i think his style is pretty generic, or maybe i just think that because the first songs i learn to play are all pumpkins songs, but does anyone else think his style should be different, i just think his solos seem like theyve all been done before, well, the live ones

yteah link=topic=1326.msg20370#msg20370 date=1177794296]
i think his style is pretty generic, or maybe i just think that because the first songs i learn to play are all pumpkins songs, but does anyone else think his style should be different, i just think his solos seem like theyve all been done before, well, the live ones

Really?

I think Billy definitely has a unique "sound" to his solos and his songs. Even his lyrics have that "Billy Corgan feel" to them. Also considering he's a vocalist/lead guitarist he may tone down the complexity of his playing live so not to compromise the singing.

He wasn't exactly a pioneer in guitar playing. Very few guitarists are. Most of them just base their playing on the foundation laid down by their influences. I do believe that he has a distinctive sound, though. Especially in comparison with his contemporaries. No one else in his era even came close to playing like him.

As for his guitar solos, I dunno if he's that great at doing them. Maybe its his unorthodox style, but he seems to lack fluidity and cohesiveness a lot of the time. Once in a while you'll hear a note, or a series of notes that move you, but that's it. Compare him to someone like Slash, who basically tells unbelievably gorgeous melodic stories with his solos. They start off relatively simple, then they build and build until he unleashes a monster that eats away at your soul. It's friggin beautiful and its easy to understand because even when he's wailing away, he's noodling around the framework of the melody. I just can't get into Billy's solos the same way, even though I believe he is a very competent guitar player.

yteah link=topic=1326.msg20370#msg20370 date=1177794296]
i think his style is pretty generic, or maybe i just think that because the first songs i learn to play are all pumpkins songs, but does anyone else think his style should be different, i just think his solos seem like theyve all been done before, well, the live ones

Ugh! I can't stand you people who come to a Pumpkins fansite to put down Billy or the pumpkins. If this place turns into Netphoria (which it already is heading in that direction ) it will be partly your fault. You've made several of these types of threads.
"Hmmm... I don't think that Billy Corgan is very good at *FILL IN BLANK.*"

Sooo...I personally don't like Slash's guitar playing, it does nothing for me, fills me with no emotions. Billy's does. I think that Billy Corgan is an excellent guitarist and his solos are very unique and distinctive.
This is my opinion. Man, I really don't want this place to keep going in the direction it is.

i actually like his solos because they aren't so formulaic, and when they are he doesn't try to overdo it. he can play guitar like crazy but he hardly ever does it, and not at all on albums. i'm not sure if he can anymore though, cause he's even said he's become a better singer but a worse guitar player.

I would agree that his solo's are not the strong point. However, the pumpkins, or even billy for that matter, never had to have huge solos. It's their sound in general that is unlike so many other bands.

Nowadays you hear a lot of pumpkins infused riffs from all kinds of bands. Just like kurt cobain brought back using a Chorus effect for guitarists, Billy definitely inspired a lot of players to beef up their tone. He's no Eric Johnson but his tone and the overall "hugeness" of their sound is definitely a very big forte to have.

I wouldnt say his solos are his strong point, but they fit the songs with which they are contained perfectly. Like kirk hamlet was saying on the some kind of monster dvd, there is no point doing a solo in a song just to look good, its only nessesary if it adds something to the song intself, and in that respect i think billy's use of solos is great. I think (random example) for instance in For Martha, its such a powerful and moving addition to the song.

Billy says the exact same thing in his tab books, and using solos to get to different parts of the song like in Quiet. When everyone else started doing guitar solos, billy stopped precisely because he doesn't want to play like everyone else. He found other ways of expressing emotion and style in his songs that other bands and performers cant do. But have a look at some of the 2000 tour performances on this site, especially LA and tell me he's not an incredible guitarist, when he wants to be.

And not to mention the shredding-un acompanied guitar solo from the Hexen video, that was pretty tight

I think his solos are amazing considering the following:

-He rights mostly anger or melancholy songs, and to compare him to Slash is just wrong. guns and roses aren't even close to being similar ins tyle of the Pumpkins. slashes solos are more melodic cause there songs aren't as choatic and they're more positive. His solos involve lots of feedback and distortion, exactly what anger should sound like coming out of a guitar.

- look at his siamese Dream solos live, I watch a live performance of Soma, and as a guitarist I pretty much orgasm.

His sound is quite unigue especially in Mellon collie, its what some emo artists TRY to copy today. I think Billy is an underrated guitarist. He can come up witha great riff when he wants too and he knows whent o kepp it simple.

I think all the solos in Hummer are amazing in their clarity, and Billy can indeed play fast (look at the Geek USA solo). If he could put together the melodic clearness with the speed I think he could master guitar solos.

PumpkinPieces link=topic=1326.msg20454#msg20454 date=1177890937]
I think his solos are amazing considering the following:

-He rights mostly anger or melancholy songs, and to compare him to Slash is just wrong. guns and roses aren't even close to being similar ins tyle of the Pumpkins. slashes solos are more melodic cause there songs aren't as choatic and they're more positive. His solos involve lots of feedback and distortion, exactly what anger should sound like coming out of a guitar.

- look at his siamese Dream solos live, I watch a live performance of Soma, and as a guitarist I pretty much orgasm.

His sound is quite unigue especially in Mellon collie, its what some emo artists TRY to copy today. I think Billy is an underrated guitarist. He can come up witha great riff when he wants too and he knows whent o kepp it simple.


I wasn't trying to compare them objectively in the sense that I want everyone to acknowlege Slash's superiority. I was just using him as a point of reference to indicate what rocks my boat more in terms of solo style. No harm intended.

I gotta disagree about Guns being more positive and less chaotic, though. They've got plenty of balls-to-wall insane numbers and are well known for being one of the angriest bands in the history of rock n' roll. I mean come on, Axl is their frontman. Enough said. Second, angry and chaotic music doesn't necessarily have to incorporate distorted feedback solos. Hammett lays down a lot of melodic lines over the insane crunching rhythms of Hetfield and they complement one another perfectly.

Again, this isn't an attack on Corgan, his style, or a judgment about how he should play. I like his playing a lot and I'm glad he is trying to keep things fresh and different. I just don't think he's the best out there in terms of solos, that's all. In terms of songwriting, however, he's definitely up there with the best in my book.

Are you guys joking? 'Gish'. End of argument. That things full of solos and they are amazing, its just they have their own style. Also many have use of an EBow which always makes stuff more interesting.

I agree with everything said in favor of billy's solo's. The unique thing about his solo's is exactly that he DOESN'T try to tell stories through them, like everyone else does. He just wants to give the song a different twist. Pumpkins guitar solo's are mostly very short, which proves the fact that they are way more functional than e.g. Slash' solos (who just plays solos to play solos, nothing more nothing less).

billy has a great guitar style he's the reason i picked a guitar up just like jimmy is the reason i play drums for.

billy's guitar style is very influenced by the way he has to record his songs, i mean he is not thinking in only one guitar, he is thinking in a complete guitar army, he is always against the riverflow taking new ideas and making old ideas fresh, it's not how complex a song is, it may be very simple or extremely complicated, but it has the right lyrics and the right note in the right place. i think...

Yes, i very much agree

i just said they seem like the live ones have been done before, the album ones are great and fit the song really well, say... cherub rock and an ode to no one.

i just wish his style would change for the new album...