IN: 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.

With the breakthrough of alternative rock into the American mainstream due to the popularity of grunge bands such as Nirvana and Pearl Jam, the Smashing Pumpkins were poised for major commercial success. At this time, the Smashing Pumpkins were routinely lumped in with the grunge movement, with Corgan protesting, "We've graduated now from 'the next Jane's Addiction' to 'the next Nirvana', now we're 'the next Pearl Jam'." Amid this environment of intense internal pressure for the band to break through to widespread popularity, the band relocated to Marietta, Georgia in late 1992 to begin work on their second album, with Butch Vig returning as producer. The decision to record so far away from their hometown was motivated partly by the band's desire to avoid friends and distractions during the recording, but largely as a desperate attempt to cut Chamberlin off from his known drug connections. The recording environment for Siamese Dream was quickly marred by discord within the band. As was the case with Gish, Corgan and Vig decided that Corgan should play nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album, contributing to an air of resentment. The contemporary music press began to portray Corgan as a tyrant. Corgan's depression, meanwhile, had deepened to the point where he contemplated suicide, and he compensated by practically living in the studio. Meanwhile, Chamberlin quickly managed to find new connections and was often absent without any contact for days at a time. In all, it took over four months to complete the record, with the budget exceeding $250,000. Despite all the problems in its recording, Siamese Dream debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. Alongside the band's mounting mainstream recognition, the band's reputation as careerists among their former peers in the independent music community was worsened. Indie rock band Pavement's 1994 song "Range Life" directly mocks the band in its lyrics, although Stephen Malkmus, lead singer of Pavement, has stated, "I never dissed their music. I just dissed their status." Former Husker Du frontman Bob Mould called them "the grunge Monkees", and fellow Chicago musician/producer Steve Albini wrote a scathing letter in response to an article praising the band, derisively comparing them to REO Speedwagon ("by, of and for the mainstream") and concluding their ultimate insignificance. The opening track and lead single of Siamese Dream, "Cherub Rock", directly addresses Corgan's feud with the "indie-world". In 1994 Virgin released the B-sides/rarities compilation Pisces Iscariot which charted higher than Siamese Dream by reaching number four on the Billboard 200. Also released was a VHS cassette titled Vieuphoria featuring a mix of live performances and behind-the-scenes footage. Following relentless touring to support the recordings, including headline slots on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour and at Reading Festival in 1995, the band took time off to write the follow-up album.
QUESTION: What was their first album?
IN: Cooper was born on May 7, 1901, in Helena, Montana to Alice (nee Brazier, 1873-1967) and Charles Henry Cooper (1865-1946). His father had emigrated from Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire and was a prominent lawyer, rancher, and (later) a Montana Supreme Court justice. His mother had emigrated from Gillingham, Kent and married Charles in Montana. In 1906, Charles purchased the 600-acre (240 ha) Seven-Bar-Nine cattle ranch about fifty miles (eighty kilometers) north of Helena near the town of Craig on the Missouri River.

In early 1925, Cooper began his film career in silent pictures such as The Thundering Herd and Wild Horse Mesa with Jack Holt, Riders of the Purple Sage and The Lucky Horseshoe with Tom Mix, and The Trail Rider with Buck Jones. He worked for several Poverty Row studios, including Famous Players-Lasky and Fox Film Corporation. While his skilled horsemanship led to steady work in Westerns, Cooper found the stunt work--which sometimes injured horses and riders--"tough and cruel". Hoping to move beyond the risky stunt work and obtain acting roles, Cooper paid for a screen test and hired casting director Nan Collins to work as his agent. Knowing that other actors were using the name "Frank Cooper", Collins suggested he change his first name to "Gary" after her hometown of Gary, Indiana. Cooper immediately liked the name. Cooper also found work in a variety of non-Western films, appearing, for example, as a masked Cossack in The Eagle (1925), as a Roman guard in Ben-Hur (1925), and as a flood survivor in The Johnstown Flood (1926). Gradually, he began to land credited roles that offered him more screen time, in films such as Tricks (1925), in which he played the film's antagonist, and the short film Lightnin' Wins (1926). As a featured player, he began to attract the attention of major film studios. On June 1, 1926, Cooper signed a contract with Samuel Goldwyn Productions for fifty dollars a week. Cooper's first important film role was in The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926) with Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky, in which he plays a young engineer who helps a rival suitor save the woman he loves and her town from an impending dam disaster. Cooper's experience living among the Montana cowboys gave his performance an "instinctive authenticity", according to biographer Jeffrey Meyers. The film was a major success. Critics singled out Cooper as a "dynamic new personality" and future star. Goldwyn rushed to offer Cooper a long-term contract, but he held out for a better deal--finally signing a five-year contract with Jesse L. Lasky at Paramount Pictures for $175 a week. In 1927, with help from Clara Bow, Cooper landed high-profile roles in Children of Divorce and Wings, the latter being the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That year, Cooper also appeared in his first starring roles in Arizona Bound and Nevada--both films directed by John Waters. In 1928, Paramount paired Cooper with a youthful Fay Wray in The Legion of the Condemned and The First Kiss--advertising them as the studio's "glorious young lovers". Their on-screen chemistry failed to generate much excitement with audiences. With each new film, Cooper's acting skills improved and his popularity continued to grow, especially among female movie-goers. During this time, he was earning as much as $2,750 per film and receiving a thousand fan letters a week. Looking to exploit Cooper's growing audience appeal, the studio placed him opposite popular leading ladies such as Evelyn Brent in Beau Sabreur, Florence Vidor in Doomsday, and Esther Ralston in Half a Bride. That year, Cooper also made Lilac Time with Colleen Moore for First National Pictures, his first movie with synchronized music and sound effects. It became one of the most commercially successful films of 1928.
QUESTION:
Was the film successful?