Congratulations are in order for Billy Corgan and his alternative rock outfit the Smashing Pumpkins. The group’s new album, Oceania, debuted at #4 on the Billboard 200 chart and #1 on the Independent Albums Chart this week. That makes Oceania the second-highest debut for an independently released album this year and the band’s seventh Top 10 album.
The Pumpkins – Corgan, guitarist Jeff Schroeder, drummer Mike Byrne and bass player and vocalist Nicole Fiorentino – recorded Oceania at Corgan’s private Chicago studio. The album, which is the Pumpkins’ seventh, is “an album within an album,” being that it’s part of their 44-song work-in-progress Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project.
Corgan recently checked in with Rolling Stone, and when asked what rock stars he believes have the “X-Factor,” he chose Jimmy Page.
“Jimmy Page comes to mind, having met him once,” he said. “When you think of what Jimmy Page created, it’s kind of mind-blowing. You’re standing there talking to that man and there’s a mystical quality to his being. He’s not still running around like he looked in 1975, but there’s something about him. Whether it’s fairy-like or mischievous, there’s a mirth in his spirit that’s still there. When you think of Led Zeppelin music his guitar is almost like a lead vocal, so you almost have like two lead vocals, which is kind of the insanity of Zeppelin.”