But the former members of the band didn't wait long before
carrying on with other projects -- Corgan spent the summer
of 2001 playing guitar with New Order on select concert
dates, and later in the year unveiled his new band, Zwan,
including Chamberlin on drums (as well as former Chavez
guitarist Matt Sweeney and bassist Skullfisher). The other
two former Pumpkins, Iha and auf der Maur, began putting
together an alt-rock supergroup dubbed the Virgins. The
same year, a pair of postmortem Pumpkins collections were
issued for the holiday season -- a double-disc collection
and a DVD both called Greatest Hits. Corgan released his
first solo album, The Future Embrace, in 2005, and on the
day it came out, he took out a full-page ad in the Chicago
Tribune to announce that the Smashing Pumpkins were
reuniting. He hadn't informed any of his past bandmates,
and only Chamberlin went along. Zeitgeist, a heavier album
than any past Pumpkins album, was released in 2007.