Smashing Pumpkins leader Billy Corgan was hoping Wednesday would go as smoothly as his famous pate. Not so, as the planned rollout of full details and track listing for the deluxe reissue of 1998’s “Adore” was ruined when Amazon apparently leaked the details early.
Corgan first took to Twitter to voice his dissatisfaction with the leak, for which he also blames the set’s record label Universal. According to Corgan, he’s had the track listing in hand for months but held off at the request of the label.
“Amazon decided to break an agreement and post track listing of ‘Adore’ first; despite assurances otherwise that asked us to wait,” he wrote. “Obviously I’ve had Adore track list for 4 months, and could have posted anytime. But we try to coordinate these releases to balance all.”
Amazon did not immediately return a request for comment.
On his website, Corgan took the infraction as a chance to rail on the “quite bad” state of the music business. “Some would say music hasn’t been in such a disadvantageous place in the culture since the selling of commercial music began in the early 1900s,” he said. “And I for one have been very outspoken about what I would say are harmful business practices, the kind which place artists in an exploitative position visa vie their rights and ownership of their own work.”
Corgan doesn’t think it’s all horrible, however, and notes that he’s been encouraged by the control he’s wielded in the prior reissues of classic Smashing Pumpkins material, including the 2012 release of a souped-up “Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.” Corgan claims that “in most cases I lose more than I spend on those projects,” but that he’s still grateful to fans old and new.
“So in that light you can understand why it boils my blood when ‘ye olde record business stands up and does it same old trample [sic] all over what was promised because frankly, they’re more scared of their masters than artists on their rosters.”
Arriving Sept. 23, the “Adore” reissue contains 107 tracks via a six CD/DVD format, with rarities, demos and outtakes, plus a 1998 live show from Atlanta’s Fox Theater. The electronica-laced “Adore,” produced by Corgan, Flood and Brad Wood, reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in 1998.
The band is also prepping two “epic” albums for 2015.
