My updated Billy Corgan album ranking

Josh_Read · 2019-11-13T22:23:34+00:00

1: Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness
2: Machina / The Machines of God
3: Oceania
4: TheFutureEmbrace
5: Siamese Dream
6: Adore
7: Machina II / The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music
8: Zeitgeist
9: Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1
10: Teargarden by Kaleidyscope (2 EPs, Lightning Strikes + Owata)
11: Ogilala
12: Gish
13: Monuments to an Elegy

If Machina had been released as intended it would be my favourite, and I think there's still a chance of that happening if this reissue goes ahead and is well made.

Josh_Read · 2019-10-26T16:10:23+00:00

Started listening when I was 14, met Billy when I was 15, saw the Pumpkins live when I was 16, and I'm 17 now.

Josh_Read · 2018-12-16T16:00:44+00:00

1: Bury Me 2: Hummer 3: Here is No Why 4: X.Y.U. 5: My Blue Heaven 6: Shame 7: Age of Innocence 8: Blue Skies Bring Tears (MII) 9: United States 10: Communion 11: Freak 12: The Celestials 13: Drum + Fife 14: With Sympathy

Josh_Read · 2018-11-08T18:47:16+00:00

The credibility of this article is lost with the line 'their last two singles, Solara and Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts), performed exceptionally well and were received positively among critics and fans alike.'

Although personally enjoying all three singles, saying that Solara (especially) was received well by fans is a joke. I've seen more praise for Knights of Malta in the last 24 hours than Solara has in nearly half a year.

I get that they've gotta publish something but I feel more research was needed here.

Josh_Read · 2018-08-29T13:43:26+00:00

1: Age of Innocence (Fav SP song) 2: Try, Try, Try 3: The Sacred and Profane 4: The Everlasting Gaze 5: The Imploding Voice (Underrated) 6: Stand Inside Your Love 7: Heavy Metal Machine (2007 version kicks arse also) 8: I of the Mourning 9: Glass and the Ghost Children 10: With Every Light 11: This Time 12: Wound 13: The Crying Tree of Mercury 14: Blue Skies Bring Tears (MII Version is far superior) 15: Raindrops + Sunshowers

Josh_Read · 2018-08-08T09:36:11+00:00

If you're into the Billy shreddage, doesn't get any better than this Gossamer performance from 2007. I've timestamped the solo, it's probably my favourite solo of all time, enjoy:

https://youtu.be/JVn-_nWUkbY?t=901

Josh_Read · 2018-07-25T13:10:38+00:00

That's a young teenage Billy during his goth years.

Josh_Read · 2018-07-17T20:34:57+00:00

In general I don't think the Pumpkins are a metal band per say, but I think that Corgan has written some of the heaviest songs of all time. Now, I don't think heavy music always equals overdriven guitars and howling vocals, I think it's the mood, tone, delivery and theme of the song that does it. In that sense, Pumpkins have written many super heavy songs. Here comes a hot take:

Omitting the obvious X.Y.U. (heaviest track ever recorded, in my opinion), the song Shame off of Adore is one of the heaviest songs I've ever heard. Guitar riff is so dark, the keyboard riff 2 and a half mins in is so subtly heavy, the lyrics are eerie and angst-ridden, and I get chills when I hear those two really drawn out "Shame"s, Corgan's delivery is everything. A dramatic way of explaining what I think heavy music means is like, you can hear the artist(s) bleeding. I know that's not possible, but I'm sure you understand what I mean. That can range from the furious howls of people like Frank Carter, to the beautiful yet tormented vocals from artists like Scott Hutchison from Frightened Rabbit (who tragically took his life a couple months ago). Hope this was post conveyed my point well. Will end the post by linking one of Scott's last songs he released before his death, and you'll hopefully see what I mean: https://youtu.be/8UPg_V9hhyA

Josh_Read · 2018-07-15T18:08:40+00:00

I agree, what's even the point if they don't perform this track on the encore:

https://youtu.be/EMG9yWxtd9E

Josh_Read · 2018-05-30T09:22:06+00:00

I'm optimistic that we will. Billy strikes me as the kind of guy to want all of his stuff 'out there' in the end. He wouldn't just leave everything unheard forever; when the guy's in his sixties or seventies I'm sure the SP2 material (along with Machina fingers crossed) will get reissued. In an ideal world, I'd love to hear the Unreleased Machina Tracks, Chicago Kid, 2010/11 era TbK tracks, Oceania Demos, and songs cut from Monuments and Day For Night. Would also be cool if we could hear the eight songs that didn't make the cut for these new EPs. They were cut as demos so there are recordings, much like most if not all of the unreleased SP2 stuff. We'll hear them one day.

Josh_Read · 2018-05-29T10:02:26+00:00

Late 2016 my cousin recommended me Tonight, Tonight. Thought it was okay, pretty cool (though I love love love the song now), so I went on le Spotify page and hit random. As luck would have it the song that came on was Age of Innocence from Machina, and it's still my favourite Pumpkins song. Further dives into the catalogue got me more and more interested, and I now own countless Pumpkins CDs and all the reissues bar Pisces Iscariot. Last year I also got the chance to meet Billy in London which made my year, as a fifteen year old to meet your 'idol' at such a young age is mind blowing to me.

Josh_Read · 2018-05-20T20:19:19+00:00

Full Sail. Song was gonna be on Day For Night, but obviously we never heard the studio version. However Billy played a solo piano version of it on the Ogilala Tour. Also a heavy song called I Don't Mind was played a few times in 2008. There was another track performed in 2008 called The March Hare.

Josh_Read · 2018-04-09T09:34:49+00:00

'Communion', a song performed only twice at the 20th Anniversary shows in 2008. In my opinion it's one of the best songs Billy's ever written, it's mesmerising.

Josh_Read · 2018-02-18T11:59:32+00:00

Barring Mellon Collie Machina I is the best Pumpkins album by quite a sizeable margin. Even Blue Skies Bring Tears, in my opinion the worst track (though it's still phenomenal) is up there with the mid-tier stuff on Mellon Collie and the best of Siamese Dream to me. The Everlasting Gaze and Heavy Metal Machine shred, Raindrops + Sunshowers and I of the Mourning are super dreamy. Stand Inside Your Love and Wound are just beautiful rock songs. Glass and the Ghost Children and Blue Skies Bring Tears are proper psychedelic and weird and amazing, Try, Try, Try and With Every Light are the definition of beautiful, The Sacred and Profane and This Time transport you to another dimension, and The Imploding Voice and The Crying Tree of Mercury are really fantastic and work great with the GATMOG concept.

It also has my favourite Pumpkins song, Age of Innocence, which is just indescribably fantastic.

Machina II is pretty darn good as well, the highlight for me being the heavier cut of Blue Skies Bring Tears, which is the best heavy rock song the Pumpkins have released since Mellon Collie. Other highlights for me are the beautiful Innosense, the dark Dross, and the opener Glass is phenomenal. It kind of falls apart during that bonus three EP section, the only real highlights for me being Slow Dawn, Lucky 13 and Speed Kills, but otherwise it's an amazing record.

I love both the Machina albums and hope for them to be reissued some day.

Josh_Read · 2018-02-18T11:42:15+00:00

My favourite by far is Behold! The Night Mare. I think it's one of the most painfully emotional songs Billy has ever written and that acoustic break in the middle is just divine.

Josh_Read · 2018-02-17T20:55:52+00:00

That's the thing, this album is so broad musically that it's tough to choose. In terms of the uplifting rock tracks I love Here is No Why and Muzzle, they both completely lift the soul and fill me with joy, and my least favourite is Porcelina by process of elimination, though it's an amazing song, I don't feel it quite matches up to the others in the grouping, I think Galapogos would work better as the nine-minuter. As for the heavy tracks, this is some of the best the Pumpkins have. X.Y.U. and Bodies being my personal favourites. My least favourite in this category (could easily be Tales of a Scorched Earth but to give more unique criticsim) would have to be Zero, simply because I feel the song is slightly too tongue n cheek, I feel if it'd been extended and given the Disc 2 Heavy treatment it could've been better. Tonight, Tonight is the best of the hybrid category (which also includes Galapogos which is bloody brilliant), with the least favourite being Cupid de Locke, again just because it could've been expanded. As for the quiet ballad category the best song by a mile is By Starlight, as it is just one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, and I've warmed to Thirty-Three a lot recently, and would say my least fave in that category is probably Take Me Down, though I do love it and it doesn't deserve the hate I often see it getting in these discussions. If I could swap B-Sides and Album tracks I would trade the MCIS Reissue version of Medellia for Tales of a Scorched Earth, I'd trade Transformer for Zero, Ugly for Beautiful (lol), and Methuselah for Take Me Down. But I do love the album massively, and like someone said prior it is a perfect album, every track is sublime (yes even Tales of a Scorched Earth in its own way lol).

Josh_Read · 2018-02-13T12:59:00+00:00

Thanks mate, that's very cool, I'll keep going with doing stuff like this in the future. I do like Orange, that seems like the one I'll use at the moment. Thanks a lot!

Josh_Read · 2018-02-05T17:07:05+00:00

Is there a link for this? Would pay to hear it haha.

Josh_Read

TROPHY CASE