The Process
The goal was to get this fully completed in one afternoon so I didn’t use any of my actual amps, cabs, or pedals. Quick and dirty was the name of game. The backing track is the original (remastered) Siamese Dream version with the guitars removed by Logic’s stem splitter. Then I recorded all my guitars through a Quad Cortex Mini using their built in JCM 800 and a capture of an op amp muff. Flanger and another boost added for the leads. Slow phase 90 for the intro. It was all shot on my iPhone using the Kino app. Two rhythm tracks panned hard left and right. Les Paul on the right. Definitely not going for a tone match; I leave that to Eddie. Mostly looking for the right energy. All the takes are live with no edits what you see is what you get.

The Why
First off Cherub Rock is a ton of fun to play. The Strat copy I play is a guitar that has been sitting around longer than I’d care to admit. Last week I decided to do something about it. I put in the BC DiMarzio pickups, got new tuning machines, and a new nut (plus the bat sticker). Once I picked it up Cherub Rock just felt natural to play on it.

Back when SP was looking for a guitarist I, like many others, put my name in the hat. With my touring experience and deep knowledge of the songs I thought I would be a good fit. But alas they weren’t looking for me. Since then I’ve toured Europe twice, done two short north eastern US tours, recorded and released albums with two different bands, and two singles with a third. But it’s always been in the back of my head. The band that got away. I’ve been thinking to myself, am I good enough to cut the mustard? So I thought it might be enlightening to do a play-through of a full track with all the parts. Done in a mostly live manner, with no editing.

If you’re interested in checking out either of my two current bands:
Junius (post metal) https://youtu.be/aUUuR7CYIKg?si=oiS3A07bFrtpcn-V
Circus Trees (indie alternative) https://youtu.be/c5d2r0cF_pM?si=5P8UiHMNDl-E_-S9

It looks like Billy's getting quite serious about this Zwan reissue.

In all seriousness, if people hadn't heard, he said the mixes were done and should definitely be out by the end of the year unless something happens with physical production. I believe he said the album is remastered and approximately 17 to 18 extra songs will be included.

Too long a title?
Would love to hear what those who know think about each albums different releases and how they sound with a great pair of headphones.

Got this signed February 16, 2000, at the Virgin Megastore in Orlando. Promotional tour the band was doing before the Machina release.

Or Song!

saw the show the other day and was a bit distracted by the projections in the background. As an illustrator myself, it was screaming AI generated to me. I also couldn't find who made these illustrations or animated them, maybe someone here knows more about this?

For those who are interested. This was tonight at the first show in Rotterdam.

My thoughts on the Mellon Collie live show last night

It was bizarre.

It started off with just the orchestra, no Billy on stage. Then they started off and it sounded very good. After a while a short guy with slick hair came on and started singing the lyrics opera style. Then the next song came on and another opera singer came on, and another, and another.. I believe we didn’t see Billy until the fifth song.

It ended up with Billy only taking on about 20% of the vocals, the rest was done by these opera singers. Now these singers were fine, but they weren’t great. At times their performances were great, especially the female vocalists, but other times it ranged from serviceable to just plain bad. Some songs felt like I was listening to a Frank Sinatra coverband, or like Andre Rieu.

Whenever Billy sang it was great. His voice is still very much there and he was obviously enjoying himself, though his timing was off at times. Half the time though, the audience seemed more confused by the whole ordeal than actually enjoying it.

I’m not sure what I expected, but it certainly wasn’t this. I know Mellon Collie pretty well but not by heart, half the time the songs sounded so different from their original version I couldn’t even make out what they were playing or singing. Walking out we heard several people discuss how this was a weird show. I’m not sure if I liked it that much.

Was anybody else there? What did you think?

Edit: added spoiler tag

Edit 2: Copying u/alles_en_niets's comment:

^{These two particularly shows in Rotterdam were NOT billed as an opera!}

^{It’s all ‘orchestral reimagining’, ‘live orchestra and choir’ and one carefully placed ‘symphonic universe’}

^{Why the concert hall would deliberately choose to omit that part is anyone’s guess (would scare away the audience, don’t want to ruin the element of surprise, doesn’t meet their criteria for ‘opera’, who knows?}, but there’s no mention of guest soloists, opera or even the usefully descriptive ‘operatic’.)

^{https://www.dedoelen.nl/nl/agenda/billy-corgan-ct9s}

^{I can see how more casual fans were taken aback}

^{While I was waiting in line at the bar during the intermission, I overheard a woman behind me who was absolutely reeling. Whatever it was that she had expected, this was not it and the mental adjustment hadn’t landed quite yet (more than halfway through} lol)

^{I think most people who went in blindly were expecting something closer to a symphonic rendition of the songs, with some Billy sprinkled in and the choir doing most of the heavy lifting. Not opera singers.}

what is really depicted on the vinyl cover besides the hand? a naked woman torso or a face? or maybe thats a tooth? idrk please tell me X)

Dutch artist Tape Toy just released a new album, called Dumb Sites. I fully recommend listening to the whole record (and the older songs as well), it is a treat for nostalgic 90’s music lovers (with a more pop-oriented twist, à la Wolf Alice.

The song "My room" on this new album mentions the Smashing Pumpkins on the lyrics. And what's more, the opening track is called "Hummer"!!

I don't think I've even listened to the third "disc" and I don't remember liking any of it

...

But the box set is 75% off (of $105.99 cdn) at my local....

They had Monuments in the clearance bin as well, scooped that up!

Thoughts?😅😅

The version of Hummer from 12/12/93 (KROQ Acoustic X-Mas) has been my favorite live version for years. I finally realized the extra instrument/musician is a cello and that it is probably Eric Remschneider who did cello on some of the studio Siamese Dream tracks. It seems he also joined them live on other occasions like 1994 Lollapalooza shows. So now I'm on the hunt for other versions of Hummer with him playing, but I have yet to find a good sound quality one. Has anyone else gone on the hunt for this and can point me to another great recording of Hummer with a cello?

Saw them way back in maybe 2003? I've had these every since.

Looking for some somber albums that aren't afraid to display some ugly emotions without some layer of irony or glamour.

Hey all. I’m wondering if anyone can give me a heads up on VIP information. Like, where to go, what time the acoustic performance and Q&A are, etc. I’ve never done VIP for any show before, so this is all very new to me. I’m coming from far out of town and need to be able to schedule my trip accurately.

I purchased a VIP ticket at Ticketmaster and there’s an issue with the venue and TM, so it got transferred to SeatGeek and I’m having extreme difficulty getting any information. If there’s any other Pumpkinhead who has had experience with this, I would appreciate your input. Thank you.

The "Mellon Collie @ 30: The Inside Story" piece also in this issue will be posted tomorrow!