SMASHING PUMPKINS RETURN

Guess Zwan wasn't paying the bills. Oh well, might have to check them out again.

Why does this site continue to cover non JAM-bands??? These guys do not and have never jammed. Same with many other pop groups and indie bands who have never "jammed" a day in their lives

i agree marcsmall1. Pumpkins are a good band, but in their own right. There is no need to cover bands that dont jam. This site is called "JamBase" for a reason. wait what am i saying! smashing pumkins kinda blow. They only had 1 good album "melancoly and the infin. sadness" (ie. spelling)But whatever i shoudlnt bitch

smalls -
Didn't you get that memo that we decided a band doesn't have to be a jam band in order to be covered here?? SP was one of the biggest rock bands of the 90's and their return is worthy of coverage here.

Way to go Billy - I still have the letter you wrote to the people of Chicago asking for your band back. Bring 'em round the East Coast!!

Phil

Hey Marcsmall1-
It's a music site, listen to more than one kind of music.

They are a terrific live band......you guys are correct that they cannot jam like umphrey's can....but they put on a terrific show, with jammed out moments, terrific lighting, and that feeling of darkness, that you can only get at a claypool show......check them out (if the price is right)

I don’t listen to the Pumpkins anymore. I enjoyed Gish and Siamese Dream. I disagree with the post by marcsmall1. Listen to “Rhinoceros” and “Starla”, both songs jam! Old Pumpkins tunes rock, but I’m sure that the reunion will be very disappointing.

Thank you "guz" and "icculus2811." Meaningful bands are influential, and the Smashing Pumpkins fit the bill. "marcsmall1" and "jerbear87," define "jam." Come on now. Nevertheless, the beauty of this thing called personal decision-making is that you can either click on the story or not click on the story. Positivity, people. Positivity. "1979," anyone?

Jamband or not, Pumpkins are bad ass! Only saw them once and it was a surprise appearance in Chicago opening for Jane's Addiction. Oh, I guess I shouldn't mention them, their not a jamband. You people need to get a freakin' life! If it is such a problem, go to a different site. That's what I thought!!

I had a chance to catch a pumpkins show in the mid 90's and they did, in fact, jam. Most of it was dark, spacey jamming, but it was pretty cool. Hopefully they return to their roots and don't get more poppy. I only liked Gish and Simease Dream. The double album and later stuff blew.

Also, if you see them live, don't piss Billy off. At the show I saw, someone threw a T-shirt on stage that landed on his head and covered it in the middle of a song. He was enraged, stopped the song immediately, started playing lots of feedback noisy jammy stuff that the crowd hated. Actually, now that I think of it, maybe you should intentionally piss him off because that shit kinda jammed. Come to think of it, I enjoyed that more than the radio tunes the crowd seemed to be begging for...

One of the bands that I missed seeing in their heyday that I always wanted to see. Looking forward to this return.

Just popped "Mellon Collie" in my cd player about a month ago, and it made me remember how much they rocked! Cant wait to see them!

Marcsmall, you may be a nice guy in person, but you comment... WTF?!?! What is a jamband? A band can jam out in 2 minutes if they are good, classical music can jam out, if played with soul. I would be willing to bet anybody that is smack talkin on the pumpkins has never even seen them live. Well let me fill you in. I saw them for the first time back in '96 and they rocked the casbah, they did 4, count 'em 4 encores. Each encore was no shorter than 15 minutes, the last encore in the upwards of 35 minutes. Towards the end of the show, they did some VERY free form, VERY experimental stuff, more psychadelic or out there than anything half of the self dubbed "JamBands" of today are pushing on us. Not to mention that either side of the stages had giant screens with psychadelic images the whole time. Gish, Siamese Dream, Melancholy, Pieces Iscariot, Adore, were all grade A albums. On a side note, the following weekend, I went to see my first Phish concert, though they jammed, and kicked out a 45 minute "Crosseyed and Painless", I will always rememember The Pumpkins as the better of the two concerts. Anybody who thinks they shouldn't cover the pumpkins better think again...I could go on for twenty minutes listing other bands that get covered on this site that don't usually play a song longer than 4 or 5 minutes, but I'll spare you. I can't wait, I'll love a chance to see the pumpkins again...

I agree w/ guz and nonmemory, Theres way more out there than "Jambands". Smashing Pumkins is a great band!Rock on!

Well thank God. I've been waiting for some time now for this announcement to become news. Hopefully this will be the real thing, and this will be the Smashing Pumpkins that kicks your teeth out your ass with rock......and not the other one...

I dig the diversity of coverage. Being deadheads or (insert appropriate fan moniker here) doesn't make us passengers on the Tunnelvision Express. "Gish" is one of my favorite albums of all time and I am totally comfortable listening to it next to Phish (check out their cover of Rhinoceros) or .moe or YMSB or the Meters. I hope this website keeps on keepin' on. my2cents.

Had tix and fungi to MSG shows back in 95 or 96 (maybe even 97, but who can remember that far back!) That night was the night Chambelain and the keyboard player both overdosed-only Chamberlain survived. Never did get to catch them live.
That being said, I am so tired of Billy Corgan, I am not sure I could muster any strength to "root" for him. Caught him with Zwan and was very unimpressed.

On the other hand Iha is sick. Was backstage for A Perfect Circle show where he was just tearing it up...good times.

Yes! Siamese Dream was the HEAT!......and I agree w/ joxley1...jambase rocks with continued coverage and exposure of music well outside the boundaries of "jambands"!

now maynard can get back with TOOL

pumpkins rocked me out in Albany either 97 or 98.
Also Zwan was a great albumn along with Mellon Collie - WOW Billy was depressed.
& also member when the boyz opened with Rhinocerous in Deer Creek 8/3/98. Killer.

Uh, Maynard has been back with Tool for a while now. In fact, he never left. They have an album coming out in like three months.

Who cares, if these guys aren't what some people are looking for on this site. The fact is that the Pumpkins are back. I heard it first through jambase. RoCk oN!!!

Damn... I hope Iha and Darcy are part of the "reunited" pumpkins

Lallapalooza '94. One of the best shows of the tour was Raleigh and SP rocked it. Looking forward to catching them this summer.

Maynard NEVER left Tool dude. He has 2 bands: Tool and Perfect Circle. Tool's new album comes out this spring. As for the Pumpkins, they USED to be good (Gish, Siamese Dream) but Billy's huge ego and whining made them annoying. Grunge ended in the 90s, and so did SP's best days.

Great coverage of a great band with great albums. There are no boundaries here, that is what makes this site so great. If the music we love and listen to stretches the normal sonic parameters, why should the literature on this site remain confined to the "Tunnelvision Express" (thanks joxley)? It shouldn't. Keep rockin Jambase. Go see live SP, it's dark and scary there!

Why should JamBase be inclusive???

Why should music be inclusive???

Why should it matter???

Why are music fans so inclusive???

I'll never understand why people complain about the furthered diversity of the coverage at JamBase. Sometimes I write about 'jambands' and sometimes I don't, but regardless, music is music. If you don't dig the band, don't read the piece. A lot of effort is put into the content of this site, so I'm sure you'll find something you love that is written about.

Peace-

The Pumpkins had to be one of the worst live bands I've ever seen. Great studio music, terrible shows.

wow that's sick news.

to all the haters, fundamental thing to realize is that the newswire section is not jambase dedicating resources to "cover" these bands or really putting in any effort. more often it is jambase merely publishing a press release that has been distributed to the media. so chillllllll.

everybody needs to take a chill pill. the sub-heading of this site is "go see live music." the pumpkins make music (in a very loose sense of the word) and they are also starting to tour again; LIVE MUSIC. just because you do not appreciate someone's music, doesnt mean it cant be newsworthy.

P.S. the bubble of sucsess this band was riding on in the mid 90s has surely popped. i give them one tour, and then i promise you will never hear from these guys again, jambase or otherwise.

you guys are fuckin horrible. music is music is music. ive had just as much fun at an indie show dancin as i have a panic show. its all about what suits you! dont be elitist assholes just because you're one of god's few special people that "get jam". grow up, and realize that while this is the equivalent to jerry seinfeld argreeing to do another seinfeld season just because he wasnt making ends meet, its still a band that had a well-deserved time in the spotlight, and out of respect for that coverage is deserved.. even on JAMbase.com

This site covers a diverse set of music and I wouldn't have it any other way. And Good move on billy's part cause Zwan sucked ass. I'd like to catch the pumpkins.

I agree with what most of you said here, and I respect your opinions on every level, but come on, this is Jambase, not www.maximumink.com

"they rocked the casbah"
well put i think

you've got to stop hating on the tunes that dont jam. we are all here because the classical composers. RELAX everything will be OK!

shainhouse, i don't really care, but the fact that the site is called JAMbase probably makes people think its only about jambands and music with imrovisation.

I still LOVE the Pumpkins, saw them in '96, which was my first arena show, and again in 2000 on their farewell tour. Both were excellent concerts (and in 96 we got the triple/quadruple encore treatment w/ instrumental jamming).

With that said, everyone should know that the Coachella rumor is most likely sourced from this fake/photoshopped poster::

see these links:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v662/xfurnx/coachella_2006.jpg
http://www.blamonet.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79416

Wow, I'm amazed there are so many Pumpkin haters out there. Apparently, we all get hard ons when a Phish reunion is mentioned (i love em), but a band like the Pumpkins represented so many things for so many people during the 90s, myself included. I had a shirt once that read, "If you don't want to party, then don't F*cking come!" I think that applies to some people here. I welcome them back and know what will be included in my summer.

The word jamband is stupid to begin with. It is a term for kidz who don't know the difference between bluegrass, funk, jazz, electronica.....etc. Grow up.

wait for the 35min rhino->spaceboy->rhino->disarm, and your mind will get blown.. enjoy the powerchords

Expand your minds people... I for one am happy that this site continues to carry Bands that are not "jambands"... Jambase is a music site! Listen to more than one kind of music people!!! There is some really good music out there, and most of it is NOT JAMBANDS!!! you guys who complain about info for non-jambands should stop chasing the same 4 bands around and expand your minds!!!

If the site is called jambase, dont you think it should be on "jam" music, or does the english language totally not make any sense anymore. If you want a site that includes all music then start one called "allmusic.com
I like many other bands that aren't included here... Pearl Jam is one of them but I come here to hear about JAM BANDS if this keeps up i'll log into www.jambands.com to hear my news. This site is changing....some of it is really good.... but if your gonna report on all different types of music then change your name. If you guys read the reviews for 2005, half of the writers that named their favorite albums and shows named pop bands and mainstream acts. What do you expect to hear about when half the guys who write the articles(NOT EVERYONE) don't even listen to the music. They should write somewhere else, but it's nice to go to free shows just because you "work" for a "jamband" site. Peace to you guys and dont bother getting hateful with this, im not trying to offend anyone but the truth comes out of the herd from time to time. Just like the music that you like and stop fighting about it.
Parks, Mike

By the way.... youre not gonna get anyone to expand their minds by telling them what to do..... People don't appreciate being told what to believe.... thats why most of us are the way we are..... this is my last reply or article on the site later.
Parks.Mike

to KSHAFFER:
Jambands include a wide variety of musical tastes. There are jazz jambands, rock jambands, bluegrass jambands, etc. Jambands refers mainly to the art of improvising music and the argument about reporting on the smashing pumpkins is that THEY don't expand their minds or music, and it takes a lot less talent to just play a song rather than to "jam" it out. I'd rather hear stephen lynch sing liek the smashing pumpkins guy.

Every time i read the response section it goes just like this one. One person says how they feel and if it is not butterflies and rainbows people rain on them for being negative. You are not being negative if you merely say how you feel about the article. That is what you are supposed to do. I also felt when reading the best of JAMBASE 2005 that too many of the writers favorite albums and shows were prog/indie rock groups. While i say more power to you i do feel like the jamband community is being washed away by this conglomeration of jam/progindie mix. Every festival i go to now has too many bands such as wilco, death cab for cutie, the arcade fire, etc... Although these bands may be good they do not do any improvisation. I also think we know the difference between different types of music but jam music is a style. How else would you classify bands like Phish and SCI. Bring back the old jambase that had more articles that we care about. The two different styles just don't click.

The pumpkins can jam out, its obviously not what they are known for but they do....I've seen them play live several times. Really spaced out jams on Drown (remember that one from the Singles soundtrack?), Porcolina of the Vast Oceans...great jams, Silverfuck...really hard dark jams...so they can do it. I know people who dig the jam band scene would really like the drummers side project: The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex....mostly instrumental stuff, really great album and live show. I dont know how someone can say the story shouldnt be up here....they are a very relivant band and have had an enourmous impact in the music scene for years and years....if nothing else they have served as influneces to many people who now are songwriters and starting their own "jambands".....or even maybe those who were IN one of the BIGGEST JAM BANDS of all time PHISH....yes Phish did a cover song of the Smashing Pumpkins song Rhinocerous at a Deer Creek show. So yes, the story should be here without a doubt. Thanks for posting it.

I think I'm going to have stroke. How many of you spent a few nights starring at a 'swirling' sky listening to Mellon Collie? :) One of the greatest bridges in my music listening life maybe opening up. I'll keep my fingers crossed for some east coast dates. Hey Billy, get your ass to Roo and start making up for depriving us for 5 years...Glad he's off that FutureEmbrace kick. Saw him at the eFactory. eh.. I'll travel for a Pumpkins show, hell ya baby :)

Hey now as a veteran of many chi area SP shows I have to say SP did jam, although they may not have jammed every song. Earlier comment about silverfuck is dead on, I have heard a few very jammed versions of it. i beleive it would be very representative to say that if you look back to the gish and siamese dream era shows you'll find some seriously dark and heavy jamming. CERTAINLY far more than some bands covered here...

RAWWWRRR! i need details now!!!

To the brainiac that thinks Wilco doesn't jam out their songs. Your not making a great case for your argument when you say stupid stuff like that.

And anyone out there that thinks any of the old bluegrass bands that play any "Jam" fests are different or more like a jamband is way way wrong. Go get yourself a copy of Ralph Stanley playing 40 years ago and its 100% exactly the same as now. The same goes for Del McCoury band and many others. Just because you enjoy it in no way makes it a jamband. Stop fooling yourself. There are actually many forms of wonderful music in the world believe it or not.

WHAT IS EVERYONE SO MAD ABOUT? How about you just comment on the article and not debate something as trivial as "What make a jamband". Live and let live.

Life is not about counting the years, its about making the years count. Just a neat quote I like to live by, nothing about this article at all, just trying to keep things positive.

See you in Denver 2/4....

How come there is no confirmation of this on the official site? Where is the source of this article?

I love the Pumpkins and don't care about the jam/non-jam issue most people are discussing here. I just want to know if this is really happening.

Music is music. I tend to listen to all types of music, but I do come to jambase to get my news on so called Jambands. Hence the name jambase.com. If I wanted to read about all types of music I would go to Rolling Stone. None the less I don't care what they cover, I'm sure i'll still swing by to read an article or two, but I do see a transition happening here. This whole indi thing is killin' me, but I'm sure it's just a trend that you will all grow out of. In the mean time if I've got to read about Death Cab for Cutie could you at least give me a story on Danzig or GWAR. They are also good live bands. Hell if Jambase is going to cover more music style. I say more METAL! Anyone with me!

saw Wilco at Wakarusa. nothing good to say about that. You have to be kidding me when you say they jam. Jam does not mean rocking out. It is a term that once meant improvisation. which is when you go outside the structure of the song you are currently playing.
the pumpkins are/where a good band i'm just saying its obvious that a lot of the writers for jambase aren't into jambands. go to the best of 2005 and see for yourself.

Sweet!

Anyone who thinks SP doesn't "jam" hasn't seen or heard a show. Just because their albums are incredibly polished doesn't mean they lipsink on stage. IMO Billy Corgan is one of the best guitar players of all time. Yep, I said it.

And, this is the music site I visit most, so the more diverse of a selection of bands you guys cover the better. I guess I mostly go to jam-band shows... but that's because bands like SP just aren't around anymore... oh wait, guess they are again! Thanks jambase :D

They can jam out - they just don't wanna.

Seeing the pumpkins again will be great. Most of the people who bitch here just dont have a wide range of musical tastes. I used to think that people who liked improvisational music or "jam" music (what a stupid term jambands) were a step ahead of the common music fan. Reading posts like this I dont believe that to be true anymore.

Want to know why the editors top albums picks were all indie sort of bands? Its because 70% of jam music is the same unoriginal drivel. The next time I see a jamband that doesnt even write and sing songs im going to cry.

According to a Chicago Tribune article, this is not happening:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0601270183jan27,1,3756192.story

Basically, a California radio station announced the return. Reprise records confirmed that Billy backed out for whatever reason.

Obviously you can tell who the people that log onto here for indie rock reviews are. I think that if you're only going to jamband shows because your bands dont play anymore, then your missing the point of the music, scene, and spirit. People are trying to tear this music apart and destroy the scene by trying to get us to drop our guards. We are in this ONE community and ONE mind because we love music and believe that this music "whatever you want to call it" it is best out there. I like SP they have some great songs but this is JAMBASE!!!!!!!!!!! it's about JAMBANDS!!!!!!!!! If anyone here doesn't recognize this... put down the bong for one sec :) its called JAMBASE not INDIE, Progressive, metal, popband jambase. Now, there are alot of bands out there not just playing the same old drivel... thats called pop music and mainstream rap..... I swear I wish that Jerry was still here. Do you guys think that if he and Mikey Houser were still alive that this scene would be going in this direction... This is gamehenge... Once people find out about something, it will eventually be corrupted and if one tries to fix it, one will see the power and also be corrupted. We are going to lose this precious music if we dont raise our standards and stop listening to the people who say.. its okay if they only play for 1 minute and their songs are about clothing and hair... they are making a statement.. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA PEACE

Phish whatever the hell your name is, you need to put down the bong and pick up an instrument and tell me what jamming is. Jamming is a state of mind where you let music channel through you from a place that can't be described. it has nothing do with the fact that you have a half hour version of some epic tune. In fact I feel there are a good number of "jams" that when stretched to that length are nowhere near as pure as a concise statement of music and art. It's alot harder than you think to be able to say what you want in a conventional amount of time. So until you reaize this site is for music fans not "jamphans" (roll eyes) than you need to keep your narrowminded comments to yourself. Music is Creation.

Just so you all know it was announced yesterday that the Pumpkins will NOT be playing at Coachella, and thus so far it is still unknown if a come-back will be soon. Tool will instead be headlining Coachella.

P.S. I am PISSED off about this! I want my Pumpkins back!!

The pumpkins arn't the pumpkins without the original line- up. but if they do get backtogether.... it will be the greatest day.

THE AEROPLANE FLIES HIGH TURNS LEFT, LOOKS RIGHT

AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

They're back!!!

www.smashingpumpkins.com