# The Smashing Pumpkins

- Link: https://www.timprobst.com/2026/03/14/the-smashing-pumpkins/
- Published: 2026-03-14T14:43:15-05:00
- Author: Tim Probst

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!