In eighth grade. I got an Ipod for Christmas, and my sister welcomed me to her collection of CDs that consisted classic rock 'n' roll, alternative rock'n'roll, and other stuff like pop, rap, hip-hop, and various dance records that she had picked up from work. My favorite band became the Ramones. I never listened to too much of the Pumpkins, and honestly I can't remember how I became so obsessed with them. I didn't necessarily fall in love with their sound until alot later.
When I found out I was no longer going to play in the band I was in, I became shocked and depressed. I became so depressed that I was going to give up one of the things I had loved the most in my life...guitar. I didn't want to ever play again. When I lost most of the good people in my life, I felt alone; and music was always there to help me out. I fell in love with the beauty in songs as Stumbeliene & 1979 (I had only heard Mellon Collie at the time). As I was only used to voices such as Gwen Stefani and other pop singers (identities hidden for emmbarrsassment purposes on my behalf
), Corgan's voice intrigued me as slightly odd. As I became more interested in the Pumpkins' sound, I downloaded more Pupmkins' records such as Gish, Adore, Machina and Siamese Dream (my sister had to sell her copy in San Francisco- someone on this site may have possession of it as I speak
).
I never had realized that all that music had a strong story behind it. When I read Billy's story, I almost cried, and again I almost cried as he spilled his guts on Half of Us, and If All Goes Wrong. I no longer felt so alone, but knowing he went through so much pain and became as sucessful as he is now made me realize more that life is worth living as long as you strive to live it. Because of Billy, I still play guitar and strive to put together a sucessful band one day.
If someone has actually read this, you should check out some 1980s videos on Youtube of Corgan jamming with his band Hexen. He's amazing!!!!
