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 Post subject: Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:15 pm 
grain thrower wrote: I did something this week that nobody has done since 1998: listened to Mellon Collie start-to-finish. Twice! Consecutively, as in it ended and I wanted more so I played the whole thing again. I was writing part of the time but had on headphones so my attention was almost fully with the music, and I can tell you that, unlike previous occasions, I didn't find any filler on there. The songs all work together, building tension, releasing tension, from head-crushing ('Tales of a Scorched Earth,' my god) to puppy-dogging ('Galapogos,' gorgeous) for a real pastiche of '90s rock. Still deserves it's place among the decade's best, and certainly one of the grandest, most audacious achievements. The only thing I would change is that there is one too many slow songs to finish the experience. They're all good songs so maybe they could've fit one elsewhere instead of cutting it, but as sequenced they feel like the musical version of 'Return of the King,' one too many endings to an exhilarating journey. Thought I should give my endeavor a mention here.  You get credit for listening to it TWICE, but not being the only one to do it since 1998... Maybe the last month? As far as achievements, I must agree, it's a brilliant piece of work, not as expansive as the Ego it inflated, but brilliant none the less. It helps make up for the Adore. Maybe he knew what he was gonna do ahead of time, hence the double dose? And again with Machina 2, cause he knew the Future Embrace was coming? _________________ yup, that's my name. FOR YOUR RATING PLEASURE: 4 LIKE Buttons, 1 NEUTRAL, 1 VEXED, 5 DISLIKE buttons. LC > FB          
 = personal fave  = Eisley fans should dig it
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Joined: 09 Apr 2008 | Posts: 9654 | Location: Greater St. Louis Area
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Post subject: Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:54 pm
Let me clarify, my claim to fame is listening to Mellon Collie twice in a row. Start-to-finish, no skips. Until proven otherwise, I stand by my assertion of 1998 - I figured that was 3 years after its release so even the Corgan cultists would be stretched to pull that 4+ hour investment off since then.
When I hear Eisley talking about all their songs (aha, here's the Sherri connection reappearing) for this new record, highest number I've seen thrown out there was 40. Or was it 50. Anyway that kind of talk gets me wistfully thinking about a double disc whammy, but of course that won't happen, and I further wonder how many songs Billy had to choose from go get to the 30 on MCATIS. Did he write 100 and whittle them down, or did he have maybe 40 and focused all his energy in getting them right? I enjoy Adore on its own terms, but certainly it gets pummeled as the unfortunate successor of a rock masterpiece. With Machina I get the feeling he suspected it was the end of the line for the Pumpkins as originally incarnated and figured 'what the hell, might as well put out everything we've got left.' _________________ http://www.twitter.com/drstrangeblog http://www.last.fm/user/getinline I can't find the time to write my mind the way I want it to read. |
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Joined: 05 Mar 2008 | Posts: 2003 | Location: Iowa
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Post subject: Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 8:15 pm
I gave you credit for twice, no need to defend the claim, and the "in-a-row" was not mentioned, but mentally acknowledged. Props to you, no doubt. Adore, I'll take that over Future Embrace. When Adore was the 1st single, i was hoping for something industrial, or at least Songs of Faith and Devotion-Like, cause that would have been satisfying, if different. Meanwhile, Machina I & II are still ones I like very much because the songs have energy and a rawness that sounds like a band rocking out, which they did so well, even if Billy tracked all the guitar and bass parts by himself. Even the Zwan record holds up, though it goes a little long. I think the Overdoses really rocked them to the core, and derailed their ascension at that point. There was a lack of direction for that generation of bands, with Nirvana done, Pearl Jam in the midst of their Ticketmaster, no video feud, and Wieland putting STP on skids with his drug incarcerations. Reznor was off doing Bowie records with NIN of super-hiatus (and AIC). And unfortunately, Billy decided to write tracks for the next Hole record... And then the OD's went down, which was sad enough, because a life was lost. That really does take the wind out of your sails. _________________ yup, that's my name. FOR YOUR RATING PLEASURE: 4 LIKE Buttons, 1 NEUTRAL, 1 VEXED, 5 DISLIKE buttons. LC > FB
= personal fave = Eisley fans should dig it
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Joined: 09 Apr 2008 | Posts: 9654 | Location: Greater St. Louis Area
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:51 am
I think Adore is an incredible record, just too long like with everything Billy is apart of. I would like to see his album sequences if he was confined to one vinyl record. re: Mellon Collie - there are a ton more songs from those sessions on the Aeroplane Flies High box set and those aren't even all of them - one of those songs is this 'song' made up of clips of songs that aren't on Aeroplane. _________________ I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away. |
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Joined: 05 Nov 2002 | Posts: 6830 | Location: Gilmer, Tejas
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:05 am
Billy unleashes a massive address to the fans about whats going on... http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/pages/blog/message-from-billy _________________ yup, that's my name. FOR YOUR RATING PLEASURE: 4 LIKE Buttons, 1 NEUTRAL, 1 VEXED, 5 DISLIKE buttons. LC > FB
= personal fave = Eisley fans should dig it
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Joined: 09 Apr 2008 | Posts: 9654 | Location: Greater St. Louis Area
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:17 am
i actually almost put it up this morning, but i didn't want to double myself.  _________________ I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away. |
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Joined: 05 Nov 2002 | Posts: 6830 | Location: Gilmer, Tejas
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Post subject: Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2009 5:51 am
bigideas wrote: i actually almost put it up this morning, but i didn't want to double myself.
Well, I apologize for stealing your thunder, and You're welcome, cause now you an acknowledge your scoopage, and not double yourself.
All things considered, his post just reaffirms your previous one, everything he does tends to get longwinded... but at least he's sharing _________________ yup, that's my name. FOR YOUR RATING PLEASURE: 4 LIKE Buttons, 1 NEUTRAL, 1 VEXED, 5 DISLIKE buttons. LC > FB
= personal fave = Eisley fans should dig it
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Joined: 09 Apr 2008 | Posts: 9654 | Location: Greater St. Louis Area
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:21 am
anyone planning on doing it? MESSAGE FROM BILLY REGARDING THE SUBSCRIPTION MODEL On Monday, SmashingPumpkins.com announced that an online 12-week subscription service will be made available in the near future, that is, if demand is ample for the project. Today Billy has sent a message to those than have shown interest by signing up for updates via an email newsletter. From Billy: Hello, thank you for signing up for these updates. Because of the nature of today's post, and how the different ideas interact, I will be touching on both proposed business models; the archive fan-club and the new 'window' into the album songwriting sessions. Around 6,000 of you have shown interest in these updates, so because I am assuming you are on the dedicated side already, I will try to get to the center of the issues without a whole lot of contextual explanation. Our first concept that we threw out for the archives (300$ for 200 songs) was met by a whole lot of complaining. Because we desire a harmonious relationship with those who would most want a completest approach to the bands history, we have revised this to a 40$ (proposed) fan-club sign up and this has been met much more positively. I think this demonstrates a willingness to work together to find a balance that will sustain over the next decade plus. The average mainstream fan doesn't give two hoots about that gig in Iowa in 1989, so we aren't even going to bother them with this kind of stuff, hence creating the relationships with you. We have enough on our hands to get them (the mainstream) to listen to newly recorded work. As you can see, everyone in the record biz these days is having the same problem, so it not particular to SP. With that in mind, I have additionally proposed something quite unique as far as a 'window' into my songwriting processes with the idea of 12 weeks of mini-TV (about 25+ minutes a week broken into 5 updates OR 5+ hours of content). This would dwarf the kind of access that was given for example in the 'if all goes wrong' dvd, where one could see me briefly working out some idea. Having seen some of the raw footage from what Kristin shot at that time, there were moments that played out over 5 or 7 minutes that were quite interesting on their own but were definitely too long for a movie that had to hold a plot narrative. One of my favourite moments not shown in the film was the morning I wrote the riff for 'Sunkissed'. You see me playing some bs blues and I stop, take a deep breath, and then the idea comes out fully intact in one crystalline moment. Even I was surprised, and for the next few minutes you see the song just pour out of me. I realize for most this is not interesting at all, but this is interesting for some and that is the point of a project this is an optional, pay-if-you-want to see it deal. You would get to participate in moments essentially as they unfold. Here however is where it indeed does all go wrong... 'Take a walk with me Tell me what you see Take a walk with me tonight" -lyric from an unreleased song I wrote last year Last night I made the mistake of reading some of the feedback to this proposed idea. To say I was dismayed at some of the comments would be an understatement. The reaction was 50/50 mixed and very negative on the one side. I was so upset that I wrote a very long post in reaction, mocking the arguments made and canceling it altogether. Reading how something as open-hearted as inviting you into my inner-world of creativity turns into a sick, capitalistic manipulation is really disappointing to me personally. I speak not as the head of a multi-million dollar corporation, but as someone who lives and breathes being a musician. (I unfortunately made the vain mistake of asking for 3 dollars and 50 cents a week). The 40$ figure as a 'all in' was arrived at because I wanted to insure that those that were interested were going to take the whole ride for the all 12 weeks. I had expressed that this was not a profit driven business model, but many questioned the truth in that and went on to turn into personal attacks seeing it as yet another example of me taking advantage of them. Judging by this kind of feedback I would say this idea is dead on arrival. Which leaves me with 2 choices; cancel or revise. My heart says to cancel, because the whole thing isn't worth the hassle for the few thousand that would show up and faithfully engage in something new and exciting and trust me on the expenses involved to deliver such a project to them. The willful part of me says I know this is a really cool idea because it will force a new kind of dialogue between artist and listener at a much earlier stage in the process. In my last extensive post, I promised love and light moving forward. But I also promised reality as we struggle to find what is going to work business-wise in the years ahead. The Smashing Pumpkins 'business' is alive and well (thank you), or I wouldn't have just completed 165 date tour a few months back. Its laughable for people to think that this is some kind of way to stuff my pockets. One 90 minute concert alone and the profits from that completely blow such stupidity out of the water. I have found thru the years that when I must become a salesman that this in turn reflects poorly on me as an artist. If I was a good salesman, there would be more than 6,000 people reading this newsletter, and I would be doing everything in my power to tell you why this a good idea and not a bad one. Right now it's a bad idea because this proposal has some (not all) accusing me of all sorts of lame things that have little to do with the spirit of the music or the business that surrounds it. I don't need your money, for I am going to film these sessions anyway. The difference here was if we had an audience and a budget to work with, well then we could make it a whole lot of fun for everyone who wants to 'be there' and wants to see-here how the magic gets made. Great attempts would also be made to provide additional content to justify your participation. It would come with the responsibility on us to get the technical end right on a daily basis, hence the extra budget necessities to be able to turn footage around quickly. Pandering to people for $ has never been my trip. I just don't care that much. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna lay it all out there to you as a community. You decide what you want to do, because I already know what I'm going to do. Its your call. I figure to do this right its about 2,000$ a day, or 10,000$ a week which adds up to 120,000$. Boring isn't it? 3000 subscribers at 40$=120,000$ 6000 subscribers at 20$=120,000$ 12,000 subscriber at 10$=120,000$ So you see, it is not a profit driven model. It is a content creation model. If you as a community can self organize and 6000 people want to do this, then its 20$ (for the whole 12 weeks). I'd much rather stuff 20$ in my pockets from 6000 people than 3000! (That's a joke by the way for those of you who lack the irony gene) It ain't gonna happen for 40$ obviously because the negative vibe in the air just makes it all so icky. And I don't do icky anymore. If 20$ is TOO much for 12 weeks of unique, daily content and the trust isn't there for me to deliver it, then I might as well just focus on the mainstream fan who I know already doesn't give care for 'the art' and get back to the *yawn* grunge... So that's it. We need 6,000 people who are adventurous enough to take this journey at 20$ or I'll just put it all in a can somewhere and move on. Your feedback is helpful and I thank you. BC _________________ I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away. |
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Joined: 05 Nov 2002 | Posts: 6830 | Location: Gilmer, Tejas
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 9:46 am
i am! at first i wasn't sure, because im broke, and it seemed kind of vague on what content we would be getting. but $20 is alot more reasonable for me, and $10 even more if 12000 people sign up. yay i don't understand all these people accusing billy of being greedy for this and charging too much. other bands who do the same thing for free have labels to pay for them. the pumpkins are independent now and they have to fund everything from their own pockets. i think he's justified for charging anything at all. _________________ way out of here |
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Joined: 25 Jul 2007 | Posts: 40 | Location: Seattle
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:49 am
Billy's wrestling commercial using lyrics from Bullet With Butterfly Wings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryYcyt8FPlg&feature=player_embedded _________________ I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away. |
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Joined: 05 Nov 2002 | Posts: 6830 | Location: Gilmer, Tejas
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 1:19 am
bigideas wrote: Billy's wrestling commercial using lyrics from Bullet With Butterfly Wings:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryYcyt8FPlg&feature=player_embedded I casually follow wrestling, for the same reasons Billy probably does, the psychology used to turn crowds towards and against characters, so I actually saw this in context. They got permission to us Bullet With Butterfly Wings as the theme to their last Pay-Per-View, and he did that commercial as a bonus, which was funny because he's actually highlighting the lyrics, which is a throw back to his reading tour of Blinking with Fists, you know, his book of poetry... Funny bit of history. Back in the days of ECW, another once defunct, then bought out by WWF, indie wrestling company, Billy joined in and would play solo guitar bits as his own intro via wireless and help some of the "Bad Guys". I can't remember for sure, but I think he even hit someone with a guitar, and switched from a Heel (villian) to a Babyface (good guy). That was like, 10 years ago maybe. It was funny then, and still kinda is now. As far as the subscription, It follows that he would get backlash, that's the soup of the day for him lately. Had he just put the costs out there and put it on the fans to to reach a goal (like what Mae is doing for charity this year http://www.whatismae.com ) it might have gone over a little better. I didn't sign up so I would have never got that email, so thanks for sharing, it sheds a better light on Billy, and he's due. _________________ yup, that's my name. FOR YOUR RATING PLEASURE: 4 LIKE Buttons, 1 NEUTRAL, 1 VEXED, 5 DISLIKE buttons. LC > FB
= personal fave = Eisley fans should dig it
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Joined: 09 Apr 2008 | Posts: 9654 | Location: Greater St. Louis Area
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 4:11 am
i got it via the e-mail list about the Archives. i haven't signed up for the subscription. i'm guessing most of this stuff requires fast download speed so i'm not equipped to do it at this time anyway - especially since my computer is effed up at the moment. _________________ I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away. |
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Joined: 05 Nov 2002 | Posts: 6830 | Location: Gilmer, Tejas
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Post subject: Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:49 am
How the hell does this guy have time for writing songs with all his web posting these days is what I wanna know. If I subscribed to anything, I feel sure I would be Billyed to death.  _________________ http://www.twitter.com/drstrangeblog http://www.last.fm/user/getinline I can't find the time to write my mind the way I want it to read. |
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Joined: 05 Mar 2008 | Posts: 2003 | Location: Iowa
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 12:40 am
http://pitchfork.com/news/35930-smashing-pumpkins-darcy-speaks/ i haven't listened yet, but i thought some of yous might be interested... _________________ I am Torgo. I take care of the place while the Master is away. |
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Joined: 05 Nov 2002 | Posts: 6830 | Location: Gilmer, Tejas
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Post subject: Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:43 am
It's was a fun little interview. Not at all how they make it out to be. I thinks it's more that people don't know how to take her calling out of the blue (which she apparently has done before, but just not gotten through). _________________ yup, that's my name. FOR YOUR RATING PLEASURE: 4 LIKE Buttons, 1 NEUTRAL, 1 VEXED, 5 DISLIKE buttons. LC > FB
= personal fave = Eisley fans should dig it
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Joined: 09 Apr 2008 | Posts: 9654 | Location: Greater St. Louis Area
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