The mentality by which a band would seek to associate their name and logo with an American flag is not one that I would like to see the Pumpkins hold. That is not what their music has ever been about or should ever be about. It would be a cheap way to try and recapture the Cherub Rock/1979 vibe without the need to actually make music that conjures those feelings. That's what the image implies.Billy knows that it would be stupid to write about things that he doesn't feel. Cherub rock was about the attitude of the indie scene back then. Maybe he's gonna start making music about commercialism and how hollow music is now, but at the same time, not in a bitchy way if you get what I mean. Trent Reznor said that he'd been in all these interviews where the interviewers kept bitching about how shallow the music scene is. He could have bitched, but he didn't, and tried to make an album that made a difference (The Fragile). I found these, listen to the real audio files on the right. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/music_specials/s1402498.htm
The mentality by which a band would seek to associate their name and logo with an American flag is not one that I would like to see the Pumpkins hold. That is not what their music has ever been about or should ever be about. It would be a cheap way to try and recapture the Cherub Rock/1979 vibe without the need to actually make music that conjures those feelings. That's what the image implies.Billy knows that it would be stupid to write about things that he doesn't feel. Cherub rock was about the attitude of the indie scene back then. Maybe he's gonna start making music about commercialism and how hollow music is now, but at the same time, not in a bitchy way if you get what I mean. Trent Reznor said that he'd been in all these interviews where the interviewers kept bitching about how shallow the music scene is. He could have bitched, but he didn't, and tried to make an album that made a difference (The Fragile). I found these, listen to the real audio files on the right. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/music_specials/s1402498.htm That sort of thing I have no problem with. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but that image conjured up a lot of fears of something substantially beyond what you're talking about. Again, I hope it's either... totally insignificant, a joke, or perhaps simply represents something closer to what you're talking about. All of those are fine. But I'm still going to raise an eyebrow at something like that flag, given its implications and some of the current trends in music. Although, to be fair, I think both Pearl Jam and NIN may have drifted towards that route in their la-*test*-('") albums, but did it mostly without compromising their musical integrity. But... would I ever claim that those bands' last albums were better than their early masterpieces? No way, which is something that still does concern me for the Pumpkins. Granted, it is comparing apples to oranges... the music is going to be different one way or another, and it's going to be very difficult for something new to come along and topple my feelings I have towards an album like Siamese Dream that are (unfortunately) rather ingrained. I'm rambling. The point is... I'm concerned, but in all likelihood, there's nothing to be concerned about.