But Kurt Cobain wasn’t the only early ’90s icon to pour scorn on Jon Bon Jovi and his band. Billy Corgan has been at the helm of alt-rockers the Smashing Pumpkins since 1988, and the group grew an enormous following in a few short years thanks to classic albums like 1991’s “Gish,” 1993’s “Siamese Dream,” and 1995’s sprawling double-album “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.” Considered the band’s masterpiece and one of the classic American rock albums of the period, “Mellon Collie” has sustained the Smashing Pumpkins’ reputation and maintained the band’s audience into the 21st century, where the Pumpkins have endured a checkered critical and commercial reception for their new music.
Not that Corgan particularly cares for continual acclaim. As he told The Daily Beast: “Somewhere along the way, I decided my interest was in that causal relationship between pushing the button and seeing what happens.” He goes on to discuss his willingness to alienate his audience for the sake of finding interesting artistic directions. “That’s where the juice of artistic joy is,” he said. “If it was about being formulaic in a Bon Jovi sense, you hire somebody who’s a really smart producer, spend the money. You s*** out that one hit song, and you’re back on top. But we don’t come from that.”
