Billy Corgan’s favourite heavy metal band
Rising to prominence as the frontman and songwriter behind 1990s rock titans Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan has had an undeniable effect on the lineage of rock music. Famously hard to pin to one specific genre, Smashing Pumpkins are usually labelled under the incredibly broad umbrella of ‘alternative rock’ because Corgan found inspiration in a variety of places.
From the new wave dance anthems of New Order to the depressive goth rock of The Cure, Corgan seemed to move through musical trends like a sponge, soaking up influences and imbuing his own music with a unique and disparate sound. The band’s breakout album, Siamese Dream, tended to lean more towards the world of grunge, shoegaze and psychedelia. Corgan was also always heavily influenced by the world of hard rock and metal.
The effects of Corgan’s fascination with metal can be heard clearly within Smashing Pumpkins’ debut album, Gish, which features heavy influences of metal within the guitar tones and songwriting. The songwriter has always been open about his love for the genre, regularly citing Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell as his favourite guitarist of all time.
Expanding on his appreciation for the genre, Corgan selected his favourite metal records last year. Speaking to Revolver, the songwriter listed groups such as Accept, Black Sabbath and Dokken among his favourite groups. Embracing artists old and new, the Smashing Pumpkins frontman also spoke of an appreciation for the recent Danish black metal artist Myrkur. Above all else, though, Corgan espoused his deep love of Slayer.
Formed in 1981, Californian thrash metal are among the most recognisable names within the genre. Selecting their 1986 track ‘Raining Blood’, taken from the album Reign In Blood, as one of his all-time favourite metal tracks, Corgan shared, “Probably my favourite all-time super heavy band,” before correcting himself, saying, “Slayer makes Slayer music, calling Slayer ‘heavy’ or ‘hard rock’ or ‘metal’ – only Slayer sounds like Slayer, so they need a category all to themselves.”
Although metal groups like Slayer and Pantera might have been fairly uncool influences within the alternative rock scenes of the 1990s, Corgan has never been particularly interested in conformity. More than happy to preach his love for the thrash godfathers, Corgan continued, “I saw Slayer around 1984 on the Raining Blood tour. I was by myself with my goth hair. It was a little bit scary in there. What an incredible band.”
Since reforming the Pumpkins in 2006, Corgan has never left his metal influences out in the cold. Though he generally adheres more towards palatable alternative rock, the lineage of metal is clear to hear within the discography of Smashing Pumpkins.
