The Smashing Pumpkins (or Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 1988 by frontman Billy Corgan (lead vocals, guitar) and James Iha (guitar), the band included D'arcy Wretzky (bass guitar) and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums) in its original incarnation. It has undergone many line-up changes over the course of its existence, with the current lineup being Corgan, Chamberlin, Iha and guitarist Jeff Schroeder. Disavowing the punk rock roots of many of their alt-rock contemporaries, they have a diverse, densely layered, and guitar-heavy sound, containing elements of gothic rock, heavy metal, dream pop, psychedelic rock,progressive rock, shoegazing, and electronica in later recordings.

On June 21, 2005, the day of the release of his album TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan took out full-page advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times to announce that he planned to reunite the band. "For a year now", Corgan wrote, "I have walked around with a secret, a secret I chose to keep. But now I want you to be among the first to know that I have made plans to renew and revive the Smashing Pumpkins. I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams". Corgan and Chamberlin were verified as participants in the reunion, but there was question as to whether other former members of the band would participate. In April 2007 Iha and Auf der Maur separately confirmed that they were not taking part in the reunion. Chamberlin would later state that Iha and Wretzky "didn't want to be a part of" the reunion. The Smashing Pumpkins performed live for the first time since 2000 on May 22, 2007, in Paris, France. There, the band unveiled new touring members: guitarist Jeff Schroeder, bassist Ginger Reyes, and keyboardist Lisa Harriton. That same month, "Tarantula" was released as the first single from the band's forthcoming album. On July 7, the band performed at the Live Earth concert in New Jersey. The band's new album, Zeitgeist, was released that same month on Reprise Records, entering the Billboard charts at number two and selling 145,000 copies in its first week. Zeitgeist received mixed reviews, with much of the criticism targeted at the absence of half of the original lineup. The album divided the Pumpkins' fanbase. Corgan would later admit, "I know a lot of our fans are puzzled by Zeitgeist. I think they wanted this massive, grandiose work, but you don't just roll out of bed after seven years without a functioning band and go back to doing that". Corgan and Chamberlin continued to record as a duo, releasing the four-song EP American Gothic in January 2008 and the singles "Superchrist" and "G.L.O.W." later that year. That November, the group released the DVD If All Goes Wrong, which chronicled the group's 2007 concert residences in Asheville, North Carolina and San Francisco, California. In late 2008, the band commenced on a controversy-riddled 20th Anniversary Tour. Around this time, Corgan said the group will make no more full-length records in order to focus exclusively on singles, explaining, "The listening patterns have changed, so why are we killing ourselves to do albums, to create balance, and do the arty track to set up the single? It's done." CANNOTANSWER

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