Bands That Changed Me: The Smashing Pumpkins

The Smashing Pumpkins are the first band I’ve ever truly loved. I think I was 10 or 11 yrs old and I just fell in love with everything about them and thus began my early introduction to the 90s alternative scene. I was very; very young to be introduced to this band and others like NIN and Green Day and I remember my parents being slightly worried but they have always respected my taste and even quite liked some of their stuff. The first Pumpkins record I owned was Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and it wasn’t until much later that I heard Siamese Dream and fully understood the importance of both these albums to alt-rock. I remember being totally blown away by Mellon Collie as it was a double album with a musical feast of different styles and influences. It was hard rock one minute e.g. ‘Bullet with Butterfly Wings’ and the next it was anthematic (this is so not a word) with an orchestra backing e.g. ‘Tonight, Tonight’. The Smashing Pumpkins helped me define what music I actually liked because up until that point my parents were heavily influencing me. This actually turned out to be a great thing because I have them to thank for introducing me to the classics early on; but putting this aside, when you are young you don't want to publicly admit you have the same music taste as your parents. I wanted something to call my own and I found out about the Pumpkins through some of the neighbourhood kids who were a fair few years older than me and immersed myself in their world, alternative rock. This didn’t last long as my teenage years were about conforming because I was basically an American girl returning home to Oz and all I wanted to do was ‘fit in’ and not show my individuality. I was influenced by pop culture of the time and I liked 90s boy bands (some of it I still like e.g. Hanson) but I never forgot my love of rock and the Smashing Pumpkins will be forever part of that. Their albums will get played over and over again for the rest of my life and I'm sad to see the state the band is in now with only Billy Corgan remaining.