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The Smashing Pumpkins wiki
Help us build the world's largest knowledge base for The Smashing Pumpkins and related acts!
We currently have 4,451 articles, detailing 1,337 songs across 152 albums, 98 studio sessions and 2,204 live shows.
Album of the week
Zeitgeist is the seventh studio album from The Smashing Pumpkins and the first following the 2005 reunion. With 12-hour shifts nearly all week, Jimmy Chamberlin described the sessions as a "long laborious process to greatness", and also served as a producer for the first time with the band. It was recorded entirely with analog equipment and media, using the same 24-track tape recorder as on Mellon Collie. It stands as the most overtly political work released by the band or Billy Corgan himself, which Chamberlin attributes to their interest in the music and life of Fela Kuti. It is also among their heavier releases. "People wanted to hear some energy, that they didn't want us rolling over and crying in our milk", wrote Corgan, while Chamberlin observed "the world is ready for something with some balls behind it." The releases came in six colors, each with varying material and packaging. The album peaked at #1 in Canada and New Zealand, at #2 on the Billboard 200, and was ranked on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007.
Song of the day
"Siva" is the first single from The Smashing Pumpkins' debut album Gish, and was written by Billy Corgan. "Siva" was also the first music video filmed by the band. Corgan originally titled the song "Shiva", referring to the Tantric concepts of Shiva and Shakti as opposing masculine and feminine forces, ignorant of any further implications of the name. Upon realizing that the name was more readily connected with the Hindu god Shiva, he removed the letter "h" from the title to lessen this association. In January 2008, the song was made available as downloadable track for the video game Rock Band.
Did you know...
- ...that Corgan originally intended for "Jellybelly" to be the first single from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness?
- ...that the original cover for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness was supposed to picture a Victorian-style set with the full band in costume, but the artist demanded too much money?
- ...that months prior to Zeitgeist's release, two thieves broke into the band's rehearsal space, stole photographs of the album booklet artwork and leaked them online? They were arrested by Chicago Police and charged with felony burglary.
- ...that the Siamese Dream booklet was supposed to be by an outsider artist, but after disagreements with the label, Corgan was forced to step in at the last minute? On the day after their wedding, he and his wife scrambled to put something together, using photos of strangers and Corgan's family with lyrics handwritten on top.
- ...that the original idea for the "Cherub Rock" music video was for the band to play for "metal kids", with angels swinging from ropes, and Billy Corgan dressed as Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th?
Today in history February 8
Live shows
- 1990: (The Smashing Pumpkins) Gallery; Normal, IL, US
- 1991: (The Smashing Pumpkins) Maxwell's; Hoboken, NJ, US
- 1992: (The Smashing Pumpkins) Riverside (music venue); Newcastle, UK
- 2000: (The Smashing Pumpkins) Huntridge Theater; Las Vegas, NV, US
- 2003: (Zwan) Café de la Danse; Paris, FR
- 2015: (Billy Corgan) Madame ZuZu's; Highland Park, IL, US
More fan sites
- SPFC (Smashing Pumpkins Fan Collaborative) – One of the oldest and most comprehensive databases. Much of the data on SPCodex was imported from SPFC.
- SP Freaks – The de facto official museum for The Smashing Pumpkins.
- SPLRA (Smashing Pumpkins Live Recording Association) – A wiki dedicated to documenting live performances.
- The Smashing Pumpkast – A bi-weekly Smashing Pumpkins podcast hosted by Frank Garcia-Hejl and Pat O'Brien.
- SPFam – Facebook-based mental health and wellness peer support group.
- Landslide Omnipedia – Unique encyclopedic content and host for Act IV.
- Netphoria – A very active discussion forum for all things Smashing Pumpkins.