Smashing Pumpkins knew their shit. If there's ever been a band that could truly represent modern rock 'n' roll as a movement, it's gotta be them. I mean, they've got it all, from the massively distorted power chords and screaming solo parts topped off with heavy metal-influenced beats that are too loud to miss, to the perfectly clean notes that echo around between your ears and pull you into some trance-like dream world of music. No one else captures these wide-ranging sounds rock and incorporates them quite so perfectly.
What's more, Smashing Pumpkins has the attitude, something that's mostly noticed in Billy Corgan's vocals, despite the in-your-face guitar work. He, like the instrumentals he sings with, can switch back-and-forth effortlessly from grainy quasi-screams to light, melodic chanting.
It's hard to understand how a band that starts an album with a sentimental piano song like "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" can shortly transition to a song like "Jellybelly" that's got the same exact rock qualities as Queens of the Stone Age. Smashing Pumpkins can pull it off, although I'll admit my preference still lies mostly in the basic tracks that only feature two guitars, a bass, and drums.
A disappointing amount of modern rock outfits can't make anything of their sound with just these simple ingredients. The more mainstream groups only incorporate the most generic power chord progressions, simple drum beats, and almost unnoticeable bass riffs––it's boring. Others add in so much electronic noise, bells, and keyboarding that the excess sound actually suffocates those original core instruments.
Obviously, these things can be done tastefully and in interesting combinations: bands like Radiohead have a huge reliance on electronics, and there's no denying that Thom Yorke is a genius; Wilco's "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" is one of my favorite albums, partially because of its use of synthesized overlays. On the other end of the spectrum, I think bands like The Strokes, who began their career on "Is This It?" with almost only power chords in their arsenal, are equally evolved––The Who, Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin took the beginnings of rock 'n' roll and transformed the genre into an assaulting array of sound.
Smashing Pumpkins is unique because they attempt to incorporate the best of both worlds and actually pull it off. "Geek USA" from "Siamese Dream" has all the ingredients of a stunning rock tune, and then you turn on "Cupid De Locke" from "Mellon Collie" and it sounds like a collaboration with Japanese experimental/electronica artist, Cornelius. There are no gaps; nothing left uncovered. The band just plain rocks. End of story
Yeah. They rock that hard.
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1 comment:
i have one song by them on my ipod. its good. :)
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