The Good, The Bad, and The Unknown: The 11 Best Songs By The Smashing Pumpkins (Pre-Break-up)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The 11 Best Songs By The Smashing Pumpkins (Pre-Break-up)

Back in the 90s, Smashing Pumpkins were it. Nirvana had faded since Nevermind and wouldn't perk up again until Kurt died. Pearl Jam was big until No Code...then slipped away quickly. But the Pumpkins kept going strong. Through Mellon Collie in the late 90s, they were the biggest rock band out there. Even when nu-metal rap-rock took over...the Pumpkins stayed relevant. In hindsight, the Pumpkins have been kicked down in importance behind Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and even Stone Temple Pilots...but during the 90s they were hands down the heavyweight champs. Over the past couple of years, all the 90s bands have been re-releasing their epic albums with new mastering and bonus tracks. Nevermind was mediocre with a bunch of song all freely available on the internet and in better quality...and apparently the remastering is blown out. The new version of Ten was so cheesy, I didn't even bother to listen to the remastering of Vs. and Vitalogy. But...the bonuses were decent...albeit only a handful of songs were released. Both re-issues were a bit of a let down. But the Pumpkins re-issues for some reason seem the most exciting. Both come with a full DVD concert (winning!) and a full CD of bonus tracks...some have been leaked on the internet...but a lot still are still surprisingly unheard of. It's like the Pumpkins took a lot of care in making a package that people would want...and not just one that they could sell.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Smashing Pumpkins (Pre-Break-Up):