Billy Corgan

2020 End Of The Year Lists: Best Producer/Mixer
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Next up on Audioeclectica.com’s 2020 End Of The Year Lists, the Top 10 Producers/Mixers. The stipulation is that, an album/EP had to have been released this year.

Vote for your favorite in the comments section. At the end of the month, I will release the results of the readers poll.

This list is also in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!

01) Nick Rowe/Steve Evetts- Greg Puciato: Child Soldier; Creator Of God
02) Billy Corgan- The Smashing Pumpkins: Cyr
03) Mark Nash/Ken Andrews- In Parallel: Fashioner
04) Terry Date- Deftones: Ohms
05) Will Yip- Nothing: The Great Dismal
06) EL-P- Run The Jewels: RTJ IV
07) Josh Wilbur- Killer Be Killed: Reluctant Hero, Trivium: What The Dead Men Say
08) Loathe- Loathe: I Let It In and It Took Everything
09) Shooter Jennings- Marilyn Manson: We Are Chaos
10) Brian McTernan- Be Well: The Weight and The Cost

Cover Song: The Smashing Pumpkins (Joy Division)- Tranmission
The Smashing Pumpkins - Transmission (CD) | Discogs

One thing I genuinely enjoy about cover songs is when bands really make an effort to make it their own. Whether it’s changing up the vibe or arrangements, the new interpretation often times can take the song to new heights. A great example of this is The Smashing Pumpkins version of Joy Division’s “Transmission.” The Pumpkins take on it is spacey, borderline psychedelic and even transcendent at times. It’s different enough yet still pays homage in a very distinct way.

The Smashing Pumpkins- Transmission (from Adore Deluxe Set):

The Smashing Pumpkins- Transmission Live 98:


The Smashing Pumpkins w/Davey Havok and Peter Hook- Transmission Live 2018:

Deep Cuts: The Smashing Pumpkins- United States
Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist - Amazon.com Music

The times we are living in at the moment are pretty interesting. It’s a series of uncertainties and possibilities that could go one way or another. One thing that I’ve found to be very captivating is that so many things from the past have come back full circle or have been sort of prophesied. Which brings me to today’s song. Back in 2007, The Smashing Pumpkins reformed with Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin to make an album that really saw ahead into the future. The album is Zeitgeist and when you sit and listen and follow along to the words, you start to see so many things mentioned in those songs coming to life today. One song in particular, “United States” is so perfect for right now. It’s really interesting to listen to this album in the world today and see how it all came true.

The Smashing Pumpkins- United States:


Great Music Videos: The Smashing Pumpkins- Tonight, Tonight

The Smashing Pumpkins double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness celebrates it’s 25 birthday this year (actually October 24th is the official date). This album, was a huge game changer and has gone on to influence and inspire countless bands and artists throughout the years. I still remember buying the album when it came out, and the countless hours I’d sit in my room and listen to it. One of the memorable moments I have about this album is when I first saw the video for “Tonight, Tonight.” I was absolutely blown away by how visceral the video was along with how interesting it was. The video was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (who would go on to make other pretty awesome videos for Korn and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, to name a couple). The video won multiple MTV Video Music Awards as well as being a Grammy nominated clip. Another interesting tidbit about the video is that it stars Tom Kenny and Jill Talley who you might recognize from their work on Spongebob Squarepants and Mr. Show. This video is one of the all time greats and it deserves to get its acclaim and be celebrated along with the masterpiece of the album it belongs to.

The Smashing Pumpkins- Tonight, Tonight:


New Release: The Smashing Pumpkins- CYR & The Colour Of Love

Smashing Pumpkins

For the past couple of weeks, The Smashing Pumpkins have been teasing something new in regards to their upcoming new album. Well, this morning they released two brand new songs, “CYR” and “The Colour Of Love.” They have an Adore feel to them along with an 80’s sensibility. It also kind of reminds me a little bit of where Billy was going on his solo album, The Future Embrace. Personally, I dig this a lot. It’s done well and the songs are well written. I look forward to this whole album which is supposed to be a double album with 20 songs. So I’ll reserve full judgement until it’s all out and I can hear it all in context. In the meantime, check out these two new songs!

CYR:

 

The Colour Of Love:

 

Alternate Versions: Billy Corgan- Tonight, Tonight (Acoustic)

Stern Show on Twitter: ".@Billy Corgan treats Howard to a rare ...

I’ve spent a lot of the past year or so doing a huge deep delve into The Smashing Pumpkins and rekindling my love for this band. It’s been pretty obvious, if you haven’t been able to tell by all the posts. Being able to watch so many different live performances of the Pumpkins of just Billy solo throughout the years has been truly awesome. There are so many great shows online as well as individual performances of certain songs. The other evening as I was falling asleep, I somehow wound up thinking about the song “Tonight, Tonight” and found myself drawn into a rabbit hole of different versions of the song on YouTube. One such performance really grabbed me for some reason and that would be from back in 2012 when Billy appeared on the Howard Stern show and performed “Tonight, Tonight” at Howard’s request and gave a little history on the song. This alternate version has been stuck with me and now you can enjoy it with me!

Billy Corgan- Tonight, Tonight on The Howard Stern Show/2012:

 

Classic Soundtracks: Ransom

BILLY CORGAN - Rats - YouTube

The 1996 movie Ransom, has something very cool about it that a lot of people don’t know. Ready for this, there are seven songs written for the film that Billy Corgan wrote and performed on. Originally, Howard Shore wrote and recorded a full score for the film but Director Ron Howard rejected it and went with notable composer James Horner instead, who collaborated with Billy Corgan. As a result, there are 7 tracks written, produced and performed by Corgan that all appear on Ransom’s soundtrack; namely “Lizards,” “Rats,” “Rats With Tails,” “Spiders,” “Squirrels,” “Worms 1” and “Worms With Vocals.” The end result are these 7 songs that are pretty spectacular and badass. This is definitely worth checking out!

 

Memorable Live Performances: The Smashing Pumpkins- Live At The Metro 1993

Soma - The Smashing Pumpkins [1993] - Live @ Metro HD. - YouTube

There are certain bands that when they come out, hit a mark with such a sense of vigor and prowess that each era of the band, leaves a lasting impression. Some people tend to become very attached to “that era” and it becomes their be all end all. The Smashing Pumpkins have so many different eras and shades of themselves that have created some very dominant ones for many fans. I will say that yes, there are certain favorites of mine but, a band like this, and so many other of their peers, have this ability to forever take you on a journey as they and you grow. The Smashing Pumpkins are definitely a band that will do just that. On the bands super deluxe version of the Siamese Dream anniversary edition, there is a DVD in there from a legendary show in the band’s hometown of Chicago, at the Metro. This is one hell of a show.

 

The Smashing Pumpkins- Live At The Metro 1993:

 

Memorable TV Performances: Zwan on David Letterman

 

Billy Corgan "discussing" possible Zwan tour | News | 96.3 JACK-fm

Way back in 2003, Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin’s new band Zwan made their national TV debut on the Late Show with David Letterman while promoting the debut album, (and very underrated) Mary Star of the Sea. On this evening, they performed the song “Honestly.” It’s really too bad Zwan only lasted one album. The debut is quite stunning and what could have been with this band, we will never truly know.

 

Zwan- Honestly (live on David Letterman):

 

Cover Song: The Smashing Pumpkins (Neil Young)- Cinnamon Girl

Cinnamon Girl (Ignoffo Sessions / 2012 Mix) - YouTube

One of the best things about going back through a band’s catalog is finding all the things you forgot about. Over the last couple years, I’ve rediscovered my love for The Smashing Pumpkins, and through my journey, I keep finding so many wonderful gems. For example, in the deluxe edition of Pisces Iscariot, there are so many great songs on the bonus disc. This cover of Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl” was one I forgot about. It’s really a very cool cover with a different vibe, a la 90’s. The Type O Negative cover of this song is still the best but, the pumpkins sure do a damn good job with it.

 

The Smashing Pumpkins- Cinnamon Girl: