Despite what you may think about Billy Corgan and his Smashing Pumpkins (etc), there's no denying that the man packs a lot of passion into his music. And while that sometimes just comes off as spit-laced ranting, just as often (or more so) you get yourself a nice blast of angst driven rock. Just check out their first two nearly flawless outings, Gish and Siamese Dream, for proof of that statement. And while they sorta blew their wad with the over the top and dreadfully long double dipper Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (I mean the title alone reflects my sentiment), there are still some extremely worthwhile numbers tucked amongst a bit of angry filler. And this pretty much rings true for the remainder of their career (well, the first go around). Their last effort before a lengthy hiatus, Machina/The Machines of God (2000), was a murky, overblown affair where a bunch of really good tunes got bogged down in whatever statement Billy was trying to make at the time. But one absolute masterpiece, the emotive "power ballad" Stand Inside Your Love, is not only a fantastic song, but in my humble opinion one of the top three songs in Corgan's catalog, containing all the elements of rage, regret and pure energy, not to mention catchy hooks and expressive fills, you'd expect from the Smashing Pumpkins. There are three moments in this four minute song that give me chills every time I hear them, and as much credit has to go to drummer Jimmy Chamberlin as to Corgan himself. Check it out!
Really Billy, who wouldn't?
1 comment:
I couldn't agree more about everything you said in this entire post.
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