Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan might be at his most entertaining when he's starting little fires in the music press, but new comments by the 45-year-old musician might make some Radiohead fans pretty pissed off. (Sorry, we couldn't resist.)
In an interview with NME, Corgan, whose own ego is legendary even in the realm of rock stardom, took aim at Radiohead and their guitarist Jonny Greenwood.
"I'll piss on fucking Radiohead, because of all this pomposity," Corgan said, referring to a culture that reveres the blues-inflected rock of Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore less than Radiohead's esoteric, electronic approach.
Greenwood, who plays a variety of instruments and is also a composer, is commonly called one of the greatest guitarists of his generation, and was 48th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Blackmore was 50th and Corgan, well, he didn't make the list.
This ranking clearly deviates from Corgan's opinion of himself.
"Do I belong in the conversation about the best artists in the world? My answer is 'yes, I do,'" Corgan told Rolling Stone in 2010.
While the Smashing Pumpkins achieved commercial and critical success in the '90s, their output in the past decade has been so low key that some might be surprised to learn that the group is still together. In fact, Corgan is the only original Pumpkin left in the band, the original lineup of which disbanded in 2000.
Since Corgan re-formed the Smashing Pumpkins in 2005, the band has issued two albums: "Zeigeist," which critics panned; and an ongoing, 44-song (at press time) sprawl, disastrously titled "Teargarden by Kaleidyscope." A new studio album, "Oceania," slated for a June 19 release, is considered by Corgan to be part of the latter.
Radiohead are currently on a world tour supporting their eighth studio album, the self-released "King Of Limbs." According to the band's website, many of the dates on the tour are sold out.
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