Billy Corgan revealed in a new SF Weekly interview why an original Smashing Pumpkins reunion needs to avoid just being nostalgic, as it could encourage fans to just go home and listen to Radiohead if they don’t offer something new.
“I’m actually really hopeful that we reunite in some form, but my interest in it is creative. We had a very kinetic relationship to one another vis-à-vis music. And like a lot of great bands, there’s an alchemy there that’s mysterious. I’d like to see, in this lifetime, if we’re able to re-approach that alchemy in a way that’s both dignified and has a positive result, so that if you or somebody else across the ocean listens, they can go, ‘Not only is it cool that they got back together, but they actually got something out of it of value. Not that they just got onstage and played ‘Today’ together again, which was really nice and brought a tear to my eye, but now I’m gonna go and listen to my Radiohead CD.'”
Corgan discussed Radiohead in a June 2012 Antiquiet interview when discussing the state of rock: “I can’t think of any people outside of Weird Al Yankovic who have both embraced and pissed on rock more than I have. Obviously there’s a level of reverence, but there’s also a level of intelligence to even know what to piss on.”
“Because I’m not pissing on Rainbow. I’m not pissing on Deep Purple. But I’ll piss on fucking Radiohead, because of all this pomposity. This value system that says Jonny Greenwood is more valuable than Ritchie Blackmore. Not in the world I grew up in.”
Corgan went to compare Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood to Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore and himself and said that the veteran was better than both of them.
He added: “So I find myself defending things. Is Ritchie Blackmore a better guitar player than me and Jonny Greenwood? Yes. Have we all made contributions? Yes. I’m not attacking that. I’m attacking the pomposity that says this is more valuable than that. I’m sick of that. I’m so fucking sick of it, and nobody seems to tire of it.”
