The new Smashing Pumpkins album has been met with some trepidation.  Billy Corgan is now the sole remaining original member of the group.  Many critics have questioned whether one original member is enough to constitute the privilege of continuing to use the name.  Billy’s response is a resounding…”fuck you.”  Though that may seem like Billy is the one being the gigantic dick…are the critics really being fair?  When it comes to the amount of original members of a band…the critics seem as consistent as teenage girl’s emotional stability. Guns N Roses (Axl Rose) are habitually abused…while no one questions that Mick Fleetwood (the freaking drummer) is the only original member of Fleetwood Mac.   Robert Smith gets a pass for being the only original member of the Cure as does Dave Murray and Iron Maiden.

I honestly don’t think it should matter as long as the integrity of the band remains in tact.  Good music is good music…and the name of the artist is pretty irrelevant.  It’s not like we’re talking about Napalm Death or the Misfits who have no original members.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By Billy Corgan (non-Pumpkins songs):

1. Declarations of Faith (Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea)
2. Lyric (Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea)
3. Honestly (Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea)
4. DIA (Billy Corgan – The FutureEmbrace)
5. Come With Me (Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea)
6. Mina Loy (Billy Corgan – The FutureEmbrace)
7. Settle Down (Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea)
8. Walking Shade (Billy Corgan = The FutureEmbrace)
9. Love Is a Battlefield (Djali Zwan – Spun Soundtrack)
10. The CameraEye (Billy Corgan – The FutureEmbrace)
11. El Sol (Zwan – Mary Star of the Sea)