I Am One: The Smashing Pumpkins Story, 1988-1994<\/a>, focuses on this stellar era of the band. And below are a few bits from the book that most certainly support this claim.<\/p>\nJust a few months before the release of the book, I had the opportunity to ask original Sepultura singer\/guitarist Max Cavalera if he agreed or disagreed that Smashing Pumpkins were one of the heaviest alternative bands of the \u201990s. \u201cAgreed,\u201d Cavalera said. \u201cThey had really cool songs, heavy songs. I enjoyed the shit out of it. That stuff is great. You can jam that now and it sounds amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI actually had a chance\u2026we did That Metal Show [which aired on April 4, 2015], and Billy was there. It was cool. Got to hang out a little bit with him and talk a little bit of metal. And we both realized we\u2019re fans of old school heavy metal. So, that was pretty fun \u2013 talking about Scorpions and Angel Witch. It was cool that he knew metal. \u2018You\u2019re a heavy metal dude? That\u2019s awesome!’\u201d<\/p>\n
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And while speaking to Rolling Stone back in 1994, Corgan credited Black Sabbath as being one of his earliest musical influences.<\/p>\n
\u201cEight years old, I put on the Black Sabbath record, and my life is forever changed. It sounded so fucking heavy. It rattled the bones. I wanted that feeling. With Bauhaus and the Cure, it was the ability to create a mood and an atmosphere. The air gets heavier. With Jimi Hendrix, it was the ability to translate this other level of guitar. Cheap Trick \u2013 it was a vocal influence. Although Tom Petersson once told me that Rick Nielsen called us \u2018tuneless and nonmelodic\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another time back around the release of Siamese Dream, Corgan would recall, \u201cThe first thing I remember having a real impact on me was Master Of Reality by Black Sabbath, because it sounded so amazing. The voice and the guitars clicked in my head \u2013 that was the way music should sound. That was before I knew about the subject matter, \u2019cause when you\u2019re eight years old that doesn\u2019t matter. I loved Cheap Trick too, as they came from Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also in the book are several exclusive interviews, including one with the head of the Alternative Nation site, Brett Buchanan, in which he theorizes that the reason why Corgan\u2019s vocal approach changed after Siamese Dream was due to the Pumpkins tackling heavier material.<\/p>\n
\u201cA big reason his voice changed on Mellon Collie was there was an incorporation of more of a metal sound into that album. More of a live metal performance sound on songs like \u2018Bodies\u2019 and \u2018An Ode To No One\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose songs sounded different in both performance and production style than Gish and Siamese Dream. So, Billy had a more raw, screaming delivery on songs like those. But then there were other songs that would have fit in on Siamese Dream, like \u2018Muzzle\u2019 \u2013 his vocal delivery on that. So, I think it was a change in production style and songwriting on Mellon Collie that led to a change in his singing style.\u201d<\/p>\n
So there you have it, proof that alongside a handful of other bands (Soundgarden, Faith No More, Ministry, Helmet, Alice in Chains, etc.), the Smashing Pumpkins were one of the heaviest alt-rock bands during the early to mid \u201990s.<\/p>\n
I Am One: The Smashing Pumpkins Story, 1988-1994<\/a> is available as paperback, hardcover, and Kindle versions.<\/p>\n