Underrated guitarist and underrated songwriter as well. BC has a signature sound as well. I remember first hearing the solo on Zwans "honestly" and thinking "that's a BC solo if I've ever heard one". His control of distortion is quite incredible. I just wish he never learned to sing lol. The old live performances before he balded out we're amazing, the imperfections in his singing made the music so much more punk. I miss that snarl.
Unbelievable. He can play like this, seemingly without breaking a sweat, and he has the restraint to write songs like 1979 and pretty much everything on Adore. Billy Corgan is truly an artist.
I read an interview with Corgan, way back in the 90s, where he said something to the effect that although the huge, crushing anthems are what grabs the audience's attention and what usually sells albums, it's the quiet, restrained pieces that he loves to write the most. In essence, 1979 is Billy Corgan at his most BIlly Corgan (Actually, I'd argue Beautiful is really Billy Corgan at his Billy Corganest). I wish I could remember where I saw it, or heck, even if it was print vs. TV interview, but the point still stands: Billy loves his sweet love songs. I think that's actually one of the more wholesome things about him.
@EdBenji Agreed. I'm scratching my head at some of these comments. I'm just hearing manic notes at high speed with no underlying musical structure. My brother is a huge fan so i went on a deep dive. Many times he solos, the other instruments duck out and leave him almost alone with the drummer. I'm guessing he knows he can only shred tunelessly, rather than over a chord progression. Interesting.
A criminally underrated guitarist. What's amazing is the way he looks so nonchalant when he's pulling off all this ridiculous shredding. He doesn't pose or posture because playing guitar that brilliantly is just so natural to him.
so incredible! Billys leads have been the most challenging for me to play since the 90s! They are absolutely unique and break the mold for lead guitar parts of songs
I have been telling my friends for 20+ years Billy Corgan is my favorite artist. And they don't realize why i tell them that. now besides the great songwriting I have further evidence in a nice, easy-to-difest format. Thanks for the Video!! (instant subscriber)
Holy shit man you just blew my mind … all these goddamn years and i always thought it was easy to dijest…. Oh and yea ive even seen pumpkins live and didnt realise what a good guitarist he is
I recall reading his "confessions" years ago when they were online. He picked a random number of 5 or 7 hours per day to practice guitar And apparently he did just that, 5 or so hours per day for, a couple of years I think. I can't remember the exact quote
My absolute favorite of all time. So awesome to see this old video of him, he looked like me at that age lol. I see some Eddie Van Halen influences here for sure.
When he was a kid he used to practice to his favorite bands and Van Halen was one of them and he could replicate every single note Eddie had nothing on him LOL
He has a bit of psychedelia, a bit of gothic rock, a bit of metal, a bit of grunge and a bit of shoegaze all in one guitarist. His versatility is really insane
Probably the best guitarist of the 90s. In a decade where technical prowess was borderline embarrassing to demonstrate, it was only Corgan that really carried that torch imo and still stayed on the absolute forefront of modern rock at the time. What's crazier is that he's not really given his dues as a guitarist even 30 years later. I think that's because he's known as such an amazing songwriter though
He just tunes it there, ON THE SPOT. No tuner, turning it live, not switching out. I saw the Pumpkins live (only once sadly) and spent the entire time watching him play the guitar with my mouth open. I play guitar, well compared to him, I pluck a few strings sort of. He is the most underrecognized and greatest guitarist of the past 30 years.
Yeah being a good guitar player requires a musical ear. I too can tune to E or Eb from nothing, like changing strings for example. Not everyone can do it though
Always really rated him. In the underrated class. Always thought he's got there through practice and hard work rather than being naturally gifted like some
Wow, I just realize that Billy Corgan's head now really looks like a pumpkin. Was he going for this look? Imagine the look of his skull being fractured with a tattoo. Only kidding. My all time favorite band. I wish Corgan did solos like he use to.
Billy Corgan is such a great guitar player, my biggest gripe with alternative rock is that they force all these great musicians to dumb down their playing
He's a good composer and melody maker, I'm a Smashing Pumpkins fan since I'm in Highschool but I have to admit, his guitar solos are his weakest, yes they're technically impressive but they're forgettable and kind of just doodling
@@joesnider880 well the solos sound amazing and are great to play on guitar. e.g the solos on rhinoceros, soma and a song for a son (in this video) are all very good.
Regarding the last segment, does nobody else care about the blatant damage to guitar playing the world over all because of that Scandinavian pianist/drummer 🙄
@@TheAlibabatree do you play guitar? from ur comment I can tell you're new or you don't. Or you're worshiping him. that's cool, but he's not extraordinary.
Am i getting trolled by you lot cos that all sounds like a mess even without considering how disconnected it is from anything happening at the same time..
@calebrose7739 lol yeah he did, James is a WOMAN LMFAO!! Listen to Billy's catalog, classic hits all over the place for decades? James solo acoustic album? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA SOOOOOOOO BAD!
