SPfreaks.com: 'Internet Killed the Video Star'
Yesterday, an article titled 'Internet Killed the Video Star' was published on SPfreaks.com's Wordpress. In short, it says that the nostalgia for the 'old' Smashing Pumpkins is so big not because of the music, but because of the videos that accompanied the band. It's the image of D'arcy with the blue hair that is loved. James wearing a dress. Billy wearing a cowboy hat while sitting on a crane. Jimmy hanging upside down.
It's those little things that people look for. When Zeitgeist came out, the videos were... well, not so good. What if the video for Tarantula would have been as cool as, for example, Bullet With Butterfly Wings? People would have loved it, because there's a visual image there to love. In this day and age where music identifies who you are, music videos are a very important thing. That's why I think it's a shame that Oceania doesn't have any videos.
The writer of the article goes on to tell that member changes have never been anything new to the Pumpkins. Jimmy left for a few years in 1996, D'arcy was replaced in '99... It's nothing new. But what made the changes acceptable back then, were the flawless ways the member changes were introduced. When Melissa replaced D'arcy, the kick-ass video for The Everlasting Gaze was released. Nobody gave a crap about the change, because the Pumpkins looked as cool as ever.
So, think about it. Do you love the music, or do you love the image in your head? Are you biased, just because the music videos don't have a man wearing a dress anymore?
Read the full article here.
By the way, a 3D concert film from the Oceania tour will be released soon! Maybe that will be the change that's needed!
