"How do you say, 'I still matter'? How do you say, 'How does one of my contemporaries get treated like a contemporary artist, and how do I get treated like I'm supposed to play Siamese Dream for the rest of my life? At some point you've got to fight this fight or go away."
-Billy Corgan
I've had all I can stands and I can't stands no more!!!
Scrolling through the internet web pages early one morning, I stumbled across a headline posted on the inimitable satirical news site The Onion courtesy of their media driven offshoot The A.V. Club. The headline was as follows: "Billy Corgan Threatens To End His Band That Already Ended 14 Years Ago." Yes, it is funny, and based in reference to a few interviews Corgan has given recently concerning his musical future under the banner that essentially serves as his primary musical alter-ego,. In all fairness, the A.V. Club article is straightforward and contains none of the trademark snarkiness of the site, but that headline?! Them's fightin' words!
Dear readers and listeners, I am not sure what it is and has always been about me and with some of my musical passions but there have always been some bands or artists that I have found myself compelled to defend. Certainly the bands and artists in question have no need for any assistance from me for them to continue pursuing their respective artistic muses in the ways and fashions that they choose to do so, but regardless, I cannot hep myself but to be an advocate when I choose to see fit.
The artist in question this time around is of course, Billy Corgan, singer/songwriter/producer, multi-instrumentalist and of course, the co-founder and keeper of the flame of The Smashing Pumpkins as well as the leader of the sadly short lived Zwan (and their acoustically driven alter-ego Djali Zwan), solo artist and even author. I have defended the musical vision and artistic path of Billy Corgan once before on this site (in the October 2013 section to be exact) and while the methods of the man at times continue to confound me, my feelings for what and how he chooses to move forwards musically and remain passionate and relevant towards his art have remained unchanged. Well...truth be told and based upon the slings and arrows and misconceptions that are still being hurled his way, I just may be feeling even stronger about my views than ever before.
When I last came to Billy Corgan's defense, drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, Corgan's then closest musical co-conspirator, had departed The Smashing Pumpkins for the second time, leaving Billy Corgan as the sole member of the original foursome to carry on the band's name and musical legacy while working alongside a group of revolving musicians, including the sensational guitarist Jeff Schroeder, who remains with Corgan to this day. Certainly at the time of The Smashing Pumpkins' controversial 2007 reformation, albeit without original members bassist D'Ary Wretsky and guitarist/co-founder James Iha, the fan community as well as writers/critics of the music press were understandably skeptical but as far as I was concerned, many of those people (especially "fans") ultimately became completely unreasonable with their endless vitriol. At that time, I wrote the following:
"Even the nature of the idea of the Pumpkins returning at all as a functioning musical unit has led to this endless debate about them maybe not being a "real band"...But, what is a band? Is it something akin to a gang like The Beatles or U2? Is it something like Steely Dan, The Alan Parsons Project, Queens Of The Stone Age or Nine Inch Nails--a unit that features one or two core members with a revolving cast of musicians? It is a slippery slope but why is Billy Corgan being taken to task for something that is almost a standard? Band members sometimes depart, change, disband and return for the reunion tour all of the time but for Corgan it has been seen as some sort of musical crime. Yet, for Wilco for instance, there have been many lineup changes yet Jeff Tweedy remains the driving force and no one says a thing. How about the aforementioned Guns N' Roses? With all of the hype surrounding the release of "Chinese Democracy," there just hasn't been anything in the music press comparable to the continuous scoffing made towards Corgan in regards to the fact that Axl Rose is the ONLY member of the original band remaining and the album was made by himself and a litany of musicians. Is that a band?"
And here we are in 2014, and this exact debate has only remained with Billy Corgan still being continuously flogged for what is a rock and roll music normality for others. Aside from that self-serving A.V. Club headline, which only exists to continue to fuel the shameless and never ending media driven narrative that Billy Corgan is a ego-maniacal and possibly unhinged Svengali plagued with delusions of grandeur, I have decided to come to Corgan's unrequested aid to provide what could be a counterpoint.
In the interviews leading up to the well received and reviewed concert, which lasted nearly three hours and contained a massive 28 songs, Corgan explained that the idea for the more acoustic leaning performance was to combine some of his favorite songs that he has written throughout the entirety of his career thus far. Which means, in addition to songs credited to The Smashing Pumpkins, he would also include songs from the Zwan era as well as songs contained on his one official solo album, "TheFutureEmbrace" (released June 21, 2005), some unreleased selections and even one brand new selection.
In compiling a set list of this nature, he wanted to address not only the longevity of his art but also its legitimacy, as he doggedly continues to march forwards as an artist and not succumb to solely existing as a jukebox musician being forced to perform "the hits," most specifically from "Siamese Dream" (released July 27, 1993), until the end of time.
Where I come to Corgan's defense the strongest is with this specific conceit: How does he remain seen as a contemporary artist when his audience wants to have him remain locked into his past? How does he even continue forwards when it seems that those "fans" and the music press will only allow him one crowning jewel, the aforementioned "Siamese Dream," and disregard essentially everything he has made since that album, thus unfairly negating a gargantuan body of work that I feel demands as much attention as any of his contemporaries' discographies. Because, let's be honest. If you really believe that out of the mountain of material Billy Corgan has written and released over the past 20 years contains not even one good song, nothing that is on the level of "Siamese Dream," then you clearly have not been paying attention and frankly, you are being profoundly unfair, especially when you hold up his material next to his contemporaries and definitely alongside artists and bands that have arrived long after him.
At this time, the prolific Billy Corgan has an unusually high number of creative plates all concurrently spinning in the air. For starters, he has personally overseen the outstandingly lavish reissue/remastering process for The Smashing Pumpkins' past catalog, which will soon premiere the revamped "Adore" later this month. He just released the vinyl only double album of experimental synthesizer music entitled "Aegea." He is also halfway through the writing of his self-described "spiritual memoir," and he has revamped The Smashing Pumpkins' online presence with "The Panopticon," a site where Corgan himself has written consistent updates of all of his creative endeavors.
On a strictly musical front, and in addition to the reissue/remastering projects, just since the 2007 resurrection of The Smashing Pumpkins, we have seen the release of the art metal album "Zeitgeist" (released July 6, 2007), the more acoustic driven EP "American Gothic" (released January 1, 2008), the excellent documentary feature film "If All Goes Wrong" (2008), and the bulk of the extensive and wildly ambitious project known as "Teargarden By Kaleidyscope," which consisted of a selection of FREE (yes...FREE) digital singles, the gorgeous album "Oceania" (released June 19, 2012), and the upcoming "Monuments To An Elegy" (to be released this December, an album which Corgan has delivered his play-by-play account of the entire writing, recording and post-production process on "The Panopticon" ) and the soon to be recorded "Day For Night," which is planned for release in 2015.
Now one would think that with all of that activity, regardless of whether one liked his music and artistic approach or not, that the perception of Billy Corgan as a contemporary artist would be acknowledged without question, much like the perceptions that surround figures like Pearl Jam, Trent Reznor, Radiohead and most certainly, Dave Grohl. And yet, it isn't as the music press continues to write about him within a tired "rise and fall" narrative, suggesting that the nature of their idea of acceptable success has eluded him forever due to his own massive ego. In some respects, I don't expect much more from the media, even though it supremely bothers me. Honestly, Trent Reznor can end and resurrect Nine Inch Nails, and with all new touring band members to boot, plus begin a new band with How To Destroy Angels and compose and perform film scores without question. Reznor can release the three disc, three hour soundtrack album to "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" without ever being questioned or even regarded in any sense that could be construed as passive.yet Billy Corgan is deemed crazy for staging an eight hour synthesizer free form concert performance at his own tea house no less, and based upon Herman Hesse's Siddhartha.
I've said it before and I am saying it again: Billy Corgan is being held to a higher standard than his musical contemporaries but ironically, he is not respected in any way that is honestly comparable to his peers. And if even one more person tries to proclaim that all of the criticism is being hurled towards Corgan because he is arrogant, I have a news flash for you: Billy Corgan is not the first musician to walk the Earth who may be arrogant, suffer from an enlarged ego or even more emphatically, just may be an asshole. Yes, Corgan's mercurial nature can be oft putting but so was Miles Davis' and truth be told, I don't think that anyone could accuse the likes of Trent Reznor and Eddie Vedder as being jolly or overtly cheerful.
What disturbs me even more than the media's dismissive view of Billy Corgan is the continuous wrath of the fans, which is becoming even more closed-minded, something that operates in marked contrast to the ever evolving musical canvas that Corgan has weaved from the very beginning. Granted, when Billy Corgan resurrected The Smashing Pumpkins in 2007, the questions concerning the possible presence of James Iha and D'arcy Wretsky were more than understandable as the arrival of the newer members occurred without any sort of explanation as to who these people actually were. Yes, Corgan made a conscious decision to allow the music and the performances themselves to do all of the talking and in many respects, that tactic did work as over time, albeit slowly, questions about the presence of Iha and Wretsky have gradually faded from the fan community conversation.
Yet, even during the ongoing"Teargarden By Kaleidyscope" project, and with two new albums on the horizon, fans are still questioning if each new release will return to that classic "Siamese Dream" sound. Furthermore, and now that drummer Mike Byrne is officially out of the band and Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee stepped in to perform all of the drum tracks for "Monuments Of An Elegy," the questions, hopes and wishes for Jimmy Chamberlin's full fledged return (is the third time the charm?) to the Pumpkins fold have returned to the forefront of the fan community conversations.
Every time I happen to read those postings on message boards and comment threads, I am flabbergasted because I just cannot believe that anyone really believes that any of those wishes are realistic possibilities, because the bottom line is as follows: Billy Corgan could not make "Siamese Dream 2" even if he tried because all of the circumstances that existed in order to create something like that album simply do not exist any more. Or at least, they do not exist in the same way, just because 21 years have elapsed.
What was simply can never be again. And knowing that, why can we not just allow Billy Corgan to keep moving forwards? Why must he be condemned by the very fans who once loved him when they could be embracing his unshakable tenacity with trying to keep connected with his muse and for sharing the fruits of his labors with all of us? Why the demand for him to just play the hits and go away without offering something that we may not have ever heard before, because there once was a time when we had no idea of what a "Siamese Dream" would or could have sounded like? It just feels wrong, especially for an artist who has never seemed remotely interested in creatively remaining in one place, especially his own past.
Aside from wishing that I could have been at the actual performance to be able to experience it first hand, I have to say that just listening to the concert has been so richly rewarding and I think it would go a considerably long way with acquainting listeners to the breadth of Billy Corgan's material. All of the songs find Corgan, who accompanies himself on piano and acoustic guitar for the bulk of the show, in fine, strong voice and the songs themselves are all warmly performed and without any sense of the combative nature that Corgan tends to bring to his performances.
The show opens with a tremendously lovely rendering of the unreleased song "Chicago," a selection which almost serves as an overture to the entire proceedings, which contain obscurities like the acoustic pop glory of "Let Me Give The World To You" as well as the unreleased "Prairie Song"and the stunning epic electronic psychedelia of the nearly 10 minute plus "The World's Fair.".As promised, songs from Zwan were included from the show's closing number "Of A Broken Heart" and the unreleased "For Your Love." And yes, Corgan, who by this point was aided superbly by Jeff Schroeder, drummer Matt Walker, and singer Sierra Swan, also included those hits like "Today," "Disarm" and a nine song suite of selections from the "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" album, including "Thirty Three,""Tonight, Tonight," "Muzzle," "1979" and the never performed "Mellon Collie" outtake "Methusela."
If you do choose to take a listen to this concert, please do not allow any pre-conceived notions about Billy Corgan's persona enter your frame of view and just allow the music to do its work and then, make a decision about what you have heard and any sense of legitimacy that Billy Corgan deserves or does not deserve to have as a working artist in 2014. I know that all I have written may sound to be nothing more than hero worship and to a degree, maybe it is because I do consider Billy Corgan to be a musical hero. No, I do not fall for every little thing that he sets his mind to. I have heard bits and pieces of his experimental synthesizer work for instance and it just does not grab me in the way that I had hoped it would. On a grander scale, the dismissal of Mike Byrne and the exclusion of the wonderful bassist/vocalist Nicole Fiorentino from the new recordings and possibly the 2015 tour has disheartened me, especially as it seemed the new version of the band had become solidified.
But even so, Billy Corgan continues to push forwards, making artistic decisions that ultimately serve his art and not the wishes of the fans and the critics. In fact, isn't that what artists are actually supposed to do? To provoke and challenge as well as entertain? Billy Corgan is the type of artist that is in short supply these days as he is willing to disillusion his greatest fans in order to serve his art but simultaneously, I also cannot think of an artist of his particular stature and of his generation who has gone out of his way to try and create a more one-to-one relationship with his fans through a candidness that is as straightforward and committed as it is mysterious and elusive.
In reference to the A.V. Club headline, Billy Corgan's artistic pursuits have actually found him mulling over the possibility of maybe even ending The Smashing Pumpkins for good and even widening the song catalog during future concert performances to include all of his songs regardless of era or band project he happened to be involved with, as long as the songs could connect together in the best artistic fashion. But whatever the future holds, I wish for him to remain intrepid and steadfast as he continues to follow his inspiration and refuses to succumb to nostalgia. But above all else, I turn to his own words, as written on "The Panopticon" just days before his Ravinia performance...
"...my life, at its core, is music-music-music, and in that, I'm blessed as an artist to still have a show to play."
And that is why I continue to love and defend Billy Corgan.
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