Smashing Pumpkins- ATUM (November 15, 2022; January 31, 2023; April 21, 2023) • Page 10

yeah i mean it’s not like he’s just pumping out material with some side band either lol, it stands to reason he just doesn’t write as much as any of us would want him to

 

The impression I've had of the Pumpkins from everything said about them in articles and interviews is that James (and the other members) are contributing just as much now as before, in that I'm sure Billy writes the songs and then they add in their parts during recording.

I just read a comment from Jeff on Atum about how difficult it was to contribute in different ways to 33 songs, so it doesn't sound like they're doing nothing.

 

I mean I'm sure he still plays guitar but he used to write whole-ass songs in the 90s. most of them were pretty good! I miss that. him and D'arcy's voices (in both senses of the word) used to be a welcome break from Billy's

 

I was curious about this, and it looks like this is the list per Wiki.

It looks like the majority were non-album tracks, which is frankly unsurprising.

This isn't to take away from your point, but it does kind of add context to my point.

Written by James Iha
[edit]

• "Wave Song" from Mashed Potatoes
• "Blew Away" from Pisces Iscariot
• "Why Am I So Tired?" from Vieuphoria and Earphoria
• "Bugg Superstar" from Vieuphoria and Earphoria
• "Take Me Down" from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
• "Farewell and Goodnight" from Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness[36]
• "...Said Sadly" from The Aeroplane Flies High
• "Believe" from The Aeroplane Flies High
• "The Boy" from The Aeroplane Flies High
• "The Bells" from The Aeroplane Flies High
• "Summer" from the "Perfect" single
• "Go" on Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music

Co-written with Billy Corgan
[edit]

• "I Am One" from Gish
• "Soma" and "Mayonaise" from Siamese Dream
• "Plume" from Pisces Iscariot
• "Tribute to Johnny" from "The Aeroplane Flies High"
• "Innosense" on Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music

 

dude cowrote Soma and Mayonaise, that's basically my entire point right there. also most of those b-sides are really good!

 

And I'm not discounting that, but the original statement was that Iha is a hired gun now, and I guess the point I'm making is that he's no more a hired gun now than he was then if you look at the more public output of the Pumpkins.

 

i know. that's 30 years ago and he's written one album of material since.

 

I guess I just think going from writing and singing on multiple songs in a decade span to absolutely none in another decade span is a notable difference lol. I don't really know how else to phrase it, and more importantly: it's my bedtime now

 

I listened to the whole of ATUM on the coach journey back to my hometown after the Korn gig and despite being 32 songs long.. it actually flew by and better and less of a slog than I thought it would be!

 

I listened to that the other day too. a shitload of filler but there's some pretty strong stuff in the slog. Harmageddon from disc 3 is a heater

 

I've been listening to both parts of Machina the past few days, I forgot how damn good this era was. really strong stuff. I hope they release that reissue one day, preferably before I die of old age

 

They aren’t playing a single song off the new album live and only one song from ATUM is Being played on the Green Day tour

 

In a recent interview Billy said they havent had time to rehearse the new songs enough, but he's looking forward to playing Edin and Sighommi live "soon." I imagine there will be a headliner tour announced shortly after the Green Day tour wraps.

 

Not terribly surprising since it's not their show, a "hits" set makes sense

 

And the less ATUM songs the better, regardless

 

Booooooo.

 

All due respect to anyone's personal opinion, but it honestly surprises me that people defend Atum and Cyr. I find them both to be such a slog. There's like 3-4 memorable songs out of 45 - just stunningly mediocre

 

Cyr is a slog to me because I'm not a big fan of Smashing Pumpkins' synth songs, but Atum, while certainly overwhelming, has a lot of solid cuts IMO.

 

Cyr was the best album since zeitgeist until the new one dropped. It’s 90 percent catchy songs.

 

new album is so so good

 

In no world is Cyr better than Oceania.

 

I love Oceania but I swear there’s something about that album that puts me to sleep every time I listen to it lol. Actually I really loved the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope songs that came out before Oceania even more.

I wonder if that whole missing era ever gets put back on Spotify. The American Gothic ep was one of my favorite things they ever released.

 

I like American Gothic but the Teargarden stuff was not for me at all, some horrible stuff in there. only regularly listen to Tom Tom

still an absolute tragedy that they never recorded As Rome Burns or Gossamer in studio

 

Just noticed they've been playing Sighommi on the Green Day tour now.

 

Smashing Pumpkins Fan Furious Smashing Pumpkins Released A Good Album in 2024 (thehardtimes.net)