Billy Corgan says Smashing Pumpkins still better than Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters

[king_amonte]

I also love the 90's and basically all the bands mentioned in this post, although I would put Pearl Jam and the Foo's waaaaay above the Pumpkins!

For all the old school Hip fans, in case you didn't know, the hip is coming to Calgary and Lethbridge in Feb on there Fully Completely tour where the album will be played front to back, pretty stoked for it!!

[Senator Clay Davis]

Come on Psycnet, you know damn well who the Nickelback of the 90's is: Stone Temple Pilots. They even both have very detestable front men to boot.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

20% of the band is a native Montanan too, which by definition, makes it impossible to be mediocre.

A Montanan who used to come to Calgary to see bands. So there's that too.

[icecube]

They are better. No contest.

[Temporary_User]

Wow I am shocked by this thread. I haven't read it all, but I would lump the Foo Fighters a bit above Nickelback. All their songs are pretty generic.

Pearl Jam is great and the Smashing Pumpkins had a number of great albums.

[SebC]

Granted I was pretty young when the 90s started, but my recollection is that it the 90s were all about Collective Soul and Moist.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by badradio

My favourite band of all time is Pearl Jam, even my username 'badradio' is from Eddie Vedder's first band. Saying one band is better than another is nonsensical and childish. It seems that Corgan's attitude has "evolved" as much as his music. Even saying "this band sucks" or "this band is the best" has no merit.

I really wish some of you would listen to the actual interview prior to drawing these conclusions. He never said anyone sucked. He simply said he didn't get it and he's not on an island here as there are a lot of people that don't understand why Pearl Jam has been so successful. Billy even acknowledges they are still an arena act and doesn't hide that he knows they are more successful today than the Pumpkins. He's not in denial he's just being candid in answering a question.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by SebC

Granted I was pretty young when the 90s started, but my recollection is that it the 90s were all about Collective Soul and Moist.

I know Collective Soul will elicit rolled eyes from some but they had some really catchy tunes and a couple of their albums were pretty solid IMO. I've never been that much of a music snob to ignore that catchy tunes count as good music even if the band has a bad rap as a derivative band.

[ranchlandsselling]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I really wish some of you would listen to the actual interview prior to drawing these conclusions. He never said anyone sucked. He simply said he didn't get it and he's not on an island here as there are a lot of people that don't understand why Pearl Jam has been so successful. Billy even acknowledges they are still an arena act and doesn't hide that he knows they are more successful today than the Pumpkins. He's not in denial he's just being candid in answering a question.

I think a lot of us are replying to posters or a certain poster with respect to "sucking". That said, from hearing about how arrogant BC is whatever he said still sounds like it came with a bit of a slight to the other people.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by ranchlandsselling

I think a lot of us are replying to posters or a certain poster with respect to "sucking". That said, from hearing about how arrogant BC is whatever he said still sounds like it came with a bit of a slight to the other people.

No doubt Corgan has been arrogant in the past but in this interview he was actually pretty humble.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by SebC

Granted I was pretty young when the 90s started, but my recollection is that it the 90s were all about Collective Soul and Moist.

I listened to a lot of Moist and Collective Soul back in the day. I always thought Moist was really under rated. Live is another rock band from that era that was pretty awesome.

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I know Collective Soul will elicit rolled eyes from some but they had some really catchy tunes and a couple of their albums were pretty solid IMO. I've never been that much of a music snob to ignore that catchy tunes count as good music even if the band has a bad rap as a derivative band.

Hey, good music is good music. Whether it connects with you or not or evokes feelings or memories upon listening has no bearing on how mainstream it is, or the methods of the people behind the music, or their personalities. Doesn't make the music itself any better or any worse upon listening to. I think Collective Soul have some great tunes. Still very enjoyable today.

That's why music snobs (and hipster ####s) annoy me. I don't know exactly what's "generic" about the Foo Fighters. I can't think of other bands that sound anything like them. Grohl's vocals are unique, their signature guitar sounds, while sometimes simplistic, are still their own in their sound. Maybe generic to themselves? But every successful band has consistencies in their style. All I know is Grohl and friends write brilliant songs with great lyrics and meaning. It definitely connects with me. So I simply do not give a damn what some snob's opinion of them is, the music remains what it is - great. Snobs think they know music. I've devoted thousands of hours of my life to playing music and writing it, have taken schooling on recording and producing. But you don't see me going around and insisting my 'superior' taste, knowledge, etc. Because I know it's an art form and is entirely a subjective thing. What you percieve of a song, album and artist is complete limited to you.

Lol anyways. My little rant for the day.

[Coach]

Oasis.


That is all.

[The Reverend]

The Cadillac Tramps were the greatest 90s band of all!

[Larry David]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I haven't caught up on this thread yet, but if Billy Corgan had shot himself in the face after Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness he'd probably have Cobain status too.

Makes me wonder if Cobain would have been a Corgan by now if he was still around...

In a sense, you are right. There were a lot of new Nirvana fans post Cobain's death, but it drives me nuts when people say Kurt Cobain only achieved the level of "status" he's been labelled with after he had killed himself. No. Nirvana and Kurt Cobain in particular, were a big deal before April 1994. Nirvana were a flagship band before Cobain's death. Kurt(along with Eddie Vedder) were often labelled as the spokesperson(s) of a generation while he was still alive. Nevermind was a game changing album not only in pop music, but its influence seeped into all of pop culture as well. I believe it would still be viewed as an iconic album, and Nirvana an iconic band, if Kurt were still alive today. Plus the songs still sound amazing today. And I could counter argue that The Smashing Pumpkins and bands of the same ilk, benefited just as much from Cobain's death as the "Cobain legacy". His passing gave those bands a chance at a bigger piece of the spotlight.


Also, I may have missed this in here, apologies if so, but it was only a couple of days before the Stern interview that Corgan said that Cobain and himself were "the top two scribes(of the 90s), and everybody else was a distant third"

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...s-9905267.html

Now, he(Kurt) and I didn’t necessarily get along. But I like to sing his praises, because he really was that talented. I like to think the world with him would have been a better place, and I like to think a lot of the crap music that followed wouldn’t have existed if he had been around to criticise it. Because he had the moral standing to slay generations with a strike of the pen..
In the purest sense of the word, we were competitors. He and I were the top two scribes, and everybody else was a distant third.

Also manages to get a dig in at Eddie Vedder as well:

Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder once told me he felt survivor’s guilt afterwards.

“That would be Eddie Vedder,” Corgan snorts. “Somehow he makes it about him even when it’s about somebody else!"

[MissTeeks]

Homer Simpson, smiling politely.

[GreenLantern]

Listened to Ten again today, man what a good album.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

In the sense that they seems to have some kind of inexplicable success while being aggressively mediocre, and there are a bunch of middle-aged weirdos ready to go to bat for them at the drop of a hat.

It's funny because the truth is completely the opposite.

There's an odd group of haters that are compelled to troll PJ fans and tell them how much they suck.

It's not like PJ fans go around trying to recruit more PJ fans. The band also has pulled away from the spotlight for decades and clearly doesn't give 2 craps if more people like them.
The debate is always started by the haters or other musicians bringing them into a debate about talent rankings.

Case and point, you and Billy Corgan. Inexplicable indeed...

[icecube]

I love Pearl Jam. I just don't think they had nearly as many great tunes as Smashing Pumpkins. Love Foo Fighters too. Everlong is my favourite music video of all time and there are few bands that come touch them as a live act. One of the best concerts I've ever been to. But I don't consider their music anything to write home about. Nowhere close to Smashing Pumpkins.

[Matata]

just listened to the interview and a few important points seem to be glossed over. The tirade started with Billy commenting on how competitive he felt towards his peers and how he viewed them from a competitive mindset, stern encouraged him to be candid and he was, it is a great interview. It is also obvious that Stern has a deep personal connection to the Pumpkins music and legit agreed with everything Billy had to say. It is odd to see Stern pump someone up like that, but it was interesting to see that side of stern revealed, again, great interview.