Friday, June 22, 2007
My Favorite Band Screws Me Over...Again!
well, there are a lot of people who love to make fun of Smashing Pumpkins and Billy Corgan...i have spent countless hours in my day arguing with people over which band is better: Smashing Pumpkins or Nirvana. for me, it was never even close. the depth of Billy Corgan and his musical writing style have always impressed me far among that of Kurt Cobain...but when it comes down to it, i simply like both bands.
being a Smashing Pumpkins fan has not always been a smooth ride:
...there were the endless singles released, each with at least a few b-sides i HAD to have...many years later, every one of these b-sides were released on a b-side album, enforcing my own feelings of stupidity for buying them individually...there were the concerts at Variety Playhouse where tickets sold out in seconds, leaving me the opportunity to pay $70 a pop to see them live...there was the firing (and eventually re-hiring) of the heroin addicted drummer...there was a Billy Corgan solo album, which lacked in every possible way...and now, after a 10 year break, they are back, and they bring the fans more problems with them.
i couldn't get a ticket to ANY of the 9 Ashville, North Carolina shows, which begin tomorrow at a venue made for under 950 people...Billy Corgan allowed fans to buy tickets online ONLY, and the obscure website crashed within moments of the tickets going on sale...leaving me and other fans worried, confused, and just plain pissed off.
and now, the next chapter in the saga of being an overly devoted Smashing Pumpkins fan begins...according to PitchforkMedia, their new album, Zeitgeist, will be released in 4 different versions...Best Buy has a version, Target has a version, iTunes has a version, and then there is the 'regular version'...each one is different from each other with a different bonus track (the iTunes version even has an extra set of cover songs done by modern punk bands like Panic At The Disco, The Bravery, Test Your Reflex, +44, The Academy Is...)...and now that i look on Amazon, i notice a few different "special edition" versions there available for pre-order too.
hey, i guess you gotta hand to a guy who knows his marketing! Billy Corgan has his hand in EVERY pocket of each fan!
by releasing the album in 4 different versions, Billy Corgan knows that some fans will buy every single version of the album...i know this, because i used to be that kid. not anymore! he'll be lucky if i don't decide to download the damn thing from a torrent site!
their newest single, Tarantula, of course has a b-side...but it's the same extra track that will be on the Target version. my bad, i guess we do a get a break afterall.
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Smashing Pumpkins
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2 comments:
Other artists have done the 4 album version release as well. But at least Pete Yorn was awesome enough to have all of those special edition floater tracks out there all posted on his site for free mp3 download.
Versus...
The Beatles or The Rolling Stones
The Beach Boys or The Hollies
Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin
Depeche Mode or The Smiths
Biggie or 2Pac
CSN or CSNY
Dave Matthews Band or Phish
Tori Amos or Fiona Apple (that's not fair...)
Regarding the Pumpkins and Nirvana, the arguement is lead up to the death of Kurt Cobain. Sure, b-sides and demos have surfaced though it's not current material.
The continual growth and influence of one's environmental could futher shape the overall concept of a song, let alone the tone of an album.
Modest Mouse's latest is a tasty example of little implosions, creative wanderings...perhaps just with me! I'm a fan...*sigh*.
I have thought Smashing Pumpkins was their own entity, as was Nirvana. The only similarities I'd notice is the crossover of fanbase. Both bands loved progressive rock, had British influences and dug/dig the DIY ethic.
I'm caught up in my childhood as my fave band is still The Police!
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