According to Billy Corgan, it was James Iha that caused the split of the Smashing Pumpkins. It has always been said that it was Billy's decision and that he was just tired of the teeny pop atmosphere. Now it seems as if the problem was James Iha.
"The truth of the matter is James Iha broke up the Smashing Pumpkins's, not me," he wrote.
"Jimmy didn't want to break up the band, and I would have gone on forever, the Smashing Pumpkins were essentially my entire life," he explained.
"Many friends at the time suggested letting James leave, so Jimmy and I could continue under the name, but I was too loyal to the man I had started the whole thing with, and I protected him until the very end," he said.
actually no he didn't.James IhaNewbieRegistered: Feb 2004Location: Posts: 1 Setting the record straight I'm posting this here because BC hasn't set up a messageboard at his new site yet...I just want to say that this thing about me breaking up the pumpkins isn't true, at all. the breakup was a joint decision...everyone realised it was coming to the end of the road and we were hitting a brick wall. it wasn't about me at all...everyone close to the band knows that, and billy knows it too. we sat down and had a meeting about it towards the end of the machina tour, and we were all in agreement that we should wrap things up, including jimmy and billy. I haven't spoken to him since then...and I'm saddened by the fact that he feels the need to use his weblog to rewrite history and bring up whatever bitterness he has stored from the past. because anyone who was with the band in the last days (ask melissa auf der maur) will tell you that the breakup was a collective decision, it wasn't about me. I'm not interested in getting into an argument about it because for me it's water under the bridge, but I wanted to give my side of the story for what it's worth.peace out, POSTED BY JAMES ON WEBSITE!!!
I am an extremely loyal fan who truely adores Billy Corgan, but I am very angry at him right now for posting something so clearly false. Why would he lie now, anyway? It was four years ago.
Fans knew for years that the Pumpkins' end was near, it's not like it hadn't been coming a mile away. Give me a break, JAMES IHA? No way. No f---ing way. Sorry.
While I don't believe it was James' fault, you do realize that there is almost no chance whatsoever that that was really James posting at that message board, right? And, in case you're wondering, yes, I saw that thread to. People are very pliable.
k, billy is pissed right now that sp is gone - y not blame the one that has the security of belonging to a new family - sounds like billy has some jealousy-his response is emotionally biased.
Billy would not lie about something that could become so much of a problem if it were not true. It is possible that James was the problem...he had about 1/10th of Corgan's talent...wether it be guitar playing or songwriting, etc...and he was probably just tired of being reminded of it. Jimmy and Billy were the pumpkins as far as I'm concerned and I wouldn't have minded seeing another pumpkins album. If the Cure can do it at 45 then the Pumpkins could have kept on rollin'. Rock on Billy.
Who the heck wrote "James Iha had 1/10th of Corgans talent"?!?!
Have you ever listenened to Ihas album 'Let it come down', its the lovelyest and best album I have ever heard!!.
If anything, I believe there different ideas tore the pumpkins apart, all Iha wanted to make was soft sweet love music, while billy probably wished to stick with his artistic poetic lyrics and sounds that the pumpkins are so famous for.
Ultimately it doesn't really matter. It takes passionate individuals to produce great art. Multiple passionate individuals working closely together for over a decade is ultimately bound to disintegrate as those passions collide and become incompatible. Being a diehard Pumpkin fan, but rather unbiased toward each Pumpkin as an individual, I'm just glad I have all the albums, singles, b-sides, demos, and random mp3s that I do. I'm glad to have the single effort of the short-lived Zwan. I'm glad to have Let It Come Down. I'm looking forward to Billy's solo project, and previously awaited the supposed "Virgins" project including Iha and Auf Der Mar that never truly materialized as far as I can tell. Ultimately it is the music that defines them as musicians, not whatever petty or justified squabbles that erupt behind the scenes. We all have stupid drama in our pasts, things we wish we hadn't said or done. It really doesn't matter what killed off the Pumpkins - it was an inevitability in any case. Sure, I would've loved one (or twelve) more album(s), but it just wasn't in the cards. Now if only we could all focus our collective energies on beating the heck out of Virgin until they put out the 2000 Metro DVD. :)
