Prediction

[marigold]

I have this weird feeling that Oceania is the last SP album with BC as front-man. Hopefully, the band will finish out TbK, but after that, I think it’s over.

[jupiter]

why did you say \"with BC as front man\"?
do you think someone else may front the band or do you think it will just end?

[manillascissor]

i read a recent interview where he stated something to the effect that who is in the pumpkins is irrelevant, and that he might just write songs. so i guess it’s possible that a new lead singer could be in the mix, one day.

however, i find that kind of dumb. no reason to create menudo all over again.

but i guess everyone’s time comes.

[marigold]

Even if he says that, I can’t see it being the Smashing Pumpkins without Billy, really. If he’s going to be in the background, then he may as well write songs for any band.

[Arthur]

no reason to create menudo all over again.[/quote:1494zzyf]
What does ‘menudo’ mean? Never seen that word, and Google Translate doesn’t recognize it either…

But I don’t think that is going to happen soon, Billy leaving or stopping the band. With the Oceania boost they will continue for a few years more in the current setting I think.

[manillascissor]

menudo is this mexican? boy band that rotates out members. they’ve been active for a long time, ricki martin was a member.

[marigold]

menudo is this mexican? boy band that rotates out members. they’ve been active for a long time, ricki martin was a member.[/quote:3lah646c]

I remember seeing some songs of theirs wayyy back in the 80’s – but New Edition were bigger
But SP are a rock band, not a boy band – and I have a feeling Billy is continually trying to change the ‘norm’ of what people would expect from a rock band. Unfortunately that doesn’t sit well with a lot of fans – but Billy don’t care!

[manillascissor]

and I have a feeling Billy is continually trying to change the ‘norm’ of what people would expect from a rock band.[/quote:2eo9f4kt]

i honestly see this as a major pitfall. instead of embracing pop music for what it is (let’s face it, most MCIS singles were pop), he seems hell-bent on reinventing the pumpkins. i get it, as an artist, it’s a challenge, blah blah blah.

but at the same time, there is no reason to disregard your own pop influences. it’s what got them noticed originally. catchy hooks, catchy lyrics, catchy videos.

the latest effort, oceania, TO ME, seems VERY forced. somewhat intellectual. then i listen to other bands who have been around just as long, and i don’t get the same feeling. i listen to bands that are just starting out, and i’m blown away. i truthfully have no idea why everyone thinks this band has returned to form. oceania is not a return to anything, it’s its own style, but a style with which i don’t have much connection to. after listening to the album, i’m always left with an empty feeling inside, like something is completely missing.

i wish he would just call it a day with SP and go full blown solo. he’d get the same amount of press/attention. if he really wants to break down walls, dismantle SP for good. that would be unexpected and a great new direction for the band as well.

[Arthur]

like something is completely missing.[/quote:lueqhpw7]
Yeah, the spirit of a young band, eager to make it, whatever that is in whatever context. But Billy made it already, he has nothing to prove anymore as a youngster. He has something to prove as a 45 year old artist. I have seen several bands play live and release Greatest Hits version #1M, and those bands do what Billy doesn’t want. Yet, and hopefully never. But yeah, he is older, wiser in his own way, and he has a completely different perspective on life and its struggles with people, love, sex, drugs and other issues. And the current era in which we live in general. So I’m not blaming him for making the choices he made on Oceania.

Furthermore, I see absolutely no reason why changing or dismantling the flagship of the Smashing Pumpkins is going to change that (already grown) spirit. Billy still needs a drummer, a guitarist, a singer, a keyboard player for doing his type of art. And his voice, with his words, is one of the very characteristic elements of his musical art. I don’t even want that to be changed, if I may have a vote in that!

And he will never get back that spirit of the 1980 and 1990 era. He doesn’t even want to go there, as he stated many times already! Because those who stay there and never move on, are sad people, in a way. Just my humble opinion (too). And I see the moniker Smashing Pumpkins work for him and his current band, so why the need to change? I don’t see it at all.

And Billy writes about more current things, and expresses that in his current way. Intellectual? Maybe, he has always been intellectual, so that didn’t change. Forced? Maybe, but life (and the musical decisions within life) come with choices, give and take, and when Billy wants the band to be more involved compared to let’s say the Siamese Dream album, then some musical decisions might look forced. I don’t know, I don’t have that feeling about Oceania. It’s a mature, good album. Again very different from previous albums. Again with completely different art. And because of that very Smashing Pumpkins again. And in a 45 year old guy context who happens to be responsible for 75 to 99% of everything the Smashing Pumpkins are doing. Now and then. And hopefully a lot to follow in the future.

Just my 2 cents.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

a style with which i don’t have much connection to.[/quote:2on7rypz]
same here. i don’t like the new album. not my cup of tea.
some songs are ok, and some bits of songs are nice, but that’s it to me.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

i wish he would just call it a day with SP and go full blown solo. he’d get the same amount of press/attention. if he really wants to break down walls, dismantle SP for good. that would be unexpected and a great new direction for the band as well.[/quote:31r76ij6]
sounds to me like your prediction is not really a prediction, but more wishful thinking.

also, how is billy going "full blown solo" "a great new direction for the band"?
hahaha!

[Arthur]

also, how is billy going "full blown solo" "a great new direction for the band"?[/quote:2nwk3ndp]
Unemployment is considered a great new direction, I guess?

[Cool As Ice Cream]

haha, yes. exactly what i was wondering. \"mike: back to mac! a great new direction!\"

or maybe he means that the band will continue to exist without billy (without \"BC as a frontman\"), and that that would be great for them.

[marigold]

Didn’t Billy dismantle the band 12 years ago?

I like a lot of the songs on Oceania, but I think he should have written songs about Oceania, Panopticon, and The Chimera for real, instead of just using them as song titles. Musically the album has a lot of cool experimental sounds, but a lot of the lyrics are rather ‘safe’ – Quasar is an exception with all the deities thrown in together – I guess he didn’t want the album compared to Zeitgeist at all – maybe there will be something more ‘out there’ with the next album/teargarden journey…..

[manillascissor]

i actually hear a lot of zeitgeist in this album. also tfe and early teargarden. i like the teargarden style, but on oceania, it’s pushed to the back and it doesn’t really shine.

i much prefer listening to the first 10 tracks of teargarden to oceania. they have this tremendous building crescendo effect when listened to in sequence. for me, at least. they are goddamn good.

and oceania (the album) can be part of teargarden, but so far, it doesn’t fit. the mood shifted, the atmosphere. it’s a little boring in parts.

again, back to pop. one pop song at a time, upbeat, fun, happy, no real concept. not everything has to be the first of its kind or pushing boundaries. it’s like if einstein found the formula e=mc2, but then tried to fuck with it every 5 years or so, just to say he’s doing something different. oooo, e=mcII, how clever and brilliant!

[manillascissor]

i wish he would just call it a day with SP and go full blown solo. he’d get the same amount of press/attention. if he really wants to break down walls, dismantle SP for good. that would be unexpected and a great new direction for the band as well.[/quote:127sv4cf]
sounds to me like your prediction is not really a prediction, but more wishful thinking.

also, how is billy going "full blown solo" "a great new direction for the band"?
hahaha![/quote:127sv4cf]

i don’t see a difference between wishful thinking and having that lead to a prediction. even if it is what i want, i can still predict it as an outcome.

and i’m not sure what i meant by that. i either used "band" instead of "billy", or meant that the band (members) could move on to pursue other endeavours. i think it works either way.

but the way i said it is certainly confusing and comical.

[marigold]

again, back to pop. one pop song at a time, upbeat, fun, happy, no real concept. not everything has to be the first of its kind or pushing boundaries. it’s like if einstein found the formula e=mc2, but then tried to fuck with it every 5 years or so, just to say he’s doing something different. oooo, e=mcII, how clever and brilliant![/quote:20s1do8i]

lol
I don’t think Billy wants to be in that ‘pop’ world though, he wants to be pushing boundaries. In fact, a lot of artists are doing just that and selling tonnes of records. It may be just down to marketing and the record company.

….and I just turned on the radio to see what bands were being played, expecting Pearl Jam and Metallica….and Bullet With Butterfly Wings is on

[jupiter]

that sounds like a good radio station!

[marigold]

yeah, whoever runs the radio station’s twitter is checking with the boss about playing a track from Oceania now. But how do they choose which songs they \"allow\" to be played?

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