Billy Corgan has always fueled his music with dichotomy: His dueling drives -- grandiosity and self-loathing -- are what propelled his songs and what connected his Smashing Pumpkins to their disenfranchised audience. This nicely constructed collection traces these qualities throughout the Pumpkins' career. At the band's onset, Corgan was clearly gunning for the top...
Read moreBilly Corgan has always fueled his music with dichotomy: His dueling drives -- grandiosity and self-loathing -- are what propelled his songs and what connected his Smashing Pumpkins to their disenfranchised audience. This nicely constructed collection traces these qualities throughout the Pumpkins' career. At the band's onset, Corgan was clearly gunning for the top spot on Rock's Most Alienated list, and songs like the white-knuckled angst anthem "Cherub Rock" quickly vaulted him to that apex. Over the course of the decade that followed, Corgan and company covered plenty of ground, airing out beatific melodies like "Today" alongside churning rockers like "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" -- and even dipping into the well of pure pop for ditties like "1979" and their cover of Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide." This 18-song collection peruses all that territory, adding the edge-dwelling, previously unissued track "Untitled," making it an ideal summation of the stalwart alt-rockers' career.
Brand: VIRGIN RECORDS US
