My Thought's on the Pumpkins' Future

This editorial is sort of the larval stage of the current Ground Zero.
It was written around October of 1997.

One of the hottest topics on the Internet among Smashing Pumpkins fans is the future of the band. With the absence of Jimmy Chamberlain, and the new "elecronically-fueled" sound, will the Smashing Pumpkins still be the same band we've known and loved?

The answer to this question is a simple "no." The Smashing Pumpkins will not be the same band by the time the next album (rumored to be available Spring 1998) is available for purchase. But this is not a new concept for the Pumpkins. Do a simple experiment to illustrate this. Play all the Pumpkins albums, in order, from Gish to Mellon Collie, and note the differences between each album. The Smashing Pumpkins' sound evolves continually, and is one of the reasons why the Pumpkins is such a great band. We'll still have the older albums to satisfy our hunger for the "old" Pumpkins sound, but with each new album, it's a game, figuring what cool new things Corgan & Co. will implement in their new masterpiece. One thing's for sure: you'll never get bored listening to the Smashing Pumpkins, and I'll venture to say that they'll never release an album that's not worth the price you paid for it.

If the soundtracks that the Pumpkins have released songs on are any indication of the songs to come, then I welcome the "new" sound. "Eye," "The End is the Beginning is the End," and "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning" are definitely recognizable as Smashing Pumpkins songs. They're not an extreme variation from what they've done before. The Smashing Pumpkins are simply trying new things to give their fans the best music possible, and I think we should wait until the albums are released before we jump to any conclusions.

Recent developments add a new twist to this topic. With Matt Walker's departure, how will a new drummer affect the band's sound. And is the talk of an acoustic "folk" album true? The next album will hold the key to a lot of our questions, and unfortunately, we'll just have to wait and see.

If you have any comments on my above Pumpkins "editorial," feel free to e-mail me at michaelday@geocities.com.

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