And his guitar skills were fully on display on the first two classic Pumpkins albums, 1991’s Gish and 1993’s Siamese Dream, as well as the 1994’s odds and ends compilation, Pisces Iscariot – and especially on such standout tracks as “Siva” and “Starla.”
In my 2026 book, I Am One: The Smashing Pumpkins Story, 1988-1994, this topic was indeed tackled, as evidenced by these excerpts below, in which several folks back up the claim that Corgan was one of the top guitarists to come out of the ’90s alt-rock world.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – Billy Corgan was my favorite rock guitarist to come out of the ’90s. And it was reassuring to hear that some of the people interviewed for this book also shared my feelings. “Of that whole generation, I would put him definitely near the top,” said the Frogs’ Jimmy Flemion. “He speaks about how when he started, he was a shredder. Sometimes, there’s high forms of art with punk. And then sometimes it’s like, ‘Look how cool it is. They can barely play their instruments.’ And to me, that is what it is. But when you can play, it stands out.”
“He had an identifiable guitar playing style,” Blind Melon’s Christopher Thorn pointed out. “The one thing I will say is he has got that metal in him, you know what I mean? And I didn’t play guitar like Billy at all, but I definitely respected what he did. And for me, it was the layers of guitars he was doing, and I appreciated that. Even though that wasn’t my approach in the studio – which was ‘less is more.’ But his wall of sound was just phenomenal. When I heard those records, I was turned on by how big the guitar sounded. And I think that’s just his layering of guitars. And honestly, he shreds. I mean, he can just really rip.”
“I think anyone who’s a great songwriter and a great guitar player, people overlook the guitar playing. I’d say that about Bruce Springsteen. Bruce Springsteen is a phenomenal guitar player, but that’s not the first thing you think of. When you think of Bruce, you think of his songs. And I think Billy kind of falls into that category. And you could say the same thing about Prince. I mean, everyone knows he’s badass, but he did so many amazing things that his guitar playing is usually third on the list. And I would put Billy in that same category. He’s a great songwriter. I mean, songs like ‘Today’ and ‘1979,’ all those songs were just so good. And they hold up when you hear them now – they really hold up.”
“Billy’s arguably the greatest guitarist of the ’90s,” boldly declared Brett Buchanan of the Alternative Nation site. “Because at the time, when the alternative rock scene was starting out – especially grunge – you had Kurt Cobain, who was very ‘anti-guitar solo.’ So, at most, you’d hear like a little short solo in a song – like ‘Heart Shaped Box.’ And then there were other grunge bands with very talented guitarists who had great solos, like Dean DeLeo or Kim Thayil…Jerry Cantrell, who I think is probably the closest to Billy Corgan in guitar sensibilities.”
“But Billy embraced the long guitar solo. Whereas it wasn’t hip or in fashion in the early ’90s, Billy didn’t really care. Billy was ambitious. He wanted to sound big. He wanted big guitar solos. There’s a lot of Eddie Van Halen in Billy’s playing. And that’s what really sets the Pumpkins apart – Billy never really cared about looking cool or seeming cool. He just wanted to write great songs and play great guitar solos and have great shows.”
And what about what Jason Pettigrew of Alternative Press had to say about Corgan’s supreme guitar skills? “Well, that was the whole thing – he could actually play. He could actually play fucking well. But, there were things that he had to sign off on. And I think that’s probably why I really love ‘Silverfuck.’ There was that long form VHS home video called Vieuphoria, which has got that ridiculous ten-minute version of that.”
“Just when the song is supposed to be ending – and it’s just a complete wall of feedback – he looks at Jimmy (Chamberlin), and Jimmy counts it off, and then they just start playing this riff that’s just really amazing [a piece entitled ‘Jackboot’]. It’s like they’re going to start a whole new song again, but it goes on for at least another I think like, two and a half minutes or something. And Iha has this toy ray gun, and he’s pressing it against his pickups and making those bleeping sound effects, and Corgan is driving this riff. It’s just, holy shit. I mean, thinking about it right now, I’m like, ‘What box do I have my Vieuphoria tape in’?”
“But he was not like any of that whole trend in ’80s metal. He wasn’t, y’know, Big 4 – Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, Megadeth. He wasn’t doing that. He wasn’t doing shreddy, kilowatt, hair farmer, ‘Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!’ type of bullshit. I think he was maybe the ’90s analog of Jimmy Page. Because, I mean, the riffs were great and the soloing was tasteful. And once again, going back further than everybody else, just so he could mine that sound of the ’70s. I can see Billy Corgan writing a version of ‘In the Light’ from Physical Graffiti. ‘In the Light’ could have been on Gish, couldn’t it?”
And while I understand that some indie rock purists may have cried foul upon Corgan for stacking his guitars a la Brian May or shredding on certain solos, for chaps like me (and my friends) who were once-loyal metalheads rapidly making the transition to alt-rock and other non-headbanging styles, the Pumpkins certainly checked all the dots on our musical Scantron sheet.
How should we wrap up this chapter? How about with a compliment from long-time 120 Minutes host, Matt Pinfield? “Billy Corgan defined an era, too – the way he used that ‘drenched’ sound. He was inspired also by a lot of shoegaze music. Everything from Catherine Wheel to Deep Purple was an inspiration for Billy. He was very inventive for that period of time.” Indeed he was, Matt. Indeed he was.
I Am One: The Smashing Pumpkins Story, 1988-1994 is available for sale now, as Kindle, hardcover, and paperback editions.
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