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All Smashing Pumpkins albums plus some b-sides now available on iTunes

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Diablos

Member
The good: I'm pretty sure that every single album, b-side and rare track have been remastered. Nice. Songs like Hello Kitty Kat don't make your speakers sound like they're blown out. The Ethers Tragic isn't sourced from Real Audio.

The bad: They're all 128kbps AAC files. :|

This isn't anything to get excited about if you're familiar with the Pumpkins' discography. Of the 100+ b-sides and rarities available... only these interested me. Six I don't have and the rest I do, but the quality is horrible.

Slunk (never knew there was a studio version of this song)
Siva and Smiley (Peel Sessions)
Glynis
Bullet Train to Osaka
The Ethers Tragic
Speed Kills (Machina 1 ver.)
Czarina
Summer (James Iha song)
1979 Vocal and Instrumental Mixes
Sad Peter Pan

I don't think these are worth buying, not yet anyway. All the other b-sides and rarities I already have, heh.

Ah well, this is just the beginning. I'm waiting for the boxset that will have the truly rare songs that *no one* has heard yet.
 

White Man

Member
Could you please let us know when all the MCR b-sides are up? If it's not going to be anytime soon, I'm just going to spend my money on cheap bondage pants, manic panic, and Napoleon Dynamite merchandise at Hot Topic.
 

Diablos

Member
White Man said:
Could you please let us know when all the MCR b-sides are up? If it's not going to be anytime soon, I'm just going to spend my money on cheap bondage pants, manic panic, and Napoleon Dynamite merchandise at Hot Topic.
:lol :lol :lol :lol

I'll PM you, okay?
:lol

Did you watch the lead singer of MCR and Bert McCracken on Fuse? My god.
 

Bebpo

Banned
Wait, so are they selling them per song? And if so how much per song? (at work, can't check itunes atm).
 

Diablos

Member
Bebpo said:
Wait, so are they selling them per song? And if so how much per song? (at work, can't check itunes atm).
Per song, yeah. Except for the ones over 6:59, those are "album only."
99 cents per song. You can buy them as albums if you want, too (obviously).
 
Diablos said:
Slunk (never knew there was a studio version of this song)
Already have it on a few various bootleg comps that came out in 1999.

edit: Whoops, studio Slunk is on the Lull EP, for some reason I thought you were talking about the version of Slunk with Jimmy on vocals.

Siva and Smiley (Peel Sessions)
Already own the Peel Sessions CD single.

It's on No Alternative, you can get a used copy for probably less than $1.

Bullet Train to Osaka
Ok, so this is a vinyl only track (I Am One UK 10"), we're getting a little better.

The Ethers Tragic
Already own the TEITBITE UK CD single that contains this track.

Speed Kills (Machina 1 ver.)
It's on many boot comp CDs that I got back in the day. Plus it's on Friends and Enemies/MACHINA II.

I have it on the Ava Adore UK CD single and 7".

Summer (James Iha song)
Available on the Perfect US CD single.

1979 Vocal and Instrumental Mixes
1979 Remixes UK CD single.

Sad Peter Pan
Sweet Relief II comp CD.

I don't think these are worth buying, not yet anyway. All the other b-sides and rarities I already have, heh.

Ah well, this is just the beginning. I'm waiting for the boxset that will have the truly rare songs that *no one* has heard yet.

Exactly, there is not a single song on iTunes that I don't already have on an official release or a boot CD from the direct source. Still, this is a great resource for others that have had to rely on shifty sourced material once things went out of print.
 

Macam

Banned
I don't have Bullet Train to Osaka or Sad Peter Pan, but the rest I do -- I do find it odd however that they still haven't released Billy's Home Demos (MCIS demos namely) or the 1989 material widely yet.
 

Diablos

Member
Macam said:
I don't have Bullet Train to Osaka or Sad Peter Pan, but the rest I do -- I do find it odd however that they still haven't released Billy's Home Demos (MCIS demos namely) or the 1989 material widely yet.
Billy's Home Demos or the Gravity Demos?

Some of the songs on the Home Demos are good, like the pre XYU jam, Autumn Nocturne (Fools We Are), Ugly, Wishing You Were Here, MCIS, Thirty-Three and Marquis in Spades... the rest I could really care less for. The Gravity demos are pretty sloppy, not sure if they are worth 99 cents a song; although I would like to hear every song from Pastichio Medley in its entirety.

Some other SP songs that could be put up:
Drown - FULL VERSION. Freakin' hell, iTunes only has the edited one.

Chewing Gum, Do You Close Your Eyes (Adore demos)

Let Me Give The World To You (Adore) - Billy is obviously waiting to put this on that boxset that's coming out sometime in the next two decades. :D

Reel Time Sessions - Part II for sure. Songs like Daughter (extended), Sun, Psychodelic, C'Mon, East... yeah, these songs kick ass considering they were recorded before the band even had a first album out. Part I, I'm not so sure. I love how for Part I, Darcy and Jimmy were too high or whatever to participate. Man, Billy and James definitely smoked themselves stupid. That whole session is quite entertaining. :lol "$17.50 an hour to get my laugh on tape." Hahaha. Or when Billy picks on James because of his love for Darcy. Great stuff.

It would also be really cool if they put some better bootlegs up. Like 80% of Earphoria sucks, I'm sorry to say. There needs to be some soundboard bootlegs up there, like the BBC performance from '93 or '94, the Upper Darby performance, etc. Earphoria comes nowhere close to SP at their best.
 

Macam

Banned
Diablos said:
Reel Time Sessions - Part II for sure. Songs like Daughter (extended), Sun, Psychodelic, C'Mon, East... yeah, these songs kick ass considering they were recorded before the band even had a first album out. Part I, I'm not so sure. I love how for Part I, Darcy and Jimmy were too high or whatever to participate. Man, Billy and James definitely smoked themselves stupid. That whole session is quite entertaining. :lol "$17.50 an hour to get my laugh on tape." Hahaha. Or when Billy picks on James because of his love for Darcy. Great stuff.

It's safe to sy that I have no idea what you're talking about....is this available or should I just drop you a PM?
 
b-sides are songs that were recorded during an album that did not make it onto the album itself. for instance, the pumpkins record mellon collie and the infinite sadness, it has 28 songs. however, they recorded over 100 songs for it (or whatever it is) and so those 28 songs that are not on the record are considered b-sides.
 
I just want to add that the name 'b-side' stems from when singles were released on 45's (records). Side A would have the single and Side B would usually have a non-album track.
 

Jesiatha

Member
Slunk is on Lull (the Rhinoceros single).

And the lack of Not Worth Asking love in this thread makes me sad. It's one of my favorite SP songs, and this is the first time it has been widely available.
 

Diablos

Member
Pennies eh? Billy said the whole song is mockery of a couple that breaks up and how the guy deals with it, heh.

If you were to make a Pumpkins mix with some of your favorite b-sides/demos, what would they be?

1. Moleasskiss
2. Transformer
3. Blue
4. Slow Dawn
5. Glynis
6. Obscured
7. Once in a While
8. Autumn Nocturne (Fools We Are)
9. Saturnine (Judas O ver.)
10. Cherry
11. In My Body
12. Infinite Sadness
13. Starla
14. Home
15. Jupiter's Lamet
16. Drown (unedited)
 
wow, looks like you lose again diablos. here is the definitive SP b-side cd (and in this order!):

1. French Movie Theme
2. Marquis in spades
3. The Aeroplane flies High
4. Glass' Theme
5. Blew Away
6. My Mistake
7. Obscured
8. Said Sadly
9. Plume
10. Mouths of Babes
11. Glass' Theme
12. Meladori Magpie
13. The Boy
14. If there is a god (piano)
15. The Last Song

bonus!

16. The Marked - murder mix!



p.s. hey diablos do you like There it Goes? when i first heard that song i said man this has to be a cover of new order or some 80's new wave band, but it is a pumpkins original.
 

Jesiatha

Member
18 tracks is a bit much, but it was tough to cut it down to here :lol. In alphabetical order.

Alabaster
Bleed
Cherry
Drown
Eye
Germans in Leather Pants
Jesus Loves His Babies
The Last Song
Let Me Give The World To You
Moleasskiss
My Dahlia
My Eternity
Nothing and Everything
Not Worth Asking
Offer Up
Oui Henri
Set the Ray To Jerry
There It Goes

(Pastichio would be on here, but it would take up half an album)
 
Ah... The Trance, I remember hearing that for the first time driving down to Portland to see the Pumpkins play a free in-store in 2000. I was driving at the time and nearly lost control of the car due to just how bad that track is.

I've got that 3 disc Marked set somewhere, but for some reason I never listened to it. I should see if there are more "gems" like that.
 

jumper

Member
a b-sides compilation? how about (not really in this order)...

1.never let me down
2.hello kitty kat
3.mouths of babes
4.frail and bedazzled
5.czarina
6.obscured
7.aeroplane flies high...
8.whirl
9.set the ray to jerry
10.not worth asking
11.speed kills
12.starla
13.lucky 13
14.soothe
15.transformer
16.believe
17.soot & stars
 

Diablos

Member
Haha, I wouldn't call Marked songs "gems." Nor would I call their style good.

billy140.jpg


billy349.jpg


:lol :lol :lol
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
>>>The good: I'm pretty sure that every single album, b-side and rare track have been remastered. Nice. Songs like Hello Kitty Kat don't make your speakers sound like they're blown out. <<<<

That's nice to hear. I always assumed the Pumpkins' albums were recorded in a public restroom.
Now if only they released CDs so I could rip to 320kbps AAC, and later on to FLAC...
 

Diablos

Member
TAJ said:
That's nice to hear. I always assumed the Pumpkins' albums were recorded in a public restroom.
Now if only they released CDs so I could rip to 320kbps AAC, and later on to FLAC...

Huh? Siamese Dream sounds like it was recorded last week using the latest and greatest technology.
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
>>>Huh? Siamese Dream sounds like it was recorded last week using the latest and greatest technology.<<<

You don't have to be so defensive. It's not an indictment of the band.
Anyway, I was just listening to Mellon Collie on VERY nice speakers, and let's just say it was... revealing... and not in a good way.
 

Diablos

Member
TAJ said:
>>>Huh? Siamese Dream sounds like it was recorded last week using the latest and greatest technology.<<<

You don't have to be so defensive. It's not an indictment of the band.
Anyway, I was just listening to Mellon Collie on VERY nice speakers, and let's just say it was... revealing... and not in a good way.
Everyone knows Flood's production methods with the Pumpkins was very sloppy.
What was so "revealing" about it?

But you're right, MCIS doesn't sound too great. Machina is too loud.

Siamese came out in 1993 but it doesn't even need remastering, nor will Adore.
Gish is a bit older, but it's still kind of scary how good it sounds considering it came out almost 15 years ago.
 

Diablos

Member
marsomega said:
Until they offer better quality MP3's I won't byte. What an insult. 128...only 128....pfftt.
I know. This is why I hate iTunes. If I pay 99 cents for a song or $9.99 for an album, it better be FLAC or something. Can't hold it against the SP releases though; every song on iTunes is 128kbps I believe...
 

marsomega

Member
Diablos said:
I know. This is why I hate iTunes. If I pay 99 cents for a song or $9.99 for an album, it better be FLAC or something. Can't hold it against the SP releases though; every song on iTunes is 128kbps I believe...

I know Diablos. I've "put up" with the ones that have a higher rate, so you can imagine how I feel. Especially since I have an ear for missing sounds or what not in songs. I really feel they went went with the "shitty" acceptable quality instead of acceptable. This is really no good to me. In general for once in a blue moon songs I've never heard anymore I'll put up with it as much as I don't want to. But for the Smashing Pumpkins, I will only go with the originals. I don't care to pay 5 or so more dollars from iTunes 9.99 albums for the Smashing Pumpkins. Now that I think about it, I remember Best Buy having a full box set with all of this material. Maybe now is a good time to check it out.
 

Diablos

Member
For those of you waiting for Corgan's solo album, here's what one of the very few people who have the advance had to say. I guess Warner is being really really uptight about The Future Embrace getting leaked, so I don't think you will be seeing it on SoulSeek or torrentspy anytime soon.

The post he makes after the one below says it's a cross between Adore and Machina... yay for Adore, boo for Machina. I guess I can't be too surprised though.

i listened twice through, in an office setting, not taking notes. this is just my first impression, and as we know, impressions of these albums change wiht repeated listens. what i give is juts my first impression, and i'm just trying to be honest.

i apologize because i'm not taking the time to write up a huge review, i gotta get up early for work in the morning.

very synthy, kind of like machina's sound. very few well defined guitar parts. no riffs. no rock really. most of the beats were sedate/monotone

i loved Mina Loy right away, and TheCameraEye as well. those were the strongest tracks, followed by Walking Shade.

the first song left me kind of shaking my head. beats weren't special, sound wasn't that defined, lacked energy.

begees cover was... dark? it was kind of cool, but i don't see myself listening to it a ton, as it was kind of depressing.

the song jimmy drums on isn't amazing, i was kind of hoping for more

walking Shade is kind a curious choice for a single i think. maybe because some of the vocal melodies are slightly reminiscent of the pumpkins? there's no real chorus to speak of.. it is a three minute song, with the last 15-20 seconds of it being better than the rest of the song. maybe the video will be great. i really liked how it sounded towards the end, it didn't start as strong. it kind of builds. and again, its the sort of mush of sound that might not really translate well over the radio. but i can see it growing on me quickly

the very last song strayz had no beats, almost all voice. i want to hear it on headphones to be sure, but i feel it lacked the intimacy of something like to sheila. there were very faint synth or guitar lines following the notes he sang, very distant notes, almost like the drums in to sheila, but for synth or guitar..

some of the songs in the middle kind of blended together and weren't that memorable on the first listen, but who is to say. i didn't get a great listen

on first impression, he didn't quite emote as much as i hoped. overall the beats were sedate, kind of lacking energy, and the tone was kind of flat. guitars were thick and not really sounding like guitars. a mush of sound sort of. but some would use the word 'lush' so who is to say

there was a very cool sort of creepy dangling guitar line for TheCameraEye, i liked that a lot. and as i said, Mina Loy was very cool.

i can see myself growing to like the album a lot (i'm kind of a junky). i found myself smiling for mina loy and the camera eye and walking shade because it had some of the things i like going on. but on some of the songs i was just sort of disappointed.

nearly all the songs are over in under four minutes, several in three or three and a half.

no real guitar solos to speak of.

sorry to sound negative, im being honest and not trying to put a false spin on it. i am sure i will like it a lot more after some proper listening and time

if you have questions about other songs or whatnot, i'll try my best to remember, but keep in mind this was just one guy's first impression, no headphones, etc. take it with a ton of salt.
(Netphoria post)

:|

...and some more comments from this guy:

the songs are all real different sounding, even given that it does have some machina-esque qualities.

the songwriting is vastly different, in terms of song structure and lyrics and stuff..

stylistically.. definitely not SD or MCIS.. perhaps a little adore, but not quite as intimate? had some machina-esque in a few places, but i think that was kind of isolated.. if i read more of the poetry book i'd be better qualified to comment on the similarity or lackthereof.. all in all, they seemed pretty tight.

there were no stinkers like there was on zwan that stood out immediately
^
Thank god.


as for the guitar sound, my friend commented it was very my bloody valentine, but not having listened to them (i know, sue me), i can't really say.
Nice.

but to reiterate, in terms of songwriting, lyrics, and structure, upon first listen, i think these songs are very different from what we have heard from billy before
 
Oh no, any MACHINA reference to his new album makes me sad. I was the biggest SP fan growing up, and when MACHINA came out, my love for the band was too great to notice just how...meh the album really is. There are SOME good songs on there and the rest just isnt BC's best work at all.

Billy, you got the fuckin talent and show it when yer on stage. JUST FUCKING ROCK OUT and put that on an album.
 
Eh, I am expecting the album to be a let down, so I'm sure it won't be that bad. Hell, I might not even buy it if I can't get it for less than $10 (cheap indie releases have spoiled me, the last time I spent more than $10 on a album was the new LCD Soundsystem, and that was two discs for $13).
 

Diablos

Member
See my edited post, plz.

Machina sucks, Machina 2 did not. They were both recorded around the same time; for some reason Corgan is obsessed with Machina 1's production and I can never figure out why.
 
Diablos said:
See my edited post, plz.

Machina sucks, Machina 2 did not. They were both recorded around the same time; for some reason Corgan is obsessed with Machina 1's production and I can never figure out why.

Machina was a failed attempt at a concept album (that would've been interesting if the band went through with their original plans), Machina II was just a mishmash of tracks recording during the sessions.... funny how it has held up better over the years.
 

Diablos

Member
I agree with you about Machina 1, because of it's flawed execution only half of the songs I consider great, but even then, the production sucks. Listen to The Everlasting Gaze, Heavy Metal Machine or Glass and the Ghost Children live. They ROCK. On the album? *barf*

Machina 2 just a "mishmash"? Naw. There's way too many good songs on that album/EP for it to be simply that. A lot of those songs are the band's best. real love, home, in my body, atom bomb, if there is a god, go, cash car star, slow dawn, lucky 13, try [ver 1], soul power (shut up)... yeah. M2 is excellent. Hopefully TFE sounds more like Machina 2 and not Machina 1. Wishful thinking. :p If there's enough stuff in there that recalls Adore, this album might be better than we think.

More from the guy with the advance:

You say a lot of it sounds like Machina... do we mean Machina 1 or Machina 2? I wasn't too fond of M1's production, but I think Machina 2 truly has some of the band's best songs. So, if a lot of the album sounds like that, then that's fine with me.

I will say that your friend is either a. biased or b. mocking people critical of SP/Billy's sound when he says the guitars sound like My Bloody Valentine. If the album sounds like Machina... it doesn't sound like My Bloody Valentine.

---


to be clear, the songwriting isn't machina-esque, the quality i'm getting at is the lack of a very easily identifiable guitar riff/line (an exception being TheCameraEye), or any discernable 'space / breathing room' during much of the sound (an exception being Strayz). so in that sense, like machina I. the ethereal, spacey, synthy, thick sound that seems to be constantly present. with some exceptions of course. the singing and defintely the percussive elements are not very machina-esque, at least from what i recall
 
Diablos said:
Machina 2 just a "mishmash"? Naw. There's way too many good songs on that album/EP for it to be simply that.

Mishmash doesn't mean they're bad, but seeing how a lot of the tracks don't flow together or have some common sound or theme to them, it appears to be everything else they recorded during those sessions thrown on to a couple LPs.
 

Diablos

Member
Well, they are b-sides. :p The band was so eclectic anyway; so they can get away with some songs "not flowing" and whatnot.
 
Early interviews prior to MCIS suggested that MCIS was suppose to be a concept album. I think it was the MTV interview after the 94 MTV Video Music Awards (Disarm performance) he mentions that the album was a double disc concept album. So, the thought of a concept album has always stuck with him. I think IF MCIS was to be a concept album, and some say it slightly is, it definetly would be one of the greatest albums of all time, not to say that it already isnt, just that it would be more recognized as one. MACHINA as a concept album was just...poor. I'm not a fan of Green Day, but American Idiot was a much better concept album and album as is, than MACHINA.
 
Infinitemadness said:
Early interviews prior to MCIS suggested that MCIS was suppose to be a concept album. I think it was the MTV interview after the 94 MTV Video Music Awards (Disarm performance) he mentions that the album was a double disc concept album. So, the thought of a concept album has always stuck with him. I think IF MCIS was to be a concept album, and some say it slightly is, it definetly would be one of the greatest albums of all time, not to say that it already isnt, just that it would be more recognized as one. MACHINA as a concept album was just...poor. I'm not a fan of Green Day, but American Idiot was a much better concept album and album as is, than MACHINA.

Correct, in interviews prior to MCIS's release, Corgan referred to the album as being akin to The Wall for a new generation.

Actually, I'm very glad the band didn't go through with the whole concept thing for MACHINA, seeing them as those characters 24/7 would have been creeppy. Bowie can pull it off, but that's about it.
 
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