My college-aged son and many of his friends have discovered The Smashing Pumpkins. They’re going through their Smashing Pumpkins phase much like I and many of my friends went through a Led Zeppelin phase at some point in middle or high school. You know the “phase.” It’s the journey of discovering a band from before we were born and thinking, at least for a brief time, that it may be the greatest band of all time.
I have to admit, I have been thoroughly enjoying this moment. The Smashing Pumpkins is one of my favorite bands, and I distinctly remember listening to their albums non-stop in my college dorm and apartments in the ’90s. There was something about their music that spoke to me and my friends at the time. Perhaps my son and his friends are experiencing the same thing now. Perhaps it is the age or the environment that makes college the best time to get into the Pumpkins, or maybe it is just really good music.
My son asked about my favorite albums and songs, and of course I mentioned Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. But then I pulled out a wild card – Mary Star of the Sea.
You might be thinking – Tim, that’s not a Pumpkins album, and you would be correct. It’s an album that came out in 2003 by a band named Zwan after the Pumpkins broke up the first time. Zwan included Billy Corgan and Jimmy Chamberlin and was basically just another version of The Smashing Pumpkins with a few other musicians. If you are lucky enough to have the CD (or ripped it back in the 2000’s like I did), you have my third favorite Smashing Pumpkins album in your library. Hopefully, Mary Star of the Sea and other Zwan content will be released on digital platforms soon. I suspect all of the 20-somethings discovering The Smashing Pumpkins would immediately take to Zwan at the same time.
Rock on!
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