The Smashing Pumpkins' "Tarantula" Is Infected By A Parisite
On July 2nd, Pumpkins fans in the UK can get their hands on the CD and 7" single for Zeitgeist harbinger "Tarantula", and according to Wiki and our email inbox, they can join Americans in being forced to look at pictures of this heir-head -- only here it's totally to make a statement! And apparently that statement is that Paris Hilton's Blackberry is a huge Smashing Pumpkins fan. Is that a mushroom cloud in the background? Is this ferreal? Billy, you would have been better off with this.
Posted at 3:21 PM in Album Art
Tags: Paris Hilton | The Smashing Pumpkins
wow the pumpkins are trying REAALY hard to be relevant, arent they? the only people who care are just trying to get back "bullet with butterfly wings".
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Don't they have to license Paris Hilton's image to use it?
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WTF is with all your SP hate? Please...Billy has more fucking talent in his little finger than your overweight hipster obsession Lily Allen.
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Why? Why do you have to keep on making it harder for me to defend you, SP? This such a fucking stupid cover. Please Please let this be a hoax and not the real cover. It's just...vile.
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corgan is irrelevant, has been for years now.
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is that the cover of "get behind me satan" on her bberry?
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Matt,
Please explain your irrelevant comment? What justifies your saying that? Is it because he hasn't sold millions of records like he did back in the the mid-late 90's? Does that mean that he should stop making music?
There are millions of fans around this world that disagree with you, myself included. Just because he may not be the flavor of the month anymore doesn't mean that he's irrelevant. Show me an artist that IS relevant?
Is Paul McCartney irrelevant now because he's not nearly as popular as he was with The Beatles? Raiodhead hasn't sold as many records as they did with OK Computer...is Thom Yorke irrelevant?
You're a fucking clown.
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I think it's pretty funny. Way to go.
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I like it. It reminds me of The Smiths covers.
And as for requiring Paris' permission, I don't think they need to for a case like this. They only need to own the rights to the photograph. As long as they don't make it appear that she is endorsing the product in any way.
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The best part of this cover is that its a statement against the US culture. Notice that there's a nuke exploding behind her? Hmm...I wonder what the cover could be saying?
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i dont even understand what's going on.
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Tim...
Thats gonnabe hard considering she has the Zeitgeist cover on her album. However, SP actually did a photo shoot with Paris for the album, so its their material. Does that make a difference?
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Mark...
Has it been made public if she did an actual photo shoot for the album? It was reported that pictures were stolen, including a picture of Paris, but I've heard nowhere that it was a picture she shot for the band. If that is the case, they obviously have her permission to use the image.
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Don't have a cow, Jim!
You're not going to convince anyone that their opinion is wrong by foaming at the mouth like you do.
That having been said, they are definitely past their peak, and could maybe even be considered retro.
I don't care if they sell 5 records or 5,000,000,000, that's my opinion & I'm sticking to it.
Are you sure OK Computer wasn't topped by Kid A in sales (the ultimate arbiter of relevance)?
McCartney's still got it but yeah, irrelevant. Doesn't mean he has to quit.
You're a sad clown.
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Relevance is overrated. If they make good music, then who cares if they're "relevant"? What does that even mean?
I'm not really sold on the new Pumpkins, but they're certainly more tolerable (overall) than Lily Allen.
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Um, who.the.fuck. says, "Don't have a cow?" Thanks Bart... I mean huge super-douche... I mean Bill...
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Actually, Radiohead's biggest selling album is Pablo Honey.
I disagree that Billy or The Smashing Pumpkins are irrelevant, and certainly don't consider them "retro."
SP's been out of the limelight since 2000 and even when they were "at the top of their game" there were 2 types of people: those who worship Billy and those who loathed him. I don't see this changing.
I will preface this by saying SP is my favorite band of all time, and I was very anxious/skeptical to hear what SP 2.0 would sound like, and I have to say I'm very, very excited. For those hardcore fans like myself, the music we've heard thus far sounds like the music on the "Zero" single B-Sides. (This is in no way to say the songs are B-side quality...I'm only referencing the era.)
It's far too early to judge and say Billy and SP is irrelevant. The first single, "Tarantula" is a big radio hit (currently #10 on Billboard Rock Charts) and until the album drops and we see how it is received, it's far too early to write the band off.
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mushroom clouds in the background are the new i don't know what. but some dutch guys snuck one into a tv feed recently, so there.
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I have to agree with Tim. But I also don't see what "relevance" has to do with anything.
At first This cover made me cringe, but I guess it fits with what Zeitgeist is all about.
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no one's said "don't have a cow" since corgan was relevant.
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Do any of you listen to music because you like it, or because it's relevent?
A stupid approach to music if i must say.. if i like something i hear, i don't a shit who else likes it or does't...
and Billy Corgan has written and recorded enough good music to secure his place... he doesnt need to prove shit to anyone.
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I like the band [I mean, I guess], but what is up with that album cover? Maybe it's a joke, or maybe we're missing something. God, I hope I'm not missing something. That would be terrible.
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I think the album cover is funny shit. Paris Hilton front and center distracting us from the destruction of the world... so true.
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"I like it. It reminds me of The Smiths covers."
You are a complete and utter moron. The only thing this cover has in common with The Smiths' covers is that it's a black-and-white photo of a person.
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His huge "rock star" days may be behind him, but Billy Corgan is far too talented to ever be considered irrelevant.
The haters will be saying the same thing about Jack White in 10 years.
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Am I the only one who kind of likes the album cover? Paris Hilton is a monster. It's so basic, it reminds me of pop art, and I think it works.
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Regardless of its pro or anti hilton-ness it is still promoting awarness of that bitch and reinforcing her as a part of our cultural lexicon. I really don't like how she's famous for being famous, therefore is a horrible cover from any angle.
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"You are a complete and utter moron. The only thing this cover has in common with The Smiths' covers is that it's a black-and-white photo of a person."
Smiths: Black and white photos of famous icons.
Tarantula cover: Black and white photo of (in)famous icon.
Similar enough to me.
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its one thing to not be relevant...its another to try to force yourself to be relevant.
and album sales have nothing to do with that.
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My, my, all the angry energy here...."summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy..."
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"My, my, all the angry energy here..."
I know, its so annoying, it's like all the d00dz from Digg & Ain't It Cool showed up. Has it always been like this & i didnt notice? I guess it can only get worse, too. Wait till the album leaks! We'll see how irrelevant it is when that shitstorm gets kicked up.
And that "You're a sad clown" aside made me want to throw up. Who comes up with that stuff?
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jeez, this place is becoming the rolling stone blog all of a sudden.
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3 topics never to bring up in mixed company: religion, politics, and the smashing pumpkins comeback album. you just KNOW someone is going to get their feelings hurt.
and lily allen is not fat. she's just british.
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"Similar enough to me."
See? Only a complete and utter moron would think that!
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Relevance, irrelevance, spirograph.
The truth is that the last two albums from the original Pumpkins, such as they were, tanked. The audience moved on long before Chamberlain was ousted from the band. The audience couldn't accept Zwan, and wouldn't accept Corgan's skin disease solo album. These are all facts proven by sales, or lack thereof.
Maybe this new recording will actually be great. I haven't heard it and won't speculate on quality issues until I do. What I do know is that calling this band Smashing Pumpkins is a shell game, a sham, an act of desperation to curry the favor of the few who wanted this to happen. So what if the album is amazing; Corgan had to fashion a sort of deceit to get people interested.
Having Paris Hilton on the cover, aside from your personal feelings for the woman, is like having Jocko the Australian muscle-dude on your album cover in 1985. It's a foolish move no matter what context you say you're couching it in, no matter what you're implying about the passivity of a culture that worships celebrity.
And finally, for Paris, I now have sympathy. Believe it or not! Sure, I think her role as celebrity for no better reason than celebrity is shallow and pointless... But people, she is a victim. Mom and Dad never bashed her in the head with two-by-fours, chased her with broken beer bottles or chained her in the basement for using too much toilet paper. Instead, they coddled her like some rare koala bear, spoiled her rotten and then turned her loose into the world.
"Look at our shiny, sparkly koala angel", they say, just before sheltered, dimwitted Parisupial bites into a power cable mistaking it for eucalyptus.
Yeah, she's hard to stomach and not entirely without blame, but her parents truly have abused her worse than any trailer-trash nightmare family ever could have.
DwD
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insert "you know how i know you're gay..." comment here.
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oh oh oh! I forgot... the new album is about as relevant as billy corgan's book of poetry.
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i can't fucking believe they used the woefully shit photos that were stolen still. do billy & co. not read stereogum or what? too busy readying to make squillions off their four-versioned album i'm guessing.
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DwD: not to interrupt the flow of your prose, but chamberlain was sacked in summer '96 during their supporting world tour for mellon collie, the multi-platinum album that got released in oct '95. yes, by comparison with their previous 2 efforts adore ('98)was a flop, although it did go platinum.
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I'm not surprised that "Adore" went platinum - it was pretty much THE record to look forward to that year - but man was it bad. I remember the one time I listened to it basically listening to each song about halfway through looking for anything that resembled what I'm used to from them. The best summation of that record I've heard said it was "drum machined to death." This is what you get without Jimmy Chamberlain.
I'm really not surprised at the shitstorm this thread has become. I would easily consider Billy Corgan to be one of the most hateable figures in music. The amount of hostility he created among the band ranks up there with Pink Floyd and Oasis. I read a Spin (I believe Spin) interview of Corgan...the guy's a complete douchebag. Just through and through. He went out of his way in that article to shit talk former members of the band. If he has any question as to why they're former members, he needs only find a mirror or..highly polished metal.
As for Paris on the single's cover, I was pretty surprised. After seeing everything in the picture and understanding the message, I think it's cool. I love it when people take such heavy shots at public figures who deserve them, and it was Broorno I think that so eloquently framed it as "Paris Hilton front and center distracting us from the destruction of the world... so true."
The problem that I have with it, though, is that it's Paris Hilton on the cover. There's two reasons.
1. I fucking hate Paris Hilton. Apt as she is for the message the Pumpkins are probably trying to send, I don't think she needs any more presence in our lives than she's already forced in.
2. Paris Hilton has sort of become "that guy." When you need to attach a face to corporate/social/celebrity/annoying evil, she's your go-to. It works, and with any luck she cries herself to sleep most nights, but it's getting to be a little overdone. First it was George W. as that guy and THAT got cliche, now it's her and it's getting the same way. I think it would have just been SICK if the Smashing Pumpkins could have found a better and more cutting edge face to represent the distractionofdestructionbroughttoyoubythefoxnetwork rather than leaning on something a million people have already used. It's not as if I think they did a bad job or that I have a better idea, I just think that something that cool would have gone really well with their (hopefully) comeback.
If you want to see a really great shot at Paris, check out what British graffiti artist and Danger Mouse did with her self-titled record.
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Check this out,
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Relevant:
adjective
bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand; pertinent: a relevant remark.
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without saying what someone or something is irrelevant TO, it's a pointless propaganda buzzword. The music press use to tell us what they think we should be listening to. They, and the record companies behind them don't just sell music, they're selling us the culture that they want us to buy in to.
If Corgan writes a song about politics in america today, then the song is relevant to politics in america today. It may sound like a wrong idea, but thats what the word is. People who don't like something or someone or an opinion can just call it irrelevant, but without explaining to what or why, its mindboggling. That's FOX News speak people!
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Check this out,
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Relevant:
adjective
bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand; pertinent: a relevant remark.
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without saying what someone or something is irrelevant TO, it's a pointless propaganda buzzword. The music press use to tell us what they think we should be listening to. They, and the record companies behind them don't just sell music, they're selling us the culture that they want us to buy in to.
If Corgan writes a song about politics in america today, then the song is relevant to politics in america today. It may sound like a wrong idea, but thats what the word is. People who don't like something or someone or an opinion can just call it irrelevant, but without explaining to what or why, its mindboggling. That's FOX News speak people!
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The new Pumpkins is good music and the Pumpkins are one of the most important bands ever in alt music. The ones who deny these things are biased because they dislike Corgan. It's sad that they don't judge the music. These people probably even claim to be music lovers when they base their opinions on dislike for a person.
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Corgan is a musical genius who will be remembered for his epic songs and that will never be taken away. Haters don't like his voice, thats a tired issue that will be forgotten right along with the emo and rap in good time. I must mention that the Mellon Collie concert i seen was to this day the most moving concert i've been to(Tool comes real close).
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Oh My God. don't you people have lives? you're arguing about an album cover and the irrelivency of a musician. how pointless when the world is going to end so soon. ask questions about the universe around you. how are you gonna feel when everything dies and you don't know why? think for your own sakes.
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the smashing pumpkins are awesome. they deserve to promote any way they want. its good to have haters like yourselves though. makes for better press haha. go sp!!!!!
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the pumpkins are amazing and will continue to be so until billy stops bein a genius. music is relevant and will continue to be relevant until... well, i hope im not around when its not. all im sayin is that u lot are up there bein really silly makin it out to be more than it is. dont get me wrong, im sure this music means the world to some poeple especially billy and JC but dont get ur knickers in a twist. if people love it then cool, and if people dont then thats cool too, dont be stressin, its ok. if you like the sound of it then fine and if you dont then you obviously still care enough to write about out. live and let live.
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i allways wom\nder where they sell tarantulas.if anyone knows where they sell tarantulas plaese call 8055291784
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