What's exactly the point of other people being comparing the Pumpkins always with Nirvana???
I mean, yes, their cruel and commercial 'Nevermind' was also pruduced by Butch Vig, but why has it to be Nirvana all the time?
They were such an overrated and boring band...there were a thousand other alternate Rockbands when the Pumpkins came up, and they all used to be better than Nirvana.
Why were they never compared with Jan's Addcition or Pearl Jam, for example???
I think, both have more musical relationship to the Pumpkins than fuckin' Nirvana.
Well, compare Gish with Bleach and you know what I mean...Gish was this cool all around Rockalbum and Bleach is - in my eyes - just some noises which seem to come from a buliding near their studio.
Personally, I like almost every independent band from the 90s, but I could never get the point of Nirvana or why they're compared to the Pumpkins all the time.
Isn't Seattle far from Chicago???

A good point.
I'm actually reading a book now called "Grunge - the end of rock and roll" by Kyle Anderson
And Smashing pumpkins get a mention in the "outsiders and Wannabees" chapter (as Outsiders to the Seattle scene).
I think you get the comparison because SP broke into the mainstream at roughly the same time as Nirvana, Pearl Jam etc and out of all the albums Gish does sound as though it would be quite at home in the Grunge genre.
Listen to the "singles" soundtrack and Drown (btw 7+ minutes version of the song) fits the album quite easily.

Then relating to your original question, thier was very few other big name bands on the grunge scene who you could actually compare sound wise with Nirvana (prob Mudhoney...at a push).

in my opinion its fair to compare them as far as asking "what did the bands do since they broke into the mainstream at the same period" but as you say I cant see any real comparison musicaly

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "compare with." I would assume the most obvious answer is that they are both very popular bands from the early-mid 90's. And they both appealed to the same kind of crowd...the teenage angst/grunge/Generation X. So of course any band that caters to that crowd will be compared to the band that essentially created that crowd (or had a hang in doing so)...Nirvana. To be quite honest, I got into Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins at about the same time and became obsessed with both, so take that for what it's worth. If you want to get into whether or not Nirvana was a great band or better than SP, then it goes deeper than comparing Gish and Bleach. The style, appeal, and aim of the two bands was completely different. I do prefer SP over Nirvana, but both bands made an impact in their own way.

I honestly don't hear or see many comparisons between the 2 bands. I think in terms of the impact of what each band did and how they will be remembered down the line for their influence on rock and roll as a whole, you could say they are similar. musically, though...they're not even in the same ballpark.

that being said, I absolutely LOVE nirvana. easily my 2nd favorite band behind SP. yes, their style was much more minimalist and dumbed down compared to what SP does, but that's what's beautiful about their stuff. they really understood how to make a pop song, but make it sound the exact opposite of what a pop song should sound like...if that makes any sense. Kurt was an amazing songwriter, great vocalist, and actually a pretty good guitar player. and those three guys had a chemistry nobody could touch.

I hope, the Pumpkins were never supposed to be a grunge band in the early 90s...
it just ain't fair to call them wannabes, especially classic Pumpkins ('87-'00), they were maybe one of the most independent bands ever.
Apart from that, I started this topic because I know hardcore Nirvana fans who try to look down on me because I use to be a fan of the Smashing Pumpkins and I dislike Nirvana completly.
I always tried to explain that those two bands are two different worlds, but those people see the Pumpkins as some kind of rivals to Nirvana which make "untrue Indie-Rock".
Now I know, fortunatly, that you guys, who understood the brilliance of Billy Corgan, aren't like that !

i don't like nirvana. all their songs seemed way to plain.

to me they have a similar vibe, i might say the pumpkins are a higly evolved nirvana,they're very similar but my pumpkins are more complex, more "layered", more armonical, and sometimes underrated, i mean compared to nirvana.

i think they should have got the same importance as rock bands.
i sometimes get a nirvana feeling in the pumpkin songs an vice versa, and i think we must mention an important factor, the Courtney Love factor, its like a soap-opera and maybe the cause of many comparisons and rivalities, you know you can't talk about one or another without saying "Courtney Love".

doomsdayclock i don't like nirvana. all their songs seemed way to plain.

to me they have a similar vibe, i might say the pumpkins are a higly evolved nirvana,they're very similar but my pumpkins are more complex, more "layered", more armonical, and sometimes underrated, i mean compared to nirvana.


i feel very much the same about this although nivarna may have a few good songs ... i still dont like them and they seem to be a very basic band with limited experimental songs like the pumpkins did which we have all come to love about them...

its like billy has said once before that he tries to cram everything possible into one song and thats what makes them unique ... which in turn means you cant really compare them

I like both bands almost equally.
I like Nirvana for their simplistic straight out noise ! when I fancy just rocking out.
and I love the pumpkins for the complex nature of thier songs when I want to chill out and listen to music

Nirvana was a great band.Take the awesome drumming of the founding father of the Foo Fighters and pair that with Kurt's genius songwriting and you have legend. Music doesn't have to be comlicated to be great, Nirvana proved that. And anyone who doubts how good Nirvana truly was should listen to the unplugged album. Their songs were not just about noise.

i used to be a big huge nirvana fan i still like them and all but then i discovered a little group called the smashing pumpkins, and they blew everyone out of the water, there totally different.

Believe wrote:
Nirvana was a great band.Take the awesome drumming of the founding father of the Foo Fighters and pair that with Kurt's genius songwriting and you have legend. Music doesn't have to be comlicated to be great, Nirvana proved that. And anyone who doubts how good Nirvana truly was should listen to the unplugged album. Their songs were not just about noise.

my brother s aid the exact same thing to me yesterday! "listen to th unplugged, it was awesome. billy is still a better guitar player though...if he killed himself he would :
a. be so much more famous
b. not have made zeitgeist

I love Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, along with The vines, they're my favorite bands. although smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana don't really have much in common musically besides a little bit of Pisces Iscariot, they're both very good bands, one complex and one simple.

It kind of bother me when people say its too "plain" cause thats the point. Don't get me wrong I love every little note in Soma, but sometimes a simple "Sliver" is much appreciated by me.

Believe failed to mention Krist's bass lines, they really made their songs more accessible and /or rocking. "Breed" is a perfect example as well as the before mentioned "Sliver."

I'm a bit tired and can't think of much else to say on this topic besides:

Billy and Kurt are the Coolest.

billy is still a better guitar player though...if he killed himself he would :
a. be so much more famous
b. not have made zeitgeist

I agree - to an extent - that if Corgan had been the one to kill himself in 1994, the Pumpkins would've been seen as a much more significant band than they ever were (even at their height in 1996). It's that mystique of the tortured artist (and I'm loathe to refer to Cobain as an artist. I have their greatest hits CDs but frankly, they were such a bland band in my eyes).

Billy won't shoot himself, beacuse he is no depressive junkie!
Maybe he was a kind of depressive (once, while the real Pumpkins existed), but now he is so happy...and his music became so lame...Billy needs to be sad for making good music!
C'mon anyone: Kill Billy's hamster!

Just joking!
I'm really looking forewared to the new EP!

i think the only reason the two bands are compared is because they came around at the same time, like kanye west and 50 cent, lol.

i've only got the nirvana greatest hits cd, so i dont know what im talking about really, but nirvana said nevermind and the pumpkins had a siamese dream...?