成立时间：1989 芝加哥 风格划分：另类摇滚Smashing Pumpkins是90年代初期为数不多的未受到什么传统地下摇滚影响的大牌另类摇滚乐队之一。Smashing Pumpkins的音乐非常独特，它包容了前卫摇滚、重金属、歌特摇滚、迷幻摇滚和梦幻流行乐，通过主流摇滚创造出自己的另类声音，它不同于涅磐的毁灭性、珍珠酱的过份圆滑，而更多表现出一种倔强而内敛的气质。1993年乐队专辑《Siamese Dream》中重金属和管弦前卫摇滚乐的大胆结合让另类摇滚开始了向70年代的追溯，而且这张专辑同样为主流世界认同。乐队主唱兼吉他手Billy Corgan19岁时和他当时所在的歌特金属乐队前往佛罗里达，1988年，他回到芝加哥，在一家二手唱片店里工作。在此期间他遇到了James Iha(吉他)，当时James还在大学读书。不久后，两人开始一起从事音乐创作。Corgan在酒吧遇到了D'Arcy Wretzky，后者成为了乐队的贝司手，Smashing Pumpkins宣告成立。乐队最后一名成员，爵士鼓手的Jimmy Chamberlin使乐队称为了一支标准的4人组合。1990年，Smashing Pumpkins推出了首支单曲“I Am One”，在芝加哥卖得很好，同年9月，Sub Pop发行了乐队的单曲“Tristessa”，很快，乐队开始引起了大厂牌唱片公司的争相抢购，乐队非常明智地迅速从地下进入主流世界，签约Virgin公司。1991年，乐队处女作《Gish》上市，这张融合了黑色安息日和梦幻流行乐的专辑很快成为校园和现代摇滚的宠儿，由此同时，大批独立摇滚乐迷对乐队主流化的行为极为不满。在《Gish》的巡演中，乐队成员之间出现了矛盾，Iha和D'Arcy这对昔日的情人反目成仇，Chamberlin火上浇油，终日迷醉于毒品和酒精。乐队在这种不利的状态下再次走进录音棚，这也许是转移矛盾的最佳手段。Corgan创作了许多作品，并且亲自演奏大部分的吉他、贝司。由于超负荷的工作，专辑一再推迟。直到1993年专辑《Siamese Dream》才宣告完成。专辑以排行榜第10名的身份进入市场，一系列热门单曲也成绩斐然，乐队由此确立了巨星的地位。乐队在参加完Lollapalooza巡回演出后，马上投入了紧张的工作，Corgan此前曾经向外界透露说，这会是一张双CD，工作量自然要大很多。《Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness》在1995年如期上市，但是这张双CD专辑开始并不是很为媒体看好，Smashing Pumpkins很快再次证明了自己的实力，专辑不仅成为了排行榜冠军而且轻松地成为了4白金唱片，这还仅仅是在美国的销量，专辑最终成为了8白金唱片(按照一盒两盘CD计算)。在7月份进行的巡演中，临时键盘手Jonathan Melvoin在和鼓手Chamberlin一起吸毒时，过量身亡，乐队无奈之下开除了Chamberlin，并且陷入了2个月的低潮。8月，乐队宣布Filter乐队的Matt Walker暂时接替鼓手位置，the Frogs乐队的Dennis Flemion司职键盘，演出继续进行。 1998年，Iha推出个人专辑。同年Smashing Pumpkins最新专辑《Adore》一败涂地。2000年乐队最新专辑《MACHINA/the machines of God》发行前不久贝司手D'Arcy离队，鼓手Chamberlin重新加入。Of all the major alternative rock bands of the early '90s, the Smashing Pumpkins were the group least influenced by traditional underground rock. Lead guitarist/songwriter Billy Corgan fashioned an amalgam of progressive rock, heavy metal, goth rock, psychedelia, and dream pop, creating a layered, powerful sound driven by swirling, distorted guitars. Corgan was wise enough to exploit his angst-ridden lyrics, yet he never shied away from rock star posturing, even if he did cloak it in allegedly ironic gestures. In fact, the Smashing Pumpkins became the model for alternative rock success. Nirvana was too destructive and Pearl Jam shunned success. The Pumpkins, on the other hand, knew how to play the game, signing to a major-subsidized indie for underground credibility and moving to the major in time to make the group a multi-platinum act. And when the group did achieve mass success with 1993's Siamese Dream, they went a long way to legitimize heavy metal and orchestrated prog rock, helping move alternative rock even closer to '70s AOR, especially in the eyes of radio programmers and mainstream audiences. Unlike many of their contemporaries, the Pumpkins were able to withstand many internal problems and keep selling records, emerging as the longest-lasting and most successful alternative band of the early '90s. The son of a jazz guitarist, Billy Corgan grew up in a Chicago suburb, leaving home at the age of 19 to move to Florida with his fledgling goth metal band, the Marked. After the band failed down South, he returned to Chicago around 1988, where he began working at a used-record store. At the shop he met James Iha (guitar), a graphic arts student at Loyola University, and the two began collaborating, performing and recording songs with a drum machine. Corgan met D'Arcy Wretzky at a club show; after arguing about the merits of the Dan Reed Network, the two became friends and she joined the group as a bassist. Soon, the band, who named themselves the Smashing Pumpkins, had gained a dedicated local following, including the head of a local club who booked them to open for Jane's Addiction. Before the pivotal concert, the band hired Jimmy Chamberlin, a former jazz musician, as their full-time drummer. In 1990, the Smashing Pumpkins released their debut single, "I Am One," on the local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single quickly sold out, and in December the band released "Tristessa" on Sub Pop. By this point, the Smashing Pumpkins had become the subject of a hot bidding war, and the group latched on to a clever way to move to a major label without losing indie credibility. They signed to Virgin Records, yet it was decided that the group's debut would be released on the Virgin subsidiary Caroline, then the band would move to the majors. The strategy worked; Gish, a majestic mix of Black Sabbath and dream pop produced by Butch Vig, became a huge college and modern rock hit upon its spring 1991 release. While it earned a large audience, many indie rock fans began to snipe at the Smashing Pumpkins, accusing them of being careerists. Such criticism did the band no harm and they embarked on an extensive supporting tour for Gish, which lasted over a year and included opening slots for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam. During the Gish tour, tensions between bandmembers began to escalate, as Iha and D'Arcy, who had been lovers, went through a messy breakup, Chamberlin became addicted to drugs and alcohol, and Corgan entered a heavy depression. These tensions hadn't been resolved by the time the group entered the studio with Vig to record their second album. Toward the beginning of the sessions, the Pumpkins were given significant exposure through the inclusion of "Drown" on the Singles soundtrack in the summer of 1992. As the sessions progressed, Corgan relieved himself of his depression by working heavily — not only did he write a surplus of songs, he played nearly all of the guitars and bass on each recording, which meant that its release was delayed several times. The resulting album, Siamese Dream, was an immaculate production owing much to Queen, yet it was embraced by critics upon its July 1993 release. Siamese Dream became a blockbuster, debuting at number ten on the charts and establishing the group as stars. "Cherub Rock," the first single, was a modern rock hit, yet it was "Today" and the acoustic "Disarm" that sent the album into the stratosphere, as well as the group's relentless touring. The Smashing Pumpkins became the headliners of Lollapalooza 1994, and following the tour's completion, the band went back into the studio to record a new album that Corgan had already claimed would be a double-disc set. To tide fans over until the new album, the Pumpkins released the B-sides and rarities album Pisces Iscariot in October 1994. Working with producers Flood and Alan Moulder, the Smashing Pumpkins recorded as a full band for their third album, which turned out to be, as Corgan predicted, a double-disc set called Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Although many observers were skeptical about whether a double-disc set, especially one so ridiculously named, would be a commercial success, Mellon Collie became an even bigger hit than Siamese Dream, debuting at number one on the charts. On the strength of the singles "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," "1979," "Zero," and "Tonight, Tonight," it sold over four million copies in the U.S., eventually being certified platinum over eight times (each disc in the set counted separately toward certification). The Pumpkins had graduated to stadium shows for the Mellon Collie tour, and the band was at the peak of their popularity when things began to go wrong again. On July 12, prior to two shows at Madison Square Garden, the group's touring keyboardist, Jonathan Melvoin, died from a heroin overdose; he was with Jimmy Chamberlin, who survived his overdose. In the wake of the tragedy, the remaining Pumpkins fired Chamberlin and spent two months on hiatus as they recovered and searched for a new drummer. Early in August, they announced that Filter member Matt Walker would be their touring drummer, and Dennis Flemion, a member of the Frogs, would be their touring keyboardist for the remainder of the year. They returned to the stage at the end of August and spent the next five months on tour. During this time, Corgan contributed some music to Ron Howard's Ransom. Early in 1997, once the Pumpkins left the road, Iha and D'Arcy launched Scratchie Records, a subsidiary of Mercury Records. In the spring, the Smashing Pumpkins recorded two songs for the soundtrack for Batman & Robin. Iha's solo debut, Let It Come Down, appeared in early 1998; Adore, the new Smashing Pumpkins LP, followed a few months later to disappointing sales and reviews. Chamberlin returned to the group and D'Arcy exited prior to the early-2000 release of MACHINA: The Machines of God. Several months later, Corgan announced his intentions to dissolve the band before the year was out. With former Hole bassist Melissa auf der Maur replacing D'Arcy, the band launched their farewell tour in 2000. Fans of the band received one last treat when Corgan and company worked feverishly to finish off tracks that were left over from the MACHINA sessions. Surprisingly, Virgin Records balked at the idea of releasing the 25-track set so close in time to their previous album, so the band put the entire album (going by the official title of Machina II: The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music) on the Internet for fans to download for free. On December 2 of the same year, the Pumpkins played a mammoth final show at Chicago's Metro (also the venue at which the group played their first show back in 1988) before officially calling it quits. But the former members of the band didn't wait long before carrying on with other projects — Corgan spent the summer of 2001 playing guitar with New Order on select concert dates, and later in the year unveiled his new band, Zwan, including Chamberlin on drums (as well as former Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney and bassist Skullfisher). The other two former Pumpkins, Iha and auf der Maur, began putting together an alt-rock supergroup dubbed the Virgins. The same year, a pair of postmortem Pumpkins collections were issued for the holiday season — a double-disc collection and a DVD both called Greatest Hits. Corgan released his first solo album, The Future Embrace, in 2005, and on the day it came out, he took out a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune to announce that the Smashing Pumpkins were reuniting. He hadn't informed any of his past bandmates, and only Chamberlin went along. Zeitgeist, a heavier album than any past Pumpkins album, was released in 2007.