The Smashing Pumpkins Reunion Tour Raises A Simple Question
The Smashing Pumpkins has announced an extensive North American arena tour under the title Shiny and Oh So Bright. Its three dozen dates will begin on July 12 in Glendale, Ariz. and end Sept. 7 in Boise, Idaho.
As with most of the tours, reunions, albums and other assorted ephemera surrounding this, one of alt-rock's greatest acts, what might have simply been a greatest hits lap for a band that parted ways nearly two decades ago has turned into a bit of a referendum on its legacy.
Shiny and Oh So Bright will feature three of the four original members of the band — Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin — playing their best work.
At its best, rock in history; some of its most ballads; some of the form's , driven by Corgan's rage, his deep sensitivity and that singular, adenoidal sneer. The band's best work (take your pick of any prealbums) was done, inarguably, through its original lineup, which began to fray somewhere around the turn of the century before unraveling completely by the end of 2000.
