Smashing Pumpkins return to Milan: "Grunge, metal, or glam? We transcend any category. No one can define us yet."

Milan – The first edition of Parco della Musica wraps up next Wednesday with the return of the Smashing Pumpkins to Milan. Milan is the second stop on their Aghori Tour, which kicks off tonight at the Hills of Rock Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. This will be a Euro-Asian comeback , as the American band's September tour will continue to Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia, thanks to the release of their album "Aghori Mhori Mei," released a year ago.

To top it all off, Billy Corgan, James Iha, and Jimmy Chamberlin are also reissuing a philosopher's stone from their discography , "Machina / The Machines of God," on August 29th, released exactly twenty-five years ago. As is inevitable, however, about half the repertoire comes from the two albums that defined the Pumpkins' epic: "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness," which is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, and "Siamese Dream," not to mention a few pre-rock references from the three-act rock opera "Atum."

"Not being a punner, I'd say ours is one of the greatest bands , a statement justified, I think, by the certainty of having something special to say," assures Corgan, who founded the group with Iha in 1988 and liquidated it in 2000, but also the driving force behind the 2007 reunion and the multiple lineup changes (which continue to exclude original bassist D'arcy Wretzky). A new addition is rhythm guitarist Kiki Wong, chosen a year ago by Corgan from among the nine remaining candidates for the spot vacated by Jeff Schroeder after an initial online selection process. Jack Bates plays bass, while Katie Cole is on keyboards.

“I felt that we were different from the others right from the beginning, when we played in front of 50 people, but I couldn't explain why,” continues the frontman, who also hosts the podcast The Magnificent Others where he hosts friends like Gene Simmons of Kiss and Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine. It was simply something the band possessed, a spark that stood the test of time . Today, we don't feel a sense of triumph, but rather that we were on the right path. We've always been at the center of our choices, and no one has managed to divert us from the path we had in front of us. This despite the pushback from a section of the music establishment determined to never give us the recognition we deserve. This is probably because we didn't fit into pre-packaged categories. Never completely grunge, alternative, metal, or glam, but simply us. So we went back to doing what we do best, focusing on our strengths and stopping wasting time on pointless chatter. Everything has grown and become much stronger. The interest is strong, the concerts are very strong, and the band has probably never sounded better.

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