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This Alternative-Rock band was formed in 1988 in Chicago, Illinois USA,
by guitarist+singer & songwriter Billy
Corgan, the rest of the band originally comprised James Iha on guitar,
D'Arcy Wretzky on bass and Jimmy Chamberlain on drums.
After their first live appearance as opening act for Jane's
Addiction, The Smashing Pumpkins, made its recording debut in early
1990 with the release of "I Am One", this single preceded their
first full-lenght album, "Gish", which was issued in May of
1991 and was supported by a national tour with The
Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam;
the record scraped the bottom of The Billboard Top 200 chart and generated
the Modern Rock top 30 single, "Rhinoceros".
One year later the band contributed a song for "Singles" original
motion picture soundtrack, "Drown" hit #24 on Modern Rock Tracks
chart.
The group's next album, the breakthrough "Siamese Dream", was
issued in the summer of 1993, it climbed into the top 10 of The Billboard
Top 200 chart, selling over 4 million copies and spawning no less than
three Modern Rock top 10 hits: "Today", "Cherub Rock"
and "Disarm" plus an Active Rock top 30 hit, "Rocket".
Just a year later, Corgan and company released "Pisces Iscariot",
a collection of B-sides, live songs and covers, including Fleetwood
Mac's "Landslide" which shot to #3 on The Modern Rock Tracks
chart and pushed the LP into the top 5 of the U.S. Top 200 Albums chart.
In late 1995 The Smashing Pumpkins issued a bold double-CD entitled "Mellon
Collie And The Infinite Sadness", the set contained 28 songs and
quickly reached #1 on The Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, it was certified
platinum eight times over on the strength of numerous hit singles, firstly,
"Bullet With Butterfly Wings" hit #2 on Modern Rock chart, "1979"
rose to #1 spots on both Billboard's Modern and Mainstream Rock Tracks
charts, "Thirty-Three" also hit #2 on Modern Rock chart; three
more single cuts, "Tonight, Tonight", "Muzzle" and
"Zero" made top 10 in the same chart.
In 1996 the band sacked their drummer Chamberlain after his continuing
drug abuse, his replacement was ex-Filter
Matt Walker, by this point the group recorded another single, "Eye",
which was taken from "Lost Highway" movie soundtrack; the track
crashed into the top 10 of The Modern Rock chart.
In the summer of 1997, "The End Is The Beginning Is The End",
one of the two songs from "Batman & Robin" soundtrack, peaked
at #4 on Modern Rock chart; before the year's end the band started to
work on the new album, but during the recording sessions Walker parted
away.
At the start of 1998 Iha found time to release his solo debut album to
little attention; "Adore" was finally issued in June, going
straight to #2 in North-American Albums charts but saw a marked drop in
sales, the record yielded two Modern Rock top 3 hits: "Ava Adore"
and "Perfect".
Wretzky quit The Smashing Pumpkins shortly before the band hit the studio
for the follow-up to "Adore" and was replaced by ex-Hole
bass player Melissa Auf Der Maur,
around the same time Chamberlin returned to the fold, "MACHINA/The
Machines Of God" appeared in February 2000 hitting #3 on The Billboard
Top 200 Albums list, it included "The Everlasting Gaze" and
"Stand Inside Your Love" which peaked respectively at #4 and
#2 spots on Modern Rock Tracks chart.
When emerged contrast between the band and Virgin Records, Corgan and
his bandmates decided to release via Web a set of 25-track titled "Machina
II: The Friends And Enemies Of Modern Music", the fans could download
for free the entire collection.
The frontman announced that The Smashing Pumpkins split after the final
show at Chicago's Metro on December 2 of 2000.
Billy Corgan in the following years
serving as New Order's touring guitarist
for a brief stint and debuted with his new band, Zwan,
in late 2002.
After a seven-year hiatus for the short-lived group Zwan
and his surprisingly sunny 2005 solo album, Corgan has revived The Smashing
Pumpkins; joining original members Billy Corgan on vocals+guitar and Jimmy
Chamberlin on drums, are guitarist Jeff Shroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes
and keyborad player Lisa Harrington. "Zeitgeist" was released
in July 2007 and its first single, "Tarantula", went straight
into the top 3 of The Hot Modern Rock chart.
The Smashing Pumpkins biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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