Alright, I'm going to hop off the irony train for a second. I was indeed tempted to post Leif Garrett doing 'Teen Spirit' w/ The Melvins. But it sucks.
---
Box sets. I'm supposed to care. I really do not. I find the majority superfluous, and filing them a baffling ordeal. I've allowed many quality artists' box sets slip through my fingers... XTC... Kate Bush... Guided By Voices... nah. Nirvana's? I hate the sight of that cash cow.
But: 'The Aeroplane Flies High'. I bought that. It's pleasing to look at. And while one may call a Missing Persons cover superfluous, it- well...- okay, it is. But I like it. So to each their own, I suppose.
The Smashing Pumpkins are a band who frequently elicit groans when mentioned. Either that or smoke-sharing, hand-holding, puppy-love memories soundtracked to the opening bars of 'Today'.
But there was so much more. Beneath the megalomania & the looking like Powder, Billy Corgan could really 'fuck off' on a guitar. He pounded together grunge, dream pop, space rock & twee into an ethereal summer sound. Sure, the band was an autocracy, so nothing good could really become of them after this box, which ended on this note:
The Smashing Pumpkins - My Blue Heaven
See, now, this is the sort of cover/arrangement mainstream rock bands just wouldn't try in the mid nineties. Perhaps if they had, there'd be fewer belligerent SUV drivers on the road today.
I think I almost got a veldt-sore listening to this song, stargazing. Satellites move sharper than shooting stars- beyond all that I just fell asleep... In the morning there were snake-tracks all around and underneath my bedroll.
For me, the Smashing Pumpkins ascended to 'My Blue Heaven', and just stayed - a perfect epilogue. (I ignore 'Adore' and that other one).
-kam
Comments (8)
you let the kate bush go? seriously?
dang.
Posted by caitlin | October 18, 2006 11:02 PM
Posted on October 18, 2006 23:02
You're going to have to excuse me, but I had to look up "veldt"...I vaguely remembered it from some ecology class sometime.
The best I could come up with was an open grazing land in southern Africa.
I don't think I'd even mind sores if I could stargaze in southern Africa...
Posted by Katie | October 18, 2006 11:36 PM
Posted on October 18, 2006 23:36
You and "smoke-sharing". Still a fucking mystery to me.
When i think about 1995, the Smashing Pumpkins recorded output always comes to mind (because I think they released LITERALLY 8760 hours worth of material in '95-'96). Simple fact is that they have way more good music than bad, which you can't say about Depeche Mode. Or I can't, anyway.
Why didn't you post their Depeche Mode cover?
Posted by Kevin | October 19, 2006 12:16 AM
Posted on October 19, 2006 00:16
Katie:
A 'veldt sore' is just a fancy way of saying 'sand blister', geography be damned.
And you totally recognized the word 'veldt' not from ecology class, but from Final Fantasy.
Kevin:
Once an mp3 blog opens up the veritable Pandora's Box of Depeche Mode covers, it's time to turn it in. We're just not there yet.
Posted by kam | October 19, 2006 5:41 PM
Posted on October 19, 2006 17:41
I was with you until the multiple Depeche Mode digs.
Ouch.
Posted by S Wolf | October 26, 2006 12:42 PM
Posted on October 26, 2006 12:42
Mode have more solid output on a single mid-period record than the entire Smashing Pumpkins output jammed together.
That being said - I love box sets... when warranted. My Adam Ant box is nothing short of brilliant. The Cure B-Sides? HELL yes. My Sugarhill Records box? Brilliant... And where would today's chin-stroking indie pundits be without their Nuggets?
Box sets rule...
And are hard to file...
I like multi-disc jewel case sized collections...
Hmmm...
Posted by Scott Arnold | October 26, 2006 6:19 PM
Posted on October 26, 2006 18:19
S Wolf - Ah, all in good fun. Anyway, I've long since accepted the fact that everyone else I know (pretty much) likes DM, and I'm a minority.
Scott - Hmm. I don't know, I'd say that's a little hyperbolic. One record? Hmm.
I too am a box-set man. The Zombies "Zombies Heaven", the aforementioned Cure set...two big faves of mine.
Posted by Kevin | October 27, 2006 12:00 AM
Posted on October 27, 2006 00:00
It's a personal taste thing... I really would rather have any one Mode album (if faced with an apocalyptic style choice) than the entire output of the Pumpkins... I just think they're THAT much better...
(And pip pip for Zombie Heaven... oooh, and the Bunnymen box)
Posted by Scott | October 28, 2006 10:09 AM
Posted on October 28, 2006 10:09