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Album of the week
Oceania is the eighth studio album from The Smashing Pumpkins, released in June 2012. Produced by Billy Corgan and Bjorn Thorsrud, the album forms part of the band's 34-track project album, Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. Corgan said the album is partly about "people struggling to find a social identity in today's fast-paced, technology-rich culture", adding "I think alienation seems to be the key theme – alienation in love and alienation in culture". The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the Independent Albums chart. A live performance of the album, Oceania: Live in NYC, was released in September, 2013.
Song of the day
"Where Boys Fear to Tread" is the opening track to the Dawn to Dusk half of Smashing Pumpkins' diamond-selling Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. The song samples an explosion sound from the computer video game Doom. It began with a 1993 Usenet joke where it was proposed that the next Doom computer game be called Smashing Pumpkins Into Small Piles Of Putrid Debris (SPISPOPD). The software company responded with adding the cheat code "idspispopd", and the Pumpkins nodded to it by sampling the explosion sound. "Where Boys Fear to Tread" was performed extensively during the Infinite Sadness tour and sporadically ever since, where it is sometimes titled "The Bomb" on the setlists.
Did you know...
- ...that "The Crying Tree of Mercury" had an online interactive music video directed by Billy Corgan that was released by MTV?
- ...that the original concept for the "Tonight, Tonight" video was for a Busby Berkeley theme, with "people diving into champagne glasses", but Red Hot Chili Peppers did a similar video for "Aeroplane", almost identical to what the band wanted to do?
- ...that the In Ashes animated series was named after Sumerian Records CEO, Ash Avildsen? The joke was that by signing with Sumerian Records, The Smashing Pumpkins and Sumerian are "going to go up in flames … and end up in ashes."
- ...that the Pumpkins' July 17, 1998 performance was a free show that drew upwards of 125,000 fans, and that the mayor declared July 17 "Smashing Pumpkins Day"?
- ...that Billy Corgan briefly worked with basketball superstar and rapper Shaquille O'Neal? Corgan began work on a track loosely inspired by Dr. Dre, but the collaboration fell through. The drumbeats that survived were used in "Eye", which appeared on the Lost Highway soundtrack.
Today in history July 13
Releases
- 1993: "Cherub Rock" was released in the UK (CD, 12" vinyl) and the UK & Europe (7" vinyl)
- 2007: "Tarantula" was released in Netherlands, Germany (CD)
- 2023: The Rubano Tapes Vol. 1 was released in the US (CD)
- 2024: The Rubano Tapes Vol. 2 was released in the US (CD)
Charts
- 1996: "Tonight, Tonight" peaked at #5 on the US Alternative Airplay (Billboard) chart
Live shows
- 1991: (The Smashing Pumpkins) Lee's Palace; Toronto, ON, CA
- 2005: (Billy Corgan) The Fonda Theatre; Los Angeles, CA, US
- 2005: (Billy Corgan) Indie 103.1 Studios; Los Angeles, CA, US – Jonesy's Jukebox; Billy Corgan interviewed by ex-Sex Pistols member Steve Jones
- 2005: (Vanessa And The O's featuring James Iha) B&B; Halmstad, SE
- 2010: (The Smashing Pumpkins) National Theater (Richmond, Virginia); Richmond, VA, US
- 2015: (The Smashing Pumpkins) Red Rocks Amphitheatre; Morrison, Colorado, US
- 2019: (The Smashing Pumpkins) Passeio Marítimo de Algés; Oeiras, PT [NOS Alive festival]
- 2024: (The Smashing Pumpkins) Cruilla Barcelona; Barcelona, ES [Cruilla Barcelona festival]
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.