FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - FROM VIRGIN RECORDS
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS NEW ALBUM RELEASE MOVED TO FEBRUARY 2000

The original line-up of The Smashing Pumpkins continue to record their new album, now slated for release in February 2000. Billy Corgan, James Iha, D'arcy and Jimmy Chamberlin are working in a Chicago studio on the follow up to the multi-platinum Adore.

During a career spanning over a decade, The Smashing Pumpkins have received countless accolades from critics and fans including two Grammy Awards, Rolling Stoneís 1997 Artist of the Year, Rolling Stone ís Readerís Poll 19996 Album of the Year and seven MTV Video Music Awards in 1997. Their most recent release, Adore, has sold over three million copies worldwide and was nominated this year for a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album.

Joining the band once again in the studio is producer Flood, who worked with them on their multi-platinum double CD Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Also officially rejoining the band is Jimmy Chamberlin, who recently performed with The Smashing Pumpkins on their spring 1999 The Arising! tour. The surprise club tour garnered rave reviews from critics and adoration from fans who had the chance to see The Smashing Pumpkinsí blistering performances in intimate club atmospheres.

The press had some very good things to say:

"The quartet flat out rocked."
--The Los Angeles Times

"Everything went atomic: the song, the crowd and the pumpkins, back in their original lineup, playing clubs in a nine-city road test of fresh Billy Corgan tunes and plainly loving every minute"
--Rolling Stone

"The Pumpkins: simply smashing"
--The Washington Post

"Bolstered by Chamberlinís return and confident in its new material, it looked and sounded like a band focused on reclaiming its standing as one of modern rock's most potent forces."
--Chicago Tribune

If the club performances are any indication of what is to come in the year 2000 from The Smashing Pumpkins, fans across the globe can look forward to another extraordinary release.

Natalie Imbruglia Talks About Teaming With Billy Corgan

So how does it feel to work with Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan?

Despite having recorded one of Corgan's songs for the soundtrack to "Stigmata," Natalie Imbruglia still doesn't know.

"We didn't actually work together," the Australian songstress told MTV News on Thursday of the song. Imbruglia says that she worked "very distantly" with Corgan on the track, titled "Identity."

The chief Pumpkin, who handled the score for the upcoming film, sent Imbruglia what the singer calls "an amazing demo" which she took into a London recording studio.

"Being a fan of the Pumpkins, I think that most of the things he does are pretty amazing," Imbruglia admitted of her appraisal of Corgan's work.

The singer describes the result of the sessions (which will be the first single from the "Stigmata" soundtrack) as "atmospheric, intense, almost depressing." Not exactly what fans of her hit "Torn" might be expecting.

"It's a big departure, but a good departure," she said on Thursday. "It's pain beyond pain to the point of being numb.... It's about struggling for connection or response."

Of course, this one-off project isn't the only thing on Imbruglia's plate. The singer has her sights set on a new album, but she admits that things aren't exactly rolling along.

"It's going slowly, but it's going," Imbruglia said. "It's taken a while to get back into the writing process.... I want to be able to give it my 100 percent attention."

But while she knows that new material is a long time coming, she vows that she won't be rushed in putting the new album together. "I want the album to be done," Imbruglia said. "I don't want it to drag out, but I want to have a good album.... You've got to get yourself in the right zone."

She is also optimistic that her work on "Identity" might help get things moving again.

"Being in the studio doing a Billy Corgan song has got to be good for the confidence," she concluded.

The "Stigmata" soundtrack, featuring Imbruglia's work with Corgan as well as tracks from David Bowie, Bjork, Massive Attack, Chumbawamba, and others, hits stores on August 24.

Dear Reginald,

Thank you for contacting CDNOW.

In checking with our distributor, it seems the SMASHING PUMPKINS video GREATEST is an unauthorized documentary of the band.

Since it is unauthorized, there will be no band interviews and most likely just video clips and performances.

I apologize for the short description, but at this time that is the only information we have listed for this video. As we get more information from the vendor we will list it on the site.

If there is anything else that I can do for you, please let me know.

Regards,
Nichole
Customer Service
CDNOW, Inc. Your Music. Your Store.

The rescheduled live chat with Billy and James will take place on Wednesday, the 14th of July, 1999 at 6:00 pm central time (CT). If you want to know what time it is in the central time zone of North America right now, check out the current date and time on the main page at SPIFC website at http://www.spifc.org/spifc/html (make sure to refresh/reload this page if you have visited it before!)

The chat will NOT be done via the IRC as it was last time, but instead will be done via a secure chat channel. This will require users to have a java enabled browser to participate. In addition, those wanting to participate in the chat will require a valid e-mail address.

The chat participant with the best question will receive an cymbal autographed by drummer Jimmy Chamberlin that was cracked during the recording sessions for the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins album.

Additional information will be provided to SPIFC members as it becomes available.

More Stigmata Tracks Surface

The long-awaited soundtrack to Stigmata finally has a confirmed track listing, with 10 tracks composed by Billy Corgan leading the way. All but seven songs on the album were scored by the Smashing Pumpkins frontman (along with composer-jazz artist Mike Garson) -- his first major foray into music scoring (allstar, May 11).

In addition to previously confirmed tracks by Massive Attack ("Inertia Creeps"), Remy Zero ("Gramarye"), Chumbawamba ("Mary Mary"), David Bowie ("The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell"), and the Afro Celt Sound System featuring Sinead O'Connor ("Release"), Natalie Imbruglia has added a Corgan-penned track, "Identify," to the album's lineup.

The soundtrack to Stigmata will hit stores on Aug. 24 on Virgin Records. The film, starring Patricia Arquette and Gabriel Byrne, will hit theaters in August.

Here is the track listing for the soundtrack to Stigmata (*denotes tracks written by Mike Garson):

 1. "Mary Mary," Chumbawamba
 2. "Gramarye," Remy Zero
 3. "All Is Full of Love," Bjork
 4. "The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell," David Bowie
 5. "Release," Afro Celt Sound System featuring Sinead O'Connor
 6. "Inertia Creeps," Massive Attack
 7. "Identify"
 8. "Identify (Dust)," "1,000,000 Voices," Billy Corgan
 9. "Pop Pop," "Await*," "Reflect (Pretty)," Billy Corgan
10. "Reflect (Clouds)," "Truth," Billy Corgan
11. "Of Square Waves," "Random Thought," Billy Corgan
12. "Reflection/Possession," Billy Corgan
13. "Reflect (Gray)," "Of Sine Waves," Billy Corgan
14. "Distrbnce(After Sckhausen)*," "Reflect (Pause)*," "Orah," Billy Corgan
15. "Sustain," "Identify (Affectation)*," Billy Corgan
16. "All Answers Revealed*," "Reflect (Devotion)*"
17. "Purge," "10,000,000 Voices," "Reflect (Purity)," "Identify (Peace)*," Billy Corgan
18. "Reflect (Time)," "Tree Whispers," Billy Corgan

Ontario teen's pedal a smashing effect for Pumpkins

PEMBROKE -- When the Chicago-based rock group Smashing Pumpkins release a new album this fall, it'll feature a new guitar sound thanks to a local teen. Designed to "overdrive" and sustain the guitar sound, the effect pedal dubbed "The Creamy Dreamer" saw its beginning in Jeff Doucette's grade 9 electronics class.

Now 19, Doucette has parlayed that into a booming business. "It started out as kind of a bedroom sort of thing." he said. "People around school and the community heard about what I did and started getting me to do stuff to customize their instruments, mainly dealing in guitar effects."

Doucette found he had a knack for working with musicians, finding out what they wanted and customizing a distortion pedal for a unique sound.

"I actually started out doing it for no profit," said Doucette "Then I realized it was getting to the point where I could market my abilities, so I started up a Smashing Pumpkins-themed web site offering pedal modifications and custom guitar electronics."

After reverse-engineering the existing product and modifying the sound to his own liking, Doucette also created his own "signature modification," which grew in popularity attracting more than 5,000 customers from as far away as Japan, Europe and Australia.

"Basically people would send me their pedals. I'd modify them in my basement and tested them, then within 3 to 5 days, I'd ship them back." Doucette said.

He eventually found a business partner and launched his own line. Doucette's company, Sustain-Punch, offers more than 150 pedal and amplifier modifications and his own original pedal, "The Creamy Dreamer." Billy Corgan and James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins were the first to receive The Creamy Dreamer. Within one week of receiving it, they e-mailed Doucette with a request to work out a business deal for both endorsement and a signature series.

"I got that e-mail at 3 a.m. and was very excited" he said.
"It meant a lot of hard work had paid off."

And Doucette is already working on his next pedal, "The Bottle-Rocket." In the meantime, Doucette said he's looking forward to seeing how things work out with the Smashing Pumpkins and how his pedal will sound on their new album.

"I'm fairly excited. Things have certainly come a long way: From my business to international Internet sales."