I go back and forth on them. I consider Here Is No Why to be in the top ten favorite songs I've ever heard. Take to my grave great. And I like a lot of their other stuff from their middle period but very little of it really moves me.
I like listening to him in interviews; he's a very smart guy. But the singing is kind of annoying. And the the neo-classic/prog-rock shit is, I don't know. Meh.
Almost everything The Smashing Pumpkins have done has personally moved me. They're my second favorite musical artist of all-time and have been extremely important to me in my life. They literally have created 120 songs that I consider "take to my grave great." On a side note, Billy Corgan stated that he wants the incredible "
Today" played at his funeral. Yeah, some could see this as egotistical, oh well. That's cool you appreciate "
Here Is No Why."
I can understand your opinion that his singing is kind of annoying. Billy's singing and the band's music is definitely an acquired taste. My friend Doug made me a tape of "
Siamese Dream" in '93 and it didn't grab me at all. It wasn't until my friend Alana made me a tape of most of the songs from, "
Mellon Collie..." that I really clicked with the Smashing Pumpkins. "
Porcelina of the Vast Oceans," "
Galapagos," "
Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "
1979," grabbed my soul and I've been a fan for life. It's ironic, I hardly ever listen to "
Siamese Dream" or "
Mellon Collie..." anymore. I listen to each album once a year. "
Bullet With Butterfly Wings" is unlistenable to me. I really like the song but I can't force myself to listen to it. I feel the exact same way about the song, "
Zero." I equate these songs to the television shows, "
All in the Family" and "
Cheers." I loved those shows and I appreciate them, but I literally can't force myself to watch them for more than a minute.
I can also understand your shrug your shoulders feelings to the neo-classic/ prog rock aspect of the band. For me, most of it definitely works, but I'm an ardent fan. A few songs, like the awful "
United States," puts me in the "meh" zone too. I really think the more someone listens to the Smashing Pumpkins, the more they'll appreciate the gorgeous nuances in their music. I think they'll come to appreciate the incredible, absolutely incredible, musicianship in their music. I like the sound of Billy Corgan's guitar work better than any other guitarist I've ever heard. I put him barely ahead of Johnny Marr, Alain Whyte, Vini Reilly, Davey Johnstone, whoever it was who did most of the great guitar work with Siouxsie & the Banshees (Steven Severin?), Robert Smith of The Cure, Jimi Hendrix, Nile Rodgers & Bernard Edwards, Dwight Yoakam, and a few others. I don't care about the technical aspects of guitar playing. My former neighbor Rob used to speak with me about great guitar playing and great guitar players. He played me a lot of their songs and very little of their music moved me at all. Jeff Beck bores me to tears. I don't care how technically wonderful he is, he's like paint drying on the wall to me. Didn't he play guitar on Morrissey's "
Black Cloud?" Yeah, I give that song a "C" score, its nothing tremendous. Anyway, I love the sound of Billy Corgan's phenomenal guitar, and the twin guitar sound of the Pumpkins makes the music even more amazing. (James Iha, for 12 years, and Jeff Schroeder, for 7 years, have provided the Pumpkin's second guitar.)
I also have to state, that I firmly believe, that Billy Corgan is one of the two greatest songwriters of all-time. Elton John is the other. The incredible volume of the hundreds upon hundreds of amazing songs they've written is staggering. They both can do it all. They can write complex epics, excellent rock songs, beautiful quiet songs, wonderful love songs, songs that are basically two or three songs in one, they can do everything. If I had to pick one over the other, I'd have to pick Elton John. He can write damn good "blues" songs and country songs too. Yes country songs. "
Roy Rogers," "
Texan Love Song," "
Take Me Back," and a few more.
I've scattered many Billy Corgan songs throughout the threads of Morrissey-Solo, and hopefully will add some here too. Unfortunately, there is no time now. Please excuse mistakes, I wrote this hella fast.