Credit: Linda StrawberryThe new Smashing Pumpkins album Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1/LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun., the band’s first to feature original members Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin in 18 years, is out today.
After nearly two decades of Corgan being the sole founding Pumpkin still in the group, Iha and Chamberlin announced earlier this year that they’d be returning for an extensive North American tour. Original bassist D’arcy Wretzky was not involved in the reunion.
Once they were back together, the trio also started working on new music. What started out as a plan for just one song became something more when they ended up writing enough material for a whole album, which became Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1.
The first preview of the album came in the form of “Solara,” which boasted a heavy riff of chunky, distorted guitars. That was then followed by the “1979”-esque “Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)” and the string-and-choir-laden “Knights of Malta.”
Speaking to Billboard, Corgan says he wanted the reunion to be a “positive experience” for Iha and Chamberlin. Personal conflicts were a driving force in breaking up the Pumpkins, and prior to getting back together, he hadn’t spoken to Iha in almost 17 years.
“I don’t look at it like, ‘As long as it’s positive for me, who cares?'” Corgan says. “I was like, ‘I really want this to be a positive for everybody involved.’ I don’t want to go through any more weird negativity.”
The Pumpkins will play a series of special 30th anniversary shows beginning November 28 in Madison, Wisconsin.
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